{"id":360013,"date":"2025-01-01T16:58:17","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T15:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=360013"},"modified":"2025-01-01T16:58:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-01T15:58:19","slug":"what-keeps-energy-transition-going","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=360013","title":{"rendered":"What Keeps \u201cEnergy Transition\u201d Going? $ $\u00a0$"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Science Matters<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Ron Clutz<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Robert Gauthier answered posting on a Quora topic How could we reverse the damage done by the \u201cgreen energy\u201d global scam that brought less efficient and highly polluting energy producing projects and high energy prices?<\/strong><\/a> Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wind and solar power have provided politicians with an excuse to dispense favours<\/strong>\u2014including taxpayer-funded subsidies and tax preferences to a supposedly \u201cgreen\u201d industry\u2014while appearing to do something for the environment.<\/strong>\u00a0And yet, despite more than\u00a0two decades of massive subsidies, tax preferences<\/strong>\u00a0and purchasing\u00a0mandates<\/strong>\u00a0from governments,\u00a0wind and solar power still<\/strong>\u00a0represent barely more than a\u00a0rounding error of global energy<\/strong>\u00a0production. In jurisdictions where renewables enjoyed strong but ill-considered political support, consumers and taxpayers now face\u00a0much higher electricity bills and less-reliable power.<\/strong>\u00a0And despite promises to the contrary, countries such as\u00a0Germany<\/strong>, which have significantly increased wind and solar electricity production, have seen\u00a0no meaningful reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Far from being a miracle cure-all for the shortcomings of conventional power generation,\u00a0wind and solar power exaggerate the symptoms they pretend to address<\/strong>. Added up over the past two decades, the cumulative subsidies across the world for biofuels, wind, and solar approach about\u00a0$5 trillion<\/strong>, all of that\u00a0to supply roughly 5% of global energy.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The whole justification for the falling costs of wind generation rested on the\u00a0assumption that much bigger turbines would produce more output at lower capex cost<\/strong>\u00a0per megawatt, without the large costs of generational change. Now we have confirmation that such optimism is\u00a0entirely unjustified<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 the whole development process has been a case of too far, too fast. Again, this was both predictable and predicted.\u00a0The idea that wind turbines are immune to<\/strong>\u00a0the factors that affect other types of\u00a0power engineering<\/strong>\u00a0was always\u00a0absurd<\/strong>. The consequence is that both\u00a0capital and operating costs for wind farms will not fall<\/strong>\u00a0as rapidly as claimed and may not fall significantly at all. It follows that current\u00a0energy policies in the West<\/strong>\u00a0are based on foundations of sand \u2013\u00a0na\u00efve optimism reinforced by enthusiastic lobbying divorced from engineering reality.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the end, however, politicians cannot defy the laws of physics and economics.<\/strong> The promise of wind and solar power will always clash with the need for electricity that is low cost and reliable.<\/strong> That\u2019s why voters routinely punish politicians who pursue flawed renewable energy policies<\/strong>. Rising electricity costs due to increased wind and solar power damage the economy by making businesses<\/strong> that consume significant volumes of electricity less competitive<\/strong> and by leaving less money in the pockets of consumers.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\u00a0Ontario<\/strong>, Canada during the run of the Green Energy Act there which\u00a0attempted to replace coal and nuclear with wind and solar<\/strong>\u00a0the upshot was a\u00a0138% increase in the price of electricity at the meter<\/strong>\u00a0for the consumers. This led to the\u00a0government<\/strong>\u00a0that brought in this legislation to lose the next election so badly that they were\u00a0no longer recognized as a party<\/strong>\u00a0in the legislature. Naturally the government that replaced them killed the program and started refurbishing the nuclear reactor fleet there.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Unfortunately,\u00a0solar and wind technologies require huge amounts of land<\/strong>\u00a0to deliver relatively small amounts of energy, disrupting natural habitats. The real estate that wind and solar energy demand led the Nature Conservancy to issue a report last year critical of \u201cenergy sprawl,\u201d including tens of thousands of\u00a0miles of high-voltage transmission lines<\/strong>\u00a0needed to carry electricity from wind and solar installations to distant cities.