Ed note: This article overviews the growth of renewables over the last 20 years from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Annual Energy Review. For convenience, the DOE tables are converted to watts (W), in its billion multiple the gigawatt (GW). The same unit for both generation and consumption enables straightforward comparisons among various efficiencies, capacity factors, site factors, etc. Conversion factors such as Cal, cal, joule, Btu, Wh, each per second, hour, or year, is defined at the end. [1]

“The wind and solar industry claims employment … at about 250 000 jobs. The relative productivity per employee is thus 7.5 kW with solar, and 32 kW with wind. Compare that to 1,300 kW with fossil fuels, and 2,000 kW with nuclear.”

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) lists six significant sources of renewable energy: Wind, Solar, Hydro, Wood, Waste, and Geothermal.…

“Rob, you certainly have the right to participate in the discussion but it is clear to me (and others) that you do not understand how the ERCOT market actually functions. Instead you spout off free market economic theories without getting down and dirty into the details of how to apply them to power systems. In the real world the devil is in the details.” (Robert Borlick, below)

“Rob, why are you shilling for the natural gas industry?” (Borlick, below)

Welcome to the political economy of electricity from the expert/planner viewpoint. Electricity is different. Its complexity requires central planning/regulation. The free market does not work. Ergo, free-market theories do not apply.

Bottom line: Experts/planners/regulators/politicians must get “down and dirty into the details of how to apply them to power systems.”

Previous posts (here and here) have chronicled my interaction with electricity planning experts in the wake of the Great Texas Power Blackout of February 2021.…

“Experts are unanimous that the increase in oil and gas production will play a critical role in the Nigerian economy’s recovery in 2021. Forecasts indicate that oil and gas production will continue to increase rapidly in the next two decades.”

“Nigeria’s current power generation is around 5,000 MW, while the ideal capacity would be around 30,000 MW. Nigeria plans to add six new coal plants by 2037. Together with 9 new additions of gas plants, this would provide an additional 11,163 MW of power.”

There have been reports that Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, is shifting away from oil and gas and is looking to invest in renewables. Recent energy decisions and investments show otherwise. The country is placing its bet on fossil fuels.

Fossil Fuels: Key to Nigeria’s Energy Future

Only 45 percent of Nigerians have access to the national power grid.…

Ed. Note: The Cato Institute has long been an intellectual and advocacy force for climate realism (the global lukewarming school), as well as free-market energy policies in the face of climate alarmism. This post shares Cato’s work on both issues in this historic week of climate activism to, in President Biden’s words, “set America on a path of net-zero emissions economy by no later than 2050.”

This post will be updated with any new material from Cato on these subjects.

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[Nothing on Earth Day] [!!]

[April 23rd: Electric Vehicles and the Biden Infrastructure Plan]

This post by Chris Edwards is just regular fare with little-to-nothing to do with the climate/energy transformation war raging outside of Cato’s windows.

The piece is also very shallow and politically correct, trying to make the argument that more government subsidies are not needed because electric vehicles (EVs) can now stand on their own….…