GETTING REAL ON WIND AND SOLAR

[HT:RT]
Both are intermittent electric power generators; they cannot produce electricity "on demand." Nevertheless, solar and wind energy seem to have captured Washington's support as potentially being the primary or total answer to our electric power needs.

Solar and wind electricity systems must be backed up 100 percent by other forms of generation to ensure against blackouts; that power comes only from fossil fuels.

Because of this need for full fossil fuel backup, the public will pay a large premium for solar and wind and again for fossil fuel; thus, the total cost of such a system includes the cost of the solar and wind machines, their subsidies, AND the cost of the full backup power system running in "spinning reserve."

Moreover, since solar and wind conditions are most favorable in the Southwest and the center of the country, costly transmission lines will be needed to move that lower-cost solar and wind energy to population centers on the coasts. Consequently, solar and wind will probably only provide a modest percentage of future U.S. power.

Meaning that some serious realism in energy planning is needed, preferably from analysts who are not backing one horse or another...

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