More green energy fiascos are looming

Over the past several years, we see more and more evidence that the much-vaunted methods of mitigating “man-made global warming” (aka global climate change) are failing to meet the needs of modern civilization. Pushed heavily by government, Gaea-worshipers, special interest groups, and (frankly) anyone who can make a million bucks in a scam, their narrative is falling apart.

In the past few years, we have seen emergencies created and disasters barely mitigated or prevented across the States:

It was five years ago that the Texas energy grid very nearly failed due to extreme low temperatures in February of 2021. At least one cause was the failure of solar and wind systems in those temperatures, and Texas had abandoned coal, oil, and natural gas for power production putting too much reliance on “green energy.” Though toughened and somewhat corrected, the situation (and anxiety) still remains high.

It wasn’t just Texas, way to the South, that faced those problems. This year, people found out that Montana wind farms (reported here) don’t work well in very cold weather. Not that Montana ever has problems like that! (Some of us remember the winter of 1969, when Havre (admittedly up on the border with Alberta) had six weeks where the daily high temperature never got above -10F, and the low at Great Falls was -63F.)

Neither can Tesla electric vehicles, even if not at -30F and just hovering around zero. It wasn’t just Chicago: many such vehicles did not do well in the very cold, high-wind weather in Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas and elsewhere. It is a well-known phenomenon for all kinds of battery systems, and electronic systems in general.

In Colorado, a wind turbine near the tiny northeastern town of Peetz died spectacularly in mid-January: In bitterly cold and windy weather, the pylon collapsed and the turbine itself burned while polluting the ground with petroleum hydrocarbons. Since then, stories of a dozen or more similar incidents have been reported in the windfarms of the Great Plains and Great Basin.

On highways, especially the Interstate Highway System, warning and message signs, critical for safety on modern high-speed, high-count highways, often use solar power. But snow and dust, as well as cold temps, can render these useless.

Despite developments greatly improving the life and efficiency of solar voltaic systems, they still have limited life and capacity. Look at those cute little solar lights on your sidewalk or patio or apartment parking lot: they don’t last very long, do they? (Even if dogs and cats and birds and kids don’t do horrible things to them!)

In California, it was just announced a few days ago that the 2.2-billion dollar Ivanpah solar complex, operating since 2014, is being shut down this year because it is, frankly, a failure: a boondoggle that was expensive to build, expensive to operate, and never functioned properly. While creating major environmental concerns all by itself. With the other issues that the people’s republic has created and suffered, it pushes the State closer to third-world status.

We know of several wind turbine systems that have never fully been operational, sucking time and taxpayer’s money away to provide nothing of lasting benefit. As time goes on, the situation will just get worse, as systems age and costs rise. Despite this, States like Colorado, New Mexico, and California push more and more green projects, while shutting down more and more “legacy” power stations (using coal, lignite, natural gas, fuel oil, and hydroelectric production).

If you have the ability, do not depend on these systems. Consider what you can do to decentralize your power supply: even though wind and solar are too undependable for mass use, they can and do work for single-site, single-residence situations in some areas. And natural gas-fired gensets for homes are more and more affordable and user-friendly. And although it may sound very “1970s-ish,” look at energy conservation in your own home.

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