A Free-Market Energy Blog

Excusing Wind in Texas? (ICN in spin mode)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- August 4, 2022

“On Monday, wind was functioning at 8 percent, which is not unheard of,” so it was weird to be called out in the press release, because it’s something that we know happens so we should be ready for that sort of thing.” – Joshua Rhodes, Webber Energy Group, University of Texas at Austin. July 15, 2022

[Electricity] anxiety, coupled with misleading claims about the role of renewable energy in power outages, may also leave Texans disillusioned about the future of clean energy. – ICN, below)

We will see if Texas’s wounded electricity grid escapes conservation alerts and rolling blackouts in the next month. But a false narrative has been set: it is fossil fuels plants that are unreliable, since everyone knows that wind and solar are intermittent and will not show up at times.…

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Conditioned Air: Let’s Go! (climate politics at war with itself)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- August 3, 2022

“The have’s are ‘terrified’ that the rest of the world joins in with modern appliances. And no need to check your premises about climate alarmism and wind, solar, and the rest of it. Once an alarmist, always an alarmist.”

How many times can a climate alarmist get nudged by reality? How many defeats will be enough to get the Net Zero crowd to take a fresh look at the science of CO2 benefits and global lukewarming?

Here is yet another example. Manmade global warming = heat waves = more conditioned air = more greenhouse gas emissions = [repeat]. Consider an article by Leslie Hook, Financial Times (July 15, 2022), The Lure of Air Conditioners Ignores the Vicious Climate Cycle, subtitled “more cooling systems may seem the simplest solution to warming houses but it only aggravates the problem.”…

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Plant Vogtle #3 and #4: More Issues (costs, delay, partner opt-downs)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- August 2, 2022

Editor Update: Since this article was prepared, Southern Company (the parent of Georgia Power) announced another cost increase and delay.

“Since September 2018, the project budget has increased five times, and is now expected to total more than $30 billion [from $14 billion in 2009].”

The bad news continues at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle #3 and #4, the first nuclear units to be constructed in six years. The most complicated, expensive, and hazardous way to boil water, (government-enabled) nuclear remains a mirage of cost-effective engineering.

A project that broke ground in 2013, expected to cost $14 billion with start-up in 2016 (Unit 3) and 2017 (Unit 4), is now past $30 billion with estimated start dates in 2023/24. The U.S. Department of Energy has contributed loan guarantees of $12 billion to the project.…

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Energy and Environmental Review: August 1, 2022

By -- August 1, 2022
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Liberty Energy: Playing Offense

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 29, 2022
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Hansen on Climate/Energy Policy: An Evaluation and Rebuttal

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 28, 2022
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Uncivil Society: Climate Alarmists’ Last Stand?

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 27, 2022
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‘Texans for Economic Liberty’: Wind and Solar Fake Group

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 26, 2022
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Guyana, Suriname Oil Bonanza to Boost Economies, Help Meet Global Demand

By Vijay Jayaraj -- July 25, 2022
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NYT Climate Reporting: Some Realism amid Political Retreat

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 22, 2022
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