The Lie That Renewables Can Replace Fossil Fuels
Wind turbines cannot be mated with other wind turbines to make new ones. They require lots of steel, concrete, rebar, and plastic which require fossil fuels
The lie that fossil fuels can be replaced with wind and solar has led to a proliferation of net zero emissions policies, creating the possibility of millions of people freezing and starving in the dark this winter.
The goal of zero net emissions of carbon dioxide has been a central element of government policies worldwide for years. Europe started down this destructive path decades ago, and the U.S. is now desperately trying to catch up, even as worldwide supply chains are being disrupted. Widespread starvation in Europe and other countries this winter seems inevitable.
This ridiculous and dangerous policy of banning fossil fuels was on vivid display on September 21, 2022, in a House Financial Committee hearing when Wisconsin U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib asked the CEO of J.P. Morgan, Jamie Dimon if his bank would pledge to stop lending to fossil fuel companies. His answer was brief and to the point.
In case you have trouble deciphering her confused statements and questions, Rep. Talib says: “You have all committed, as you all know, to transition the emissions from lending and investment activities to align with pathways to net-zero in 2050, so no new fossil fuel production, starting today, so that’s like zero. I would like to ask all of you and go down the list, cause again, you all have agreed to doing this. Please answer with a simple yes or no, does your bank have a policy against funding new oil and gas products (she clarified later that she meant gas projects, not products), Mr. Dimon.”
“Absolutely not, and that would be the road to hell for America,” Dimon responded, at which point Rep. Talib lost her cool and suggested that everyone in America should close their bank accounts with J.P. Morgan.
Good for Mr. Dimon for telling the truth and not playing along with such a stupid question based on a lie.
The lie that fossil fuels can be replaced and eliminated has two components, both of which are false:
Renewables can replace fossil fuels to generate electricity.
The electricity generated by renewables can replace fossil fuels
Let’s look at each component.
Energy Lie #1: Renewables can replace fossil fuels to generate electricity
An absolute fact is that renewables are unreliable. Solar panels only work when the sun is shining, and wind turbines only work when the wind blows. Those conditions are not always met, and predicting when wind and solar will fail is difficult. We know with 100% certainty that solar panels do not work at night, so solar panels only work 50% of the time. Wind turbines have a worse record of only working 35% to 40% of the time. Alex Epstein has done an excellent job of exploring the weaknesses of renewables in his new book, Fossil Future, which I highly recommend.
Unreliable renewable electricity generation requires either backup electricity generation capacity or massive battery storage. Battery technology at a grid scale is so expensive that it is not economically feasible and barely used. Instead, peaking electricity generation, usually generated by natural gas, is used. In other words, natural gas-powered electricity generation functions as the “battery” for unreliable renewables.
Energy Lie #1 relies on deception through clever wording. I did an Internet search using Bing with the question: “Can fossil fuels be replaced with renewables.” At the top of the next screen is“YES.” The link to the next screen explains, “Alternative energy sources can effectively replace fossil fuels in key areas that keep industries and countries running, from power to public and private transport to thermal comfort.” I emphasized “in key areas” because that is how they temper the lie. Unfortunately, a casual reader reads that fossil fuels can replace renewables.
Many articles in more searches don’t even try to argue the point; they answer the question with statements such as “fossil fuels must be replaced with renewables to stop climate change,” which is a call to arms to stop the production of fossil fuels forcibly, as Rep. Talib did in the Congressional hearing. Here is one example of a call to arms from the foodandwaterwatch.com website:
“We must stop pretending Renewables will automatically displace fossil fuels—only curbing fossil fuels will let renewables deliver on their potential.” “Without supply constraints such as banning natural gas and oil production, there is no guarantee that fossil fuel use will end or even slow. Unfettered technological progress will likely unlock an ever-growing supply of fossil fuels at lower prices.”
Oh, the horror that “unfettered technological progress might unlock an ever-growing supply of fossil fuels at lower prices.” Such statements highlight that the green movement is Malthusian and dreams of the utopia of a human-free world, not a human-flourishing world aided by fossil fuels.
Energy Lie #2: Electricity generated by renewables can replace fossil fuels.
Let’s start with a few facts. Electricity is one way to deliver other forms of energy; it is not a primary form of energy. In the U.S., 40% of energy consumption is for electrical generation, and 60% of electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels. Even if all electricity generation was magically replaced with renewables, the other 60% of energy consumption requires fossil fuels.
The 60% of U.S. energy consumed that is not in the form of electricity is extremely important. This 60% includes industrial and commercial uses that are needed to produce food, building materials, fertilizer, and a very long list of commodities that modern human life depends on, such as food, clothing, building materials, and every component of cars, including EVs.
Here is a list of 6,000 products made from one barrel of oil after creating 19 gallons of gasoline. This is only a partial list of everyday products made from petroleum and natural gas. The fact is that everything we depend on for daily living is either made from oil and gas or is transported by oil and gas.
Vaclav Smil calls these commodities “indirect energies.” Indirect energies go into producing steel, plastics, glass, and batteries, primarily fossil fuels, because the world’s primary energy use is now 83% dependent on fossil carbon. Smil emphasizes their importance by saying that “the notion that any EV is a zero-carbon car is nonsense.”
In his book, “How the World Works,” Smil delves into what he calls the “Four Pillars of Modern Civilization: ammonia, plastics, steel, and concrete,” all of which require fossil fuels and all of which we cannot live without. He says most people think only of electricity generation and transportation uses of fossil fuels, which is incorrect. Essentially he is saying that the assertion that fossil fuels can be eliminated is preposterous.
Almost 8 billion people can live on this earth because natural gas is used to make synthesized nitrogen fertilizers using the Haber-Bosch process. Without nitrogen fertilizers, widespread food shortages and starvation will happen. This reality is playing out before our eyes in Sri Lanka, where their government banned nitrogen fertilizers, and the population rebelled due to the resulting food shortages. We will, unfortunately, see more rebellions in the next few months and years because the World Energy Forum (WEF), the World Bank, and the United Nations International Monetary Fund (IMF) are pressuring developing countries to stop using nitrogen fertilizers.
The pushback against the anti-fossil lies is gaining momentum worldwide, and the fruits of those efforts will hopefully become more visible in the next few months. Hopefully, the lie that renewables can replace fossil fuels will continue to be exposed, and dangerous anti-fossil fuel policies will be eliminated.
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