Nuclear

DMITRY ORLOV—Although some people claim that wind and solar farms have an EROEI (Energy Returned on Energy Invested) of 5 or even 7, it is trivial to prove that this just isn’t so. If, for each 1 kWh of energy invested in their design, marketing, production, installation, maintenance, removal and safe disposal, they were to return 5 or even 7 kWh over their useful lifetime of, optimistically, 20 years, and assuming a constant (inflation-adjusted) cost of energy, they would produce at least 400% of pure profit! Compare that to a bank deposit or a guaranteed income investment yielding 3% over inflation (if you can find one!). Over the same 20 years it would produce a mere 80% profit, which is equivalent to an EROEI of just 1.8. If wind and solar installations were so lucrative, their promoters would not be asking for government subsidies; they would be running away from frenzied mobs of investors shouting “Shut up and take my money!” Such a huge, and guaranteed, rate of return, is something to die (or at least risk going to jail) for.

JOHN SCHOONOVER—Fossil fuel pollution kills more than three million people every year. It is a disaster in the immediate, and the mid-term. The most omnicidal culprit is coal, a major source of US electricity. In fact, the installed coal-fired electrical generation capacity is about 250.4 GW. What if Biden’s energy policy included a crash program to get rid of the coal menace starting January 20. He has two options: solar/wind or nuclear.

ERIC SCHECHTER—A 26-minute video explaining feedback loops, exponential growth, etc. in nontechnical terms. Transcript (and links) at author’s main blog A 26-minute video explaining feedback loops, exponential growth, etc. in nontechnical terms. Transcript (and links) at http://leftymathprof.wordpress.com/

ROBERT J. BURROWES—Hence, unless and until you make a conscious personal decision to participate strategically…

=By= Ethan Indigo Smith A Shadow On the Collective Consciousness t has been a…