Assault on Wind and Solar

In the prior post, I re-published an article I had presented 5 years ago, on research that had been carried out by Robert Hirsch and his associates. That research raised serious questions about the future availability of oil at the production rates necessary for the continuation of society as we know it. His report then attempted an analysis of the most promising mitigation strategies for avoiding the otherwise dire consequences. Hirsch and these same associates have very recently published a book entitled The Impending World Energy Mess. Some of the content of the book represents an update to the work done 5 years ago. Most of its content is, in one way or another, focused on the availability of liquid fuels going forward. Indeed, the book can be taken as both an introduction to, and summary of, the issue of "peak oil." But there is also a section on electrical energy and electricity generation options. This section is nothing short of an attack on the notion that wind- and solar-generated electricity can address our need for an economically viable substitute for conventional -- that is, fossil-fuel based, hydro, and nuclear -- electric power generation. The attack is so thoroughgoing that the pro-wind and pro-solar communities will, I think, be compelled to respond to this challenge. There are several on-line forums in which this discussion is likely to take place. One of them is the Energy Bulletin, and I am suggesting that those who have an interest in this topic might want to visit the site on a fairly regular basis. The site can be found at: http://www.energybulletin.net/.