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Land required for wind farms to power London UK<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Building\u00a0a single 100-MW wind farm<\/strong>\u2014never mind thousands of them\u2014requires some\u00a030,000 tons of iron ore<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a050,000 tons of concrete,<\/strong>\u00a0as well as\u00a0900 tons of nonrecyclable plastics<\/strong>\u00a0for the huge blades. With\u00a0solar hardware<\/strong>, the tonnage in cement, steel, and glass is\u00a0150% greater<\/strong>\u00a0than for wind, for the same energy output<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Take\u00a0batteries<\/strong>. It is estimated that current battery manufacturing capabilities will need to be in the order of 500-700 times bigger than now to support an all-electric global transport system. The\u00a0materials needed just to allow the UK to transition<\/strong>\u00a0to all electric transport involve amounts of materials equal to 200% the annual global production of cobalt, 75% of lithium carbonate, 100% of neodymium and 50% of copper. Scaling by a factor of 50 for world transport, and you see what a showstopper is now. The\u00a0materials demand just for batteries are beyond known reserves.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s\u00a0just one of the issues.<\/strong>\u00a0Others include\u00a0vast costs<\/strong>\u00a0constituting a multiple of current energy costs; the\u00a0environmental impact<\/strong>\u00a0of mining and transporting huge amounts of materials; need for vast amounts of\u00a0rare elements,<\/strong>\u00a0far beyond known world reserves; incredibly huge amounts of\u00a0material to recycle<\/strong>\u00a0when facilities wear out; and on and on.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Spend enough time researching this stuff and you gradually realize that almost everything you read about\u00a0green energy<\/strong>\u00a0shows that\u00a0at best<\/strong>\u00a0it\u2019s really\u00a0a dark shade of brown.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wind and solar power have provided politicians with an excuse to dispense favours\u2014including taxpayer-funded subsidies and tax preferences to a supposedly \u201cgreen\u201d industry\u2014while appearing to do something for the environment.\u00a0And yet, despite more than\u00a0two decades of massive subsidies, tax preferences\u00a0and purchasing\u00a0mandates\u00a0from governments,\u00a0wind and solar power still\u00a0represent barely more than a\u00a0rounding error of global energy\u00a0production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":360038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691820083,691818656,691818740,691832378,691826783,691819094,691832379],"class_list":{"0":"post-360013","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-electricity","10":"tag-ev-batteries","11":"tag-green-energy-act","12":"tag-massive-subsidies","13":"tag-renewable-green-energy","14":"tag-solar-and-wind-technologies","16":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Microgrid-Renewables-scaled-1.jpg?fit=2560%2C1280&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1vEF","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":222234,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=222234","url_meta":{"origin":360013,"position":0},"title":"Why America\u2019s Green Subsidies Are Making China\u2019s Wind Turbine & Solar Panel Rich","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cGreen energy\u201d only exists \u2013 because of hundreds of billions of government dollars having thus far propped it up.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-207.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-207.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-207.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-207.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-207.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":261073,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=261073","url_meta":{"origin":360013,"position":1},"title":"Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s Plans to Turn Britain into a \u2018Green Energy Superpower\u2019 will Bankrupt Households and Cripple the Economy","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/06\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"What effect will Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s ambition to turn Britain into a \u201cclean energy superpower\u201d and ban any further oil and gas exploration have on the price we will pay for our electricity, assuming he becomes our next Prime Minister?","rel":"","context":"In \"Bankrupt Households\"","block_context":{"text":"Bankrupt Households","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bankrupt-households"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Net-Zero-Infographic-1.6.jpg?fit=1200%2C626&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Net-Zero-Infographic-1.6.jpg?fit=1200%2C626&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Net-Zero-Infographic-1.6.jpg?fit=1200%2C626&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Net-Zero-Infographic-1.6.jpg?fit=1200%2C626&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Net-Zero-Infographic-1.6.jpg?fit=1200%2C626&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 