Renewable energy sources

One of the big goals of the global warming crowd is to shift towards renewable energy. Thus we have electric cars (sort of), ethanol added to gasoline, wind farms and other schemes. These are supposed to save the Earth. So let's take a look at these plans.

Ethanol is made from corn. Millions of bushels of corn is processed into a type of alcohol that is blended into gasoline. The Obama administration is actively seeking to raise the level of ethanol use by about 50% above the current level. What has this accomplished? First of all, less oil is used in making the gasoline. That, however, is an economic issue. Let's stick with environmental issues. Ethanol is a carbon based fuel. So are oil and natural gas. The difference is that for the fossil fuels, the earth provided the pressure and other energy that was needed to transform biological material (like old dinosaurs) into oil and natural gas. For ethanol, man has to provide the energy to change the corn into fuel. And here's the problem: more fossil energy is used to produce ethanol than the energy contained within it. Got that? The energy needed to produce ethanol is more than the energy output of the ethanol created. What this means is that the use of ethanol does not reduce the use of fossil fuels. So there is really no upside to ethanol, but is there a downside? The answer is a clear YES! By taking millions of bushels of corn off the market each year, the ethanol process has raised the price for corn in a major way. That means that food costs have risen. After all, the single biggest feed for cattle, hogs and the other animals that provide meat on American tables is corn. Corn is also part of cereals, soft drinks, many baked goods and all sorts of other food products. Ethanol production makes all of the foods more expensive. In summary, ethanol results in the burning of more fossil fuels and a large increase in food costs for America. Does that sound like a success to you? Why are the Obamacrats pushing for more ethanol usage?

How about electric cars? First, let me apologize for using the term electric cars. In truth, these are partially electric cars. The Chevy Volt only runs on electricity for less than 30 miles between charges; the rest of the time it is just a regular gasoline powered car. None of the other so-called electric cars does much better. And where do these electric cars get their energy? The electricity is coming from the power plants of America's electric utilities. By far the main fuel that produces electric energy in the USA is coal. So, electric cars are replacing gasoline with coal. Of course, that is an overstatement. Only about half of the electric energy comes from coal. Just under a quarter comes from nuclear power plants with the next largest source being natural gas. Even so, coal produces more than twice the emissions of gasoline, so on a net basis, the electric cars increase emissions into the atmosphere. Here too, the scheme to save the world is making things worse.

Well what about wind farms? These temples to environmentalism have been put in a variety of locations (unless they might spoil the view from the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport.) Do they actually help the environment? Here too the answer is mixed. There is no question that the energy produced from a windmill is cleaner than energy from fossil fuels. Windmills, after all, do not produce emissions. Of course, there are electromagnetic "emissions" that come off of the generating facilities at the windmills. Some think that these could be carcinogenic, but there is no clear evidence of this. The down side to the windmills, however, is not these emissions. No, the down side is the slaughter caused by windmills among the local bird populations. As the big propeller shaped windmills speed along in their endless circles, the have been hitting thousands of birds that get caught in their path. Think about this. Environmentalists have cut off about half the water to California's Central Valley in order to try to save a fish on the endangered species list. America's most productive farm land is in danger of becoming a desert and hundreds of thousands have lost their livelihoods all in the name of saving this fish. but in the name of environmentalism, tens of thousands of birds are being killed and no one even talks about it. How many of these birds come from endangered species? We will never know.

The simple truth is that most renewable energy sources do not benefit the environment. So much of the environmental movement's icons are actually shams, it is astounding. Clearly, it is a good thing to keep the environment clean. It needs to be done on a rational rather than an emotional basis, however.