Roger Caiazza has a post up at his outstanding site about a National Energy Report Card report that happens to give natural gas the only “A” among all energy sources. The report was produced by Northwood University’s McNair Center for the Advancement of Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Here is the report card itself:
Not a lot of explanation is required to explain the results, but notice how it all stacks up. Solar and wind each get an “F” and geothermal, the best of the renewables that are being relentlessly promoted as part of the Big Green Grift, still only gets a “D+” grade. Hydroelectric does fine with a “B-” but, of course, there is no significant grift in it as it’s typically done by public entities, so it's not promoted by green energy advocates.
Overall, the grades given on renewables are generally harsh, but fair. Considerable, for example, this chart produced from Energy Information Administration data:
Capacity factor is integral to understanding why solar and wind make no sense whatsoever financially and puts energy security (a/k/a grid stability) at higher risk with each and every installation. Now, with that in mind, think about what the trend below, stimulated solely by government subsidies, means to energy security:
Putting it starkly, we are being charged, via taxes on our income and surcharges on our electric rates, for energy infrastructure that will completely obliterate our energy security if it continues. Moreover, battery storage is completely unable to compensate for the difference in capacity factors that exists between solar and nuclear or natural gas, for instance. We are, in effect. on a runaway train to disaster with solar if we keep subsidizing it.
There is much more detail to be found in the report and this is the conclusion with respect to solar (emphasis added):
[S]olar is a widely promoted and politically favored energy resource that is being developed rapidly. However, it is unlikely that this source would be developed if not for the generous federal support it receives from federal tax credits, (Production Tax Credit and Investment Tax Credit) or state-level mandates requiring its use as part of a net zero or clean energy program. While solar is widely believed to be an essential aspect of any decarbonization program, it has an abundance of negative costs, human rights, and environmental impacts that are open overlooked by regulators and utilities. The direct and imposed costs associated with solar entail that electric rates will continue to increase and electric service reliability will wane as more of it is built
Why is natural gas superior? Well, here the reasons for each of its grades, each backed up by considerable data:
Capacity & Reliability: 9/10 — Increased production due to the fracking revolution has made the United States a world leader in the production and export of natural gas. Natural gas is an essential fuel for the American utility industry to address and make up for the inherent unreliability of wind and solar.
Environmental/Human Impact: 9/10 — The fracking revolution has done more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants than any other technology.
Cost: 10/10 — Natural gas is our least expensive energy generation option when full costs are considered.
Technology/Innovation: 10/10 — The fracking revolution has released enormous amounts of clean, affordable energy, which has transformed the American electric industry and allowed it to drastically reduce emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases.
Market Feasibility: 9/10 — Despite efforts to restrict the use of this fuel via regulation, the American energy sector relies on the clean-burning and reliable supply of natural gas to power a significant portion of our electricity generation (as well as increased levels of home heating/cooking, transportation, and
manufacturing). The markets need more natural gas, not less.
Read the whole report to get a really thorough reminder of why natural gas always get an “A” when it comes to energy security and why it is growing in use. The value of nuclear energy ("B+") is also documented and coal, too, gets a mostly white hat with a "B-” grade overall.
#NaturalGas #ReportCard #Nuclear #Coal #Solar #Wind #Hydroelectric #Geothermal #EnergySecurity #GridReliability #Electricity
Gentlemen
A great explanation.
One question if I may.
Why is the nat gad capacity facto so low at 54%? Is it an actual figure derived from runtimes meaning there were times that these plants could not be bid economically in an ISO auction??. Or is it the availability based on readiness of the plant to produce power? Thanks
Fossil fuels are the only sensible transition to a nuclear powered future - renewables are to power generation, what an ashtray is to a motorbike