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Green Breakdown: The Coming Renewable Energy Failure
Think wind, solar, and batteries can replace the hydrocarbon fuels that power our modern industrialized society? Green Breakdown shows why the Net Zero agenda—a forced transition to renewable energy—is costly, dangerous, and destined for failure. Using science, economics, and in-depth analysis, Steve Goreham exposes the weaknesses in the planned green energy transition and predicts a coming renewable energy failure.Green Breakdown is a complete discussion of all facets of the proposed green energy transition, including hydrocarbon and renewable energy, biofuels, power plants, home appliances, electric vehicles, ships, airlines, heavy industry, carbon capture and storage, and the hydrogen economy. Goreham uses color charts and graphs, and references to numerous studies to support his arguments. At the same time, his large collection of cartoons, colorful images, and quotes grabs the reader's interest.Green Breakdown is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the truth about energy production, energy use, and policies related to climate change.
466 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 5, 2023
53 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 2, 2023
Coal, oil, natural gas (hydrocarbon energy sources) vs. wind, solar, biofuels, hydrogen (renewable energy sources). Over 100 nations today invest over $500 billion a year on renewable energy and Electric Vehicles (EVs). In the past 20 years, $5 trillion has been spent on renewables, yet coal, oil, and natural gas continue provide 80% of the world’s total energy, same as in 1990s. The growth in energy output from renewables been less than the incremental growth in world energy consumption. This book explains why, and how the transition dream from hydrocