The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy & environmental policies. Our basic position is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science.

 It’s all spelled out at WiseEnergy.org, which is a wealth of energy and environmental resources.

A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every 3 weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and environmental matters. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.

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Greed Energy Economics:

EROI — A Tool To Predict The Best Energy Mix

Pretenses of Offshore Wind Economic Viability “Blown Away”

Expert testifies about property devaluation due to wind turbine proximity

Wind & Solar are 16x more expensive than gas

U.N.…

“Although biomass is a renewable resource, much of it is currently used in ways that are neither renewable nor sustainable.”

– Christopher Flavin and Nicholas Lenssen (Worldwatch Institute), Power Surge. New York: W. W. Norton, 1994, pp. 176–77.

“We write to raise strong concerns about the November 19th, 2014, memo from Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation Janet McCabe (McCabe memo), which would credit use of woody biomass for energy with reducing emissions, when it actually increases them….  Burning biomass instead of fossil fuels does not reduce the carbon emitted by power plants. In fact, as EPA itself acknowledges, burning biomass degrades facility efficiency and increases day-to-day emissions over emissions when fossil fuels are burned alone.”

– Letter from Dr. Viney P. Aneja et al. to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, February 9, 2015 (reprinted below).…

“To colleges, universities and pension funds, we say: Please demand and ensure open, robust debate on all these issues, before you vote on divestment. Allow no noisy disruption, walk-outs or false claims of consensus. Compel divestment advocates to defend their position, factually and respectfully. Protect the rights and aspirations of people everywhere to reliable, affordable electricity, better living standards and, improved health.” 

“Social responsibility” activists have designated February 13/14 as Global Divestment Day. They want universities and other institutions to eliminate fossil fuel companies from their investment holdings. Their demand is not just unrealistic and misguided. It is irresponsible and immoral, potentially lethal–and racist in result.

Having grown up in developed countries, these activists seem to have forgotten how nasty and short life was throughout human history, until quite recently.…

“Should electric cars become ubiquitous, electricity will be taxed to yield that revenue. Electricity cost would also be higher if some 95 percent of U.S. electricity were not generated by the cheapest methods – burning fossil fuels, hydro, and nuclear reaction. Should it originate from wind and solar, it would cost three-to-eight times more: a dime per km with wind, a quarter per km with solar.”

There are many variables that determine the relative economics of an economic petro-powered vehicle (Honda Civic) and an electric vehicle (Nissan Leaf).

While the Civic had a slight advantage a year ago with gasoline at $3.50 per gallon, the advantage for conventional vehicles has jumped with today’s lower pump prices. Also, should electricity for transportation be taxed at the level of gasoline and diesel, the economic gap would widen.…