Government Lab Finds Wind Energy Not Meeting Carbon Emission Goals

This blog noted the Argonne study earlier, and in the comments studies were referenced that this Institute for Energy Research article also notes.  

What’s refreshingly new is the conclusion of the IER piece – keeping in mind the growing championing, in Ontario, of hydrogen as the next prospective energy saviour.

Institute for Energy Research | Government Lab Finds Wind Energy Not Meeting Carbon Emission Goals:

Because wind is an intermittent technology, wind turbines generate power only when the wind is blowing, and that means electric grids will need backup generators to provide base-load power during off-wind periods. Those back-up generators are typically fossil fuel plants that should be run continuously as they were designed to provide base-load power. When they are ramped up and down, conventional plants are being used inefficiently, consuming more fuel and releasing more emissions in the process…

Argonne’s suggested answer to the dilemma caused by forcing more expensive and intermittent renewable energy sources into the grid is to spend more money on the development of storage batteries to store electricity when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. An observant taxpayer or policymaker reviewing the facts might conclude that, rather than continuing to compound government spending and increase consumer costs for energy through government subsidies and mandates, it is government policies which keep causing problems in the first place. If that is the case, the best remedy would be to avoid doing the harm in the first place.

The entire article can be read at the Institute for Energy Research website: 

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