SUMMARY:
Costs of solar
and wind energy:
Some costs
are obvious.
Others are not.
- Infrastructure,
including new
transmission lines.
- Huge amount of
mining for minerals
required for
manufacturing,
especially
for batteries.
- Huge amount
of land needed
for wind turbines
and solar panels.
- Wind turbines
will slaughter
a huge number
of birds and bats.
- Very ugly
wind turbines,
especially
the offshore
installations.
- Disposal of
obsolete and
worn out
solar panels,
wind turbines,
and batteries
in the future.
DETAILS:
The first 'green' goal
is to eliminate reliable,
affordable, and generally
clean, fossil fuels,
including natural gas,
that generate most
of America’s electricity
Many climate alarmists
would also eliminate
clean nuclear power,
falsely claimed
to be unsafe.
The main problem
is the huge expense
to replace current
energy sources
that work well,
making their
infrastructure
obsolete and
worthless, with
other sources,
of energy that
do not work well.
SOLAR ENERGY:
Solar farms now
generate only 1.5%
of U.S. electricity.
Using efficient Nellis
Air Force Base solar
panels as a guide:
Replacing
all fossil fuels
and nuclear power
to generate electricity
would require
57,000 square miles
of land, with 19 billion
photovoltaic solar panels.
Equivalent to the area
of New York and Vermont
combined.
That's assuming
you could get
57,000 square miles
of sunny sites.
Big effects on
habitats and wildlife.
ONSHORE
WIND TURBINES:
Using Indiana’s
Fowler Ridge
Wind Farm,
covering
68 square miles,
as a guide:
Replacing
all fossil fuels
and nuclear power
to generate electricity
would require more than
2 million turbines,
on more than 500,000
square miles !
Huge effects on
wildlife habitat,
and scenic lands.
That’s equivalent to
the combined area
of Arizona, California,
Nevada, Oregon,
and one-quarter
of Washington state.
That's assuming
you could get
500,000 square miles
of windy areas.
The 56,000
wind turbines
we now have
could already be
slaughtering millions
of birds and bats
every year, including
endangered species.
Birds and bats
eat insects.
OFFSHORE
WIND TURBINES:
Much more
expensive
to install and
the salt water
significantly
shortens
turbine's lives.
Ocean winds
do blow
more steadily.
But environmental
groups oppose them,
so there's only one
small offshore facility
operating off of
Rhode Island’s
coastline.
NEW TRANSMISSION LINES
New solar and wind
facilities would need
to be located further
from populated
urban areas than
existing natural gas,
coal, and nuclear
facilities, meaning
a major expansion
of high-voltage
transmission lines.
Environmental groups
oppose new power lines,
and clearing the vegetation
around them ( a big problem
for California wildfires ),
calling trimming “unnatural”
and “harmful to wildlife".
MANUFACTURING
REQUIREMENTS:
Manufacturing solar panels
require many toxic materials.
Manufacturing wind turbines
require enormous amounts
of steel, concrete, copper,
and rare earth elements.
Storing half a week’s
worth of electricity
for when the sun
is not shining
or the wind
isn’t blowing
would require
one billion half-ton
Tesla car battery packs.
And a massive expansion
of mining for lithium, cobalt,
and other substances
in the United States, Asia,
Africa, and South America.
leading to child labor and
environmental disasters
in Africa.
DISPOSAL:
Disposing of
obsolescent
solar panels,
wind turbines,
and batteries
in the future
is a big problem
climate alarmists
prefer to ignore.