Bjorn Lomborg is a Scandanavian who has long written sensible, rational books on the dangers of the environmental movement and climate hysteria. He believes in trying to create a safe and clean world, but also warns about the costs imposed, and the unintended consequences. In a recent article he points out the “lie” that wind and solar power are cheap or green. It is an undisputable fact that the more a country relies on “renewable” energy like wind and solar, the higher its electricity costs are. One fundamental reason is that these are not on-demand sources of power but highly intermittent ones, which therefore require backup systems. Germany has essentially ruined its economy by shutting down coal, gas and nuclear power generation. Spain recently was taught a lesson about the fragility of wind and solar power. And smart countries like China and India are actually investing massively in coal power plants. So do we want the US to destroy its economy or boost it? (NYP Article)
It’s an open secret that LCOE only measures generation costs and omits the cost of intermittency and cost of stability which are currently borne by fossil fuel generation.
Yet the advocates simply can’t comprehend the whole picture.