Offshore wind power is faltering, local resistance to “Big Wind and Big Solar” is mounting, and electric vehicles are clearly struggling. But Ed Ballard of the Wall Street Journal says that policy-makers, including the International Energy Agency, are missing the enormity of the investment in alternative energy. “Last year, more than four-fifths of the world’s…
Search Results for: energy
Nearly Half of U.S. Corn and Soybeans Go into “Green” Energy
States are requiring that producers of gasoline include “biofuels” in their product mix—fuels like ethanol, made from corn or other food crops. A new report from North Carolina’s John Locke Foundation says those rules are costing consumers by raising food prices. And it calls out the states that demand the most biofuels (one of them…
Friday Links: From “Green Energy” Credits to Climate Resilience in Coastal Areas
- The Washington Post expresses doubts about “green energy” credits.
- More anxiety about the power grid. (The fault, says Axios, is the hot weather anticipated this summer.)
- The Biden administration doles out staggering amounts of money:
- It lends $9.5 billion to Ford to make batteries for electric vehicles.
- Plans to spend nearly $1 billion to electrify federal buildings.
- Will hand out $575 million for “climate resilience” in coastal communities.
Twisted Logic: China Must Burn More Coal to Meet Demands of Green Energy
“My first thought was that I had stumbled onto a Babylon Bee article,” writes Ed Ireland on Substack. Then he quotes Bloomberg Green: “Expanding coal-fired power is China’s only real option in the short term to meet rising electricity demand, including from new energy vehicles, according to ANZ Group.” Ireland replies: “Here’s my interpretation of…
Inspector General Warns Energy Dept. about “Immense Risks” of Big New Lending Programs
The New York Times recently reported on the Dept. of Energy’s frantic effort to lend $400 billion before the election of 2024. In doing so, the Times article publicized a critical report by the Office of the Inspector General dated November 2022. That report, along with a memo to the energy secretary from Inspector General Teri Donaldson, identified numerous risks that had just been increased by the ballooning plans for loans. These increases (no surprise!) had been authorized by the CHIPS Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the IRA (“Inflation Reduction Act”).
Trade-Offs: Biden’s Push for Bio-energy from Agriculture Worries Environmentalists
The “Inflation Reduction Act” will provide $140 billion in agricultural “tax incentives, loans and grants” to promote energy. Environmentalists are not happy. Keith Schneider of the New York Times: “Despite pushback from environmental groups concerned about increased pollution from farm waste, developers across the country see opportunities to build ambitious renewable energy projects to convert…