President Barack The Zero Windmill Obama has, through the actions of his minions in various federal agencies, been busy trying and succeeding to cripple the fossil fuel energy industry in this country. Whether it’s shutting down drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, or delaying a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, or handing out billions to GM to make Chevy Dolts that will go a whole 40 miles on a charge (where does that electricity come from? Coal, most likely), he’s chipping away at fossil fuels to appease the left-wing eco-nut portion of his base.
At the same time, he’s been busy handing out taxpayer-backed loan guarantees and grants to “green” energy concerns. Several of those companies, like Solyndra, have failed, leaving the taxpayers on the hook. Throw aside the improprieties of an administration handing out favors to its campaign-fundraising buddies (why not, everyone else has), and think about the business models of these so-called “green” companies.
As the Spanish discovered when they launched headlong into rebuilding their economy as green, the model doesn’t work. It’s unsustainable. Renewable energy cannot replace fossil fuel energy, not without heavy subsidies from the taxpayers. And it’s not going to be a economicially sustainable model for a looooong time. Now, alas, the Dutch find that all that “free” wind energy is, well, not so free after all. The model doesn’t work, and the taxpayers don’t want to foot the bill any more.
(Reuters) – When the Netherlands built its first sea-based wind turbines in 2006, they were seen as symbols of a greener future.
Towering over the waves of the North Sea like an army of giants, blades whipping through the wind, the turbines were the country’s best hope to curb carbon emissions and meet growing demand for electricity.
The 36 turbines — each one the height of a 30-storey building — produce enough electricity to meet the needs of more than 100,000 households each year.
But five years later the green future looks a long way off. Faced with the need to cut its budget deficit, the Dutch government says offshore wind power is too expensive and that it cannot afford to subsidize the entire cost of 18 cents per kilowatt hour — some 4.5 billion euros last year.
The government now plans to transfer the financial burden to households and industrial consumers in order to secure the funds for wind power and try to attract private sector investment.
It will start billing consumers and companies in January 2013 and simultaneously launch a system under which investors will be able to apply to participate in renewable energy projects.
But the new billing system will reap only a third of what was previously available to the industry in subsidies — the government forecasts 1.5 billion euros every year — while the pricing scale of the investment plan makes it more likely that interested parties will choose less expensive technologies than wind.
The outlook for Dutch wind projects seems bleak.
Wait – I thought renewable energy sources were free? Why is it costing money to have wind power? Isn’t the wind free? Folks who advocates for these kind of energy-producing boondoggles need to get real, and take into account the whole cost of a wind farm, or a solar panel array, or some other not-ready-for-prime time scheme to replace fossil fuels. They’re just not there yet, because the only way they can be sustained is through heavy taxpayer-derived subsidies. And in case you haven’t noticed, the well of subsidies (here, and abroad) is about to go dry.
Read the rest at Reuters
