Going Red With Solar And Wind

We have been inundated for the last few decades about the evil fossil fuels and how we must use alternative energies to combat whatever we are supposed to be combatting. For decades, solar energy has been touted as the way to go. In fact, back in the 70’s, I actually bought a solar unit to heat water in my home in Vienna, VA. Yep, it heated the water most of the time, but I’m guessing the technology then wasn’t the best and I found out I wasted my money.

Today is now and that was then. Solar is still being touted as the best way to go because the sun’s rays are free, right? According to the Department of Energy, solar creates more jobs than wind or coal!

Only natural gas employs more people. Solar companies have 374,000 employees as compared to 100,000 for wind and 160,000 for coal (mining and coal-powered electricity generation). For those people consumed by protecting our environment, one would think this is a good thing. For the rest of us, it seems to be an interesting statistic that bears investigation.

Of course, there is another side to this “coin.” There are 398,000 natural gas workers who are responsible for 33.8% of ALL the electricity developed in the US in 2016, 160,000 coal workers responsible for 30.4%, 100,000 wind workers for 5.6%, and then those 374,000 solar employees generating 0.9% of ALL of our electricity (A study by the American Enterprise Institute). This study delved even deeper into the figures and found coal generated 7,745 megawatt-hours of electricity PER WORKER! Natural gas was second on the list at 3,812 MWHs, wind a tiny 836MWH, and solar an incredible low number in comparison at 98MWH/worker. These statistics could be easier to understand when they are diagnosed as 1 coal worker produces the same amount of electricity as 2 natural gas workers, 12 wind workers, and a whopping 79 workers.

Wow! Now that’s a headbanger for many folks. It gets worse when the figures are collated into the cost of electricity. You see, coal and natural gas are relatively cheap and we have access to them 24/7, but wind and solar are comparatively more expensive and not present all the time, in fact on an annual basis, they are available, at most, 30% of the time.

Now, let’s get down to the real nitty-gritty of the issue, our tax dollars. Wind and solar suck up billions of our taxes as subsidies to wind and solar companies as they suck up billions of dollars from consumers at higher rates than coal and natural gas. So looking at the big picture here, solar and wind energy production is a losing proposition in the short and long run. There’s more to it.

The amount of land required to get “adequate” electricity from wind and solar is tremendous, 300 acres to generate 600 MW 100% of the time, for coal. One wind farm company in Indiana uses 50,000 acres and generates electricity about 20% of the year, meaning nothing is coming out 80% of the year. I have witnessed many non-functioning wind turbines as I traveled through the Midwest. Out of 50 I saw, 24 were turning! On top of that, since wind and solar are part-time occurrences, they must be backed up by coal or natural gas working approximately 80% of the time!

Coal, gas, and nuclear plants can be built close to cities, but wind and solar have to be often 100-200 miles from cities thus necessitating super long transmission lines with an incredible amount of maintenance as well as the raw materials (concrete, copper, fiberglass, and rare earth metals) needed to construct them. I haven’t even mentioned the environmental impacts, soaring energy costs, wildlife habitats destroyed, and, if you will, the overall negative effects on “climate change” caused by the energy required to mine, process, manufacture, transport, construct and maintain wind and solar facilities.

You remember Solyndra, right? Now we have Suniva, another solar company, in bankruptcy. All our tax dollar subsidies down the drain. Overall, solar and wind are not a good idea for America.