Alt-Energy: The Cold Equations

Steven Den Beste resurrects some memories from his retired blog USS Clueless:

In order for "alternate energy" to become feasible, it has to satisfy all of the following criteria:

1. It has to be huge (in terms of both energy and power)
2. It has to be reliable (not intermittent or unschedulable)
3. It has to be concentrated (not diffuse)
4. It has to be possible to utilize it efficiently
5. The capital investment and operating cost to utilize it has to be comparable to existing energy sources (per gigawatt, and per terajoule).

If it fails to satisfy any of those, then it can't scale enough to make any difference. Solar power fails #3, and currently it also fails #5. (It also partially fails #2, but there are ways to work around that.)

The only sources of energy available to us now that satisfy all five are petroleum, coal, hydro, and nuclear.

Anyone serious about reality and alt-energy should print out that list and frame it for future reference. Den Beste continues:

The problems facing "alternate energy" are fundamental, deep, and are show-stoppers. They are not things that will be surmounted by one lone incremental improvement in one small area, announced breathlessly by a startup which is trying to drum up funding.

...If the adherents of this kind of religion can just convert enough doubters, then paradise can happen. If you just believe, we can all be saved! Hallelujah, baby! Praise Gaia and pass the biodiesel!

Thanks, but no thanks. My "conservatism" on this subject is due to my understanding of the laws of physics and the principles of engineering, not to me being hidebound and unimaginative.

Do yourself a favor and read the whole thing. Best comment:

As long ago as the late 70s I was trying to explain concepts such as energy density to solar power freaks. After some years of aggravating and generally futile arguments about nucear power plants, I began to preface any such argument by handing the person a piece of paper (often a bar napkin) and pen, then requesting they draw a schematic of a pressurized light water reactor. If they could not do that, I would then point out they were not equipped to argue the pros and cons of nuclear power with me, and turn to other less volatile subjects such as the Gnostic Heresies.