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Sterling Burnett Fox News posted an article that analyzes a recent\u00a0Energy Information Administration (EIA) report\u00a0which shows that renewable energy subsidies dominate federal energy handouts. This is contrary to claims commonly made by activists and mainstream media sources that green energy is cheaper than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Biden Administration\"","block_context":{"text":"Biden Administration","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=biden-administration"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-85.png?fit=1200%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-85.png?fit=1200%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-85.png?fit=1200%2C667&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-85.png?fit=1200%2C667&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-85.png?fit=1200%2C667&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":432806,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=432806","url_meta":{"origin":360013,"position":3},"title":"Energy Realists Saved the US Grid (Alex\u00a0Epstein)","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"20\/03\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year, America was already in a serious electricity reliability crisis. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation\u2014the body charged with assessing grid reliability\u2014found that over half the country is facing the risk of power shortfalls over the next decade.","rel":"","context":"In \"electricity reliability\"","block_context":{"text":"electricity reliability","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=electricity-reliability"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/OIG4.tBwbgx7mk0bxOSOB.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/OIG4.tBwbgx7mk0bxOSOB.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/OIG4.tBwbgx7mk0bxOSOB.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/OIG4.tBwbgx7mk0bxOSOB.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":245437,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=245437","url_meta":{"origin":360013,"position":4},"title":"Green Energy \u2014 The greatest transfer of wealth to the rich in history","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"25\/02\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"We are in the midst of history\u2019s greatest wealth transfer. Government subsidized support for wind systems, solar arrays, and electric vehicles overwhelmingly benefits the wealthy members of society and rich nations.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-756.png?fit=990%2C660&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-756.png?fit=990%2C660&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-756.png?fit=990%2C660&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-756.png?fit=990%2C660&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":405940,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=405940","url_meta":{"origin":360013,"position":5},"title":"Place Your Bet On The Future Of Energy: U.S. Or China","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"30\/09\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The first eight months of the second Trump administration have seen a sea change in energy policy. Previously, under Biden, the federal government had undertaken a blowout of hundreds of billions of dollars of subsidies and incentives for so-called \u201crenewable\u201d energy sources, while simultaneously implementing dozens of regulations and restrictions\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"China\"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=china"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQOBLalX8TamhD2jLyCG8iT44NWmrzIWNLr1zP3pVqjKur-Vo9SX4VHWLW95T2iXOAYXD1B92BA9NvsyAkOjXqUweDPuvOGrPpCRtWITCRLDDXbz3Y0wiEQMzOWzYRZF-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQOBLalX8TamhD2jLyCG8iT44NWmrzIWNLr1zP3pVqjKur-Vo9SX4VHWLW95T2iXOAYXD1B92BA9NvsyAkOjXqUweDPuvOGrPpCRtWITCRLDDXbz3Y0wiEQMzOWzYRZF-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQOBLalX8TamhD2jLyCG8iT44NWmrzIWNLr1zP3pVqjKur-Vo9SX4VHWLW95T2iXOAYXD1B92BA9NvsyAkOjXqUweDPuvOGrPpCRtWITCRLDDXbz3Y0wiEQMzOWzYRZF-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQOBLalX8TamhD2jLyCG8iT44NWmrzIWNLr1zP3pVqjKur-Vo9SX4VHWLW95T2iXOAYXD1B92BA9NvsyAkOjXqUweDPuvOGrPpCRtWITCRLDDXbz3Y0wiEQMzOWzYRZF-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQOBLalX8TamhD2jLyCG8iT44NWmrzIWNLr1zP3pVqjKur-Vo9SX4VHWLW95T2iXOAYXD1B92BA9NvsyAkOjXqUweDPuvOGrPpCRtWITCRLDDXbz3Y0wiEQMzOWzYRZF-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=360013"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":360039,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360013\/revisions\/360039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/360038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=360013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=360013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=360013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}