Assume, for the moment, the wind always blew and the sun always shone, then wind and solar power just might make sense. That’s why those talking about an ‘all wind and sun powered future’ sound like they’re coming from another planet.
Renewables rent seekers keep telling us how cheap wind and solar are, compared to those ‘evil’ fossil fuels, coal and gas.
But ‘price’ and ‘value’ are not the same animals. What we pay for something, and what it’s worth depends entirely upon what we get. And, in relation to the consumption of electricity, whether or not we get it, at all.
Wind power might be ‘free’, but try purchasing it, at any price, when the wind stops blowing. Ditto with solar power, when the sun does what it’s been doing every day since the dawn of time.
Comparing weather dependent wind generation and sunshine dependent solar with sources available, around-the-clock, irrespective of the weather or where the sun sits in the sky, is a game played by intellectual pygmies. There is, of course, no comparison.
So when you’re faced with a pile of numbers said to show how wind or solar stacks up against the big boys, the obvious retort is, ‘when’? When I need it, or when the wind is just right or the sun is at its zenith?
Charles Rotter runs the numbers and identifies the true cost of weather and sunshine dependent wind and solar. Spoiler alert: it’s truly staggering.
Assume, for the moment, the wind always blew and the sun always shone, then wind and solar power just might make sense. That’s why those talking about an ‘all wind and sun powered future’ sound like they’re coming from another planet.
Renewables rent seekers keep telling us how cheap wind and solar are, compared to those ‘evil’ fossil fuels, coal and gas.
But ‘price’ and ‘value’ are not the same animals. What we pay for something, and what it’s worth depends entirely upon what we get. And, in relation to the consumption of electricity, whether or not we get it, at all.
Wind power might be ‘free’, but try purchasing it, at any price, when the wind stops blowing. Ditto with solar power, when the sun does what it’s been doing every day since the dawn of time.
Comparing weather dependent wind generation and sunshine dependent solar with sources available…
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