The Energy Information Administration (EIA) was largely non-political during previous administrations but, like so many other agencies (e.g., those reporting inflation and employment state) it has been politicized by the Biden-Harris gang. Oh, yes, the EIA still does a lot of good work, and clearly tries to balance its reporting, but the choice of stories on Today In Energy and the headlines of those stories reflect a not so subtle attempt to promote the green energy scam.
Pretty amazing, huh? Well, no, not exactly. Consider these two paragraphs below the chart and headlines (emphasis added):
U.S. wind generation exceeded coal-fired generation for the first time in April 2023 but did not do so again until 11 months later. This past spring was the first time U.S. wind generation has exceeded coal-fired generation for two months in a row. Wind power generally produces the most electricity in the springtime in the United States.
Wind installations in the United States produced 45.9 terawatthours (TWh) of electricity in March 2024, compared with 38.4 TWh from coal-fired power plants. In April 2024, coal-fired generation fell to 37.2 TWh. Wind generation, meanwhile, increased to a record 47.7 TWh. However, during the first four months of 2024, coal-fired generation was 15% higher than wind generation in the United States.
The article doesn't tell us the implications of these facts, the first being that wind is undependable. It usually blows hard in the Spring but didn’t this past Spring and coal helped save the day. That’s the big point; that renewables are useless without baseload backup. We can't have wind without fossil fuels or nuclear.
The article then goes on to say the following:
Installed wind power generating capacity has increased substantially in the United States over the last 25 years, growing from 2.4 gigawatts (GW) in 2000 to 150.1 GW in April 2024. By contrast, a substantial number of coal plants have retired over the past 25 years, with total coal capacity falling from 315.1 GW in 2000 to 177.1 GW by April 2024.
Other sources of electricity generation have also increased during the time that coal-fired generation has declined. Since 2000, electricity from solar power has increased by 99.1 TWh, and generation from natural gas, which is often more price competitive than coal in electricity market dispatch, has increased by 287.6 TWh.
Following the record wind capacity additions of more than 14.0 GW in both 2020 and 2021, introduction of new U.S. wind facilities has slowed in the last two years.Operators expect 7.1 GW of wind capacity to come online in the United States in 2024, according to our July Monthly Energy Review.
After 22.3 GW of U.S. coal-fired electric generating capacity retired over the past two years, operators plan to slow coal retirements in 2024. Operators plan to retire 2.8 GW of coal-fired capacity in 2024, data from our July Monthly Energy Review show.
Notice that wind capacity is still significantly below coal capacity, despite the headline and chart. We also know coal has a much higher capacity factor than wind, which means coal capacity in the real world is probably on the order of twice that of wind. Yet, wind generation exceeded coal recently.
How can that be? Well, widely varying undependable wind energy is being forced onto the grid to displace coal at every opportunity, which means dependable coal is being forced to operate inefficiently at well below capacity. What we have created with heavily subsidized wind (no mention of subsidies in the story) is an asinine duplicative energy system guaranteed to raise costs to the consumers at both ends; with subsidies at one and inefficiencies at the other.
But, folks are starting to notice and “what can't go on won’t” so reality is around the corner and, hence, coal, natural gas and nuclear options have to be preserved. Natural gas has dramatically expanded for this reason and has added huge new capacity. It is king of the hill today, in fact. And, not just here in America but also in China, where green political correctness is only for the consumption of chumps. Check out this story and these chart from today's Today In Energy post:
Last year, annual natural gas consumption increased in all economic sectors within China, with residential and commercial consumption increasing by 8%, or 0.7 Bcf/d, and electric power consumption increasing by 10%, or 0.5 Bcf/d. Residential and commercial natural gas consumption in China has grown every year since 2014, almost tripling from 3.6 Bcf/d in 2014 to 9.3 Bcf/d in 2023, as more customers switched from coal to natural gas for home heating. In the electric power sector, additional economic activity and new natural gas-fired capacity increased consumption.
Domestic natural gas production in China provided 58% of its natural gas supply in 2023, averaging 21.7 Bcf/d, an increase of 6% (1.2 Bcf/d) from 2022. Domestic production has grown by more than 1.0 Bcf/d every year since 2017, mainly from discrete natural gas reservoirs and associated natural gas from oil production. Production from low-permeability formations, such as tight gas, shale, and coal-bed methane, has also increased and averaged 8.6 Bcf/d in 2023. China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–25) set a domestic natural gas production target of 22.3 Bcf/d by 2025, most of which was met in 2023.
So, natural gas in the U.S. is king but we'd rather talk about wind and, under the Biden-Harris administration, promote green energy and kill off natural gas. Meanwhile, natural gas has also become king in China and they're welcoming it and developing it without apologies.
There’s something wrong with this picture; it's the failure of our leadership. We are ruled by the worst people.
With all of the supposed concerns about "misinformation" and "disinformation", it's fascinating that the myth of "cheap green energy" continues to persist. The good news is that as reality hits, people will wake up. The bad news is that there will be substantial time and money wasted until that happens.
With all of the supposed concerns about "misinformation" and "disinformation", it's fascinating that the myth of "cheap green energy" continues to persist. The good news is that as reality hits, people will wake up. The bad news is that there will be substantial time and money wasted until that happens.