Additional Defects of the Green Machine – Slaying the Sky Dragon Excerpt
There can be little doubt that the entire human caused climate fraud has been an intentional politically motivated movement. This has involved an elaborate network of direct government involvement and indirect government funding to provide the illusion of ‘consensus’ that would be beyond any further debate. Fortunately for the future of science, truth and humanity many honest scientists and analysts from many lands have objectively looked at the hypothesis of Anthropomorphic Global Warming and found it invalid. No analysis of this failed hypothesis is complete without examining what has been endorsed by the AGW supporters as the ‘solution’ to this non-existent problem.
The proposed ‘Green Energy Solution’ is as defective as the AGW science, with defects so obvious that endorsement must also qualify as an intention deception. The ‘Green Energy Solutions’ are primarily focused on wind energy and solar energy, with fictional claims for future tidal and geothermal which have been fictional claims for over a half century already. If stopping the release of hydro-carbons was the highest priority, then nuclear and hydro-electric would be considered ‘green’, but these power sources have long been on the eco-zealot ‘hit’ list. The Eco-religion could not allow reclassification of these two carbon-free energy systems and maintain peace between the devout tree-huggers and the obsessed warmists. Demise of the warmist orthodoxy will reopen debate and action on all reliable systems of energy production. For now, some further analysis of the unreliable ‘green energy’ systems.
Volumes have been written on the defects of wind driven electrical generation. The wind energy standard is a net output of less that 25{154653b9ea5f83bbbf00f55de12e21cba2da5b4b158a426ee0e27ae0c1b44117} of rated capacity with constant fluctuations in power. Add in bird and bat strikes, noise and visual pollution, transmission losses and foundation failures and you have just a portion of the wind energy flaws. Every existing ‘wind farm’ is its own testament to failure. The truly functional wind farm is an illusion that humanity cannot afford to waste our resources on. As mentioned there are volumes of material on wind energy available, but what is not as well understood are the defects of solar energy.
As alluring as the premise may be, the promise of solar energy is not free. The first solar cell was created in 1883 by Charles Fritts using a sheet of Selenium with thin Gold facings. The Sun radiates approximately 1000 watts per square meter at maximum. The Fritts cell produced 10 watts per square meter or 1{154653b9ea5f83bbbf00f55de12e21cba2da5b4b158a426ee0e27ae0c1b44117} efficiency. The Russell Ohl patent of 1946 is considered the first modern solar cell. Today’s solar panels are high purity Silicon with a light doping of Phosphorus and Boron to provide breaks in the Silicon for electron movement. Silicon has four electrons in an an outer shell that would be balanced with eight electrons. Silicon forms a crystal structure where the four outer electrons fill the four electron void in the adjoining atom. By adding a small amount of Phosphorous with five electrons and Boron with three electrons in their outer shells, scientists have been able to create a form of molecular potential energy.
When exposed to sunlight the ‘surplus’ Phosphorous electron gets excited enough to leave that portion of the Silicon crystal and travel a short distance to the vacant electron opening at the Boron atom location. This creates a milliamp current with only a 0.55 voltage potential.
By placing a conductor grid on the face of the panel this current flow can be drawn off for use. Silicon crystal is highly reflective and the solar facing side must be treated with an anti-reflective coating, then the conducting surface grid and finally a glass cover for protection from weather. All of these conditions limit some of the incoming light. Only certain segments of the solar spectrum activate this flow and the net result is 10{154653b9ea5f83bbbf00f55de12e21cba2da5b4b158a426ee0e27ae0c1b44117} efficiency, or approximately 100 watts per square meter. Efficiencies as high as 40{154653b9ea5f83bbbf00f55de12e21cba2da5b4b158a426ee0e27ae0c1b44117} are available with exotic materials, but then one must address the ‘high cost of free’, which applies to every ‘green’ technology. Silicone, Phosphorus and Boron are common elements, but to mine, refine and bring on line has a cost. That cost is reflected in ‘cost payback’ of 5 to 7 years depending on the system. The total system life is 20 years.
But these costs are based on low cost carbon based energy systems providing these materials. Much like paying your Visa bill with your Master Card, this parasitic ‘clean’ energy cannot provide the ‘spare’ energy to avoid ‘dirty’ energy. There is a certain loss of electrons in this system and power production erodes over time until at twenty years they are useless. Sunlight is not converted to electricity. Sunlight erodes molecularly stored potential energy from the embedded Phosphorus atoms until there are no spare electrons left.
There is a 0.5{154653b9ea5f83bbbf00f55de12e21cba2da5b4b158a426ee0e27ae0c1b44117} loss in production for every degree Centigrade (1{154653b9ea5f83bbbf00f55de12e21cba2da5b4b158a426ee0e27ae0c1b44117} per degree Fahrenheit) which limits the use of mirrors or lenses to increase production. This defect also limits solar cell use in equatorial deserts where there would be the least ‘environmental’ impact. The glass covers require periodic cleaning and are subject to damage from hail and wind debris.
In winter climates snow and ice build-up prevent any electrical production. Tracking systems can improve efficiency but are not themselves cost effective. What we are left with is a costly, unreliable short term solution with no offsetting benefit. Various methods have been tried to create storage systems to overcome the daily periodic nature of sunlight.
Every storage system involves a change of state. This change, based on the Carnot Cycle of thermodynamics, must have a loss both into and out of storage. To date no capacitor, pumped hydro-storage or spinning flywheel solution has been even the least bit practical. The most common method of storing solar energy for extended use is the battery, which is the heart of that ‘other’ planet saver, the electric automobile. Soon Electric Vehicles, aka EVs, will replace the nasty internal combustion engine and humanity will be in harmony with the Universe. The transition technology in this race is the hybrid auto and the front runner is the Toyota Prius. This undeniable marvel has a 120 pound Nickel-Metal Hydride battery that costs $3500 to replace or approximately $20 per pound. There again, a cost based on carbon energy providing the material production.
The ‘Metal Hydride’ portion of these batteries includes the rare Earth elements of Lanthanum, Cerium and Neodymium. These required green components do not willingly join the green cult movement. To have your treasured EV, this planet must be mined and those elements must be extracted and refined. Due to the same chemical erosion thru use mentioned throughout this chapter, these batteries have an eight year or 100,000 mile warranty period. You can save $450 per year on gasoline if you spend $450 per year on a battery.
You can walk forever up the down escalator and still get nowhere. There is no way to improve or even ‘sustain’ our carbon-based life forms without expending some geologically stored carbon energy. There is likewise not enough molecular stored energy in Earth elements to provide sustainable solar or battery driven ‘green life style’. To the blue-green Hollywood Eco-Smurfs and Na’vi wannabe’s, we are NOT living on a green Pandora that needs rescue from the evil RDA mining company.
Humanity will not be saved by mythical noble savages or a forced return to a primitive life style.
It took most of the nineteenth century to formulate the Laws of Thermodynamics.
It took most of the twentieth century to apply those laws to the benefit of society.
There will be no solutions to problems in the twenty first century that do not comply with these laws. It is time to awaken your friends and family to the futility of the Green Utopia.
Humanity does not need to be plunged back into the darkness of their green hell.
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