The ‘duck curve’ is solar energy’s greatest challenge
29 Jan 2019 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, politics - USA Tags: renewable energy, solar power, wind power
Renewable Energy is a Useless Classification | Alex Epstein
13 Jan 2019 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: renewable energy, solar power, wind power
#EndOil assumes a few things on the renewable energy front
14 Apr 2018 Leave a comment
in economic history, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: renewable energy, solar power
How dangerous is nuclear energy compared to renewable energy?
12 Jun 2017 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: coal, hydroelectric power, nuclear energy, power, renewable energy, solar power, wind power
Solar and wind power peak at the wrong time of the day
28 Sep 2016 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics Tags: Big Solar, Big Wind, renewable energy, solar power, wind power
.
More proof of the unreliability of renewable energy
01 Aug 2016 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, politics - Australia Tags: hydroelectric power, reading myths, renewable energy, Tasmania
The Lake Pedder dam is full for the first time since 1988. A few months ago, Tasmanian hydroelectric lake levels were 13% with 6% the level at which the entire system shuts down.
Had we hit peak wind turbine technician demand?
09 May 2016 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice Tags: Big Wind, green rent seeking, renewable energy, wind power
Doubling from 4,400 to 9,000 does not exactly strike me as an explosion in wind technician employment.
Source: Wind Turbine Technicians : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Yet still this occupation is expected to be the fastest-growing occupation in the USA in the next 10 years.
The renewable energy curse – does corruption turn clean energy into dirty? @GarethMP
30 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: European Union, expressive voting, green rent seeking, Italy, renewable energy, solar power, wind power
Massimo Tavoni and Caterina Gennaioli published a nice paper showing that corruption and violence was higher in the high wind provinces of Italy after the installation of wind generators. They built on earlier work about countries with abundant renewable resources and weak institutions. The main question in their paper
… is whether an increase in the expected returns of investments in wind energy, following the introduction of the new policy regime based on a green certificate system, has driven economic agents, namely bureaucrats and entrepreneurs, to engage more in rent seeking activities.
As they studied Italy, there is no surprise about the answer which was yes. High winds ensure high returns of the wind farm investment, but whether this translates into more bribery depends on institutional quality. There was more corruption, and so especially in high-wind provinces of Italy.
Source: Green policy and corruption | VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal.
The construction of an average wind park is associated with an increase of criminal association activity of 6%. Italy will have more corruption than elsewhere in the old European Union.
The wider problem is renewable energy is a celebrity technology. In the context of expressive politics, so many cheer for solar and wind power that standards drop in terms of who qualifies for subsidies and who should lose support when their investments do not turn out as promised.
https://twitter.com/CountCarbon/status/715136022414299138
Wind power is not new, it is intermittent, is unsuitable for modern work, and is land constrained but it is still subsidised. Green rent seeking is a real risk even in countries with the best political institutions.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments