The high costs of alternative energy

Mark Mills:
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After all that, consider the state of affairs: Today, the nation still gets over 80% of all energy from hydrocarbons. And the vast majority of the rest comes from old nukes and hydro dams. Given that the mission of all the policies and subsidies has been to drive down costs of alternatives, it is notable that wind and solar remain astonishingly expensive compared to hydrocarbons. Stripped of hyperbole, the ‘naked’ engineering costs are revealing.

At today’s capital costs, $1 million worth of a modern wind turbine will produce, over 30 years of operation, about 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) of energy. And $1 million worth of today’s rooftop solar panels will produce, again over the same 30 years, less than 50,000 BOE. Compare this to what $1 million worth of a shale rig produces over 30 years of operation: at least 400,000 barrels of actual petroleum, or 400,000 BOE of natural gas.
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There is much more.

This confirms my claim that alternative energy is inefficient compared with fossil fuels.  Not only is it more efficient. it is also more dependable and can be better modulated to match fluctuating demand.  The latter is a serious problem for solar.

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