The more I dig into government "mandates" the more pissed off I get. This is another blog on "mandates".
First off, energy is the main component that drives the quality of life for us humans. Think about North America before Columbus. The people here had no domestic animals to do work for them. They had to do it all with their own muscles. This fact limited their quality of life compared to Europe at the same time. In Europe, they had horses and cattle, plus coal for the steam engines that provided "energy". Isn't it clear that the availability of energy is the driver of quality of life for us humans? Think of the impact of when oil was discovered. Now, think of the downward impact of making the cost of energy higher? The government "mandates" on wind and solar energy did not create more energy, they just made energy more expensive.
Here is another point. The amount of pollution created is a function of its cost. If it costs more, then it creates more pollution in the process. Look at cars. The more a car costs, the more pollution that was produced to make the car. It is the same for a house. The bigger the house, the more pollution was produced to build the house. This applies to everything, so remember this point.
Here is another point. The farther from the point of use that power is produced, the more it costs. This is because of the additional cost of transporting the power. In the case of wind and solar power, it is mostly produced in areas that are remote from where it is needed and thus includes extra cost for transmitting it to where it will be eventually used.
Here is another point. If the source of power is intermittent, then it has to be backed up by a source that is 100% available. I think that we all know that, but did you know this? The cost of power from a typical power plant is made up of two components. The amortization of the physical plant cost plus the cost of fuel. This means that the power plant produces the cheapest power when it runs at capacity. If the plant has to run below capacity to provide room for wind and solar power the power from the power plants costs more. Now combine their power with the more costly wind and solar power and you have, what I call a "double". Higher cost normal energy plus higher cost wind and solar energy. Starting to see why we are being screwed by the wind and solar power mandate?
Because wind and solar power is intermittent, it has "zero" impact on the number of regular power plants that are needed to provide power 100% of the time.
Here is another way you are being screwed. If your power is made up of 10% wind and solar and it has a cost that is twice that from a regular power plant, the impact on your energy bill is only 5%. As long as the ratio is low, many of you don't even notice that you are being screwed, but as the ratio goes up your bill will eventually become twice or three times what it was before!
Rather than using the unethical "mandate", what if our government just added a "tax" to power? It would make us use less and not give an unfair advantage to uneconomical things like wind and solar power. We would see the tax and the additional tax could be used to pay down our national debit. Are you starting to see how "mandates" are a bait and switch and that if our government were honest it would pass a "tax" rather than hide behind a "mandate"/
First off, energy is the main component that drives the quality of life for us humans. Think about North America before Columbus. The people here had no domestic animals to do work for them. They had to do it all with their own muscles. This fact limited their quality of life compared to Europe at the same time. In Europe, they had horses and cattle, plus coal for the steam engines that provided "energy". Isn't it clear that the availability of energy is the driver of quality of life for us humans? Think of the impact of when oil was discovered. Now, think of the downward impact of making the cost of energy higher? The government "mandates" on wind and solar energy did not create more energy, they just made energy more expensive.
Here is another point. The amount of pollution created is a function of its cost. If it costs more, then it creates more pollution in the process. Look at cars. The more a car costs, the more pollution that was produced to make the car. It is the same for a house. The bigger the house, the more pollution was produced to build the house. This applies to everything, so remember this point.
Here is another point. The farther from the point of use that power is produced, the more it costs. This is because of the additional cost of transporting the power. In the case of wind and solar power, it is mostly produced in areas that are remote from where it is needed and thus includes extra cost for transmitting it to where it will be eventually used.
Here is another point. If the source of power is intermittent, then it has to be backed up by a source that is 100% available. I think that we all know that, but did you know this? The cost of power from a typical power plant is made up of two components. The amortization of the physical plant cost plus the cost of fuel. This means that the power plant produces the cheapest power when it runs at capacity. If the plant has to run below capacity to provide room for wind and solar power the power from the power plants costs more. Now combine their power with the more costly wind and solar power and you have, what I call a "double". Higher cost normal energy plus higher cost wind and solar energy. Starting to see why we are being screwed by the wind and solar power mandate?
Because wind and solar power is intermittent, it has "zero" impact on the number of regular power plants that are needed to provide power 100% of the time.
Here is another way you are being screwed. If your power is made up of 10% wind and solar and it has a cost that is twice that from a regular power plant, the impact on your energy bill is only 5%. As long as the ratio is low, many of you don't even notice that you are being screwed, but as the ratio goes up your bill will eventually become twice or three times what it was before!
Rather than using the unethical "mandate", what if our government just added a "tax" to power? It would make us use less and not give an unfair advantage to uneconomical things like wind and solar power. We would see the tax and the additional tax could be used to pay down our national debit. Are you starting to see how "mandates" are a bait and switch and that if our government were honest it would pass a "tax" rather than hide behind a "mandate"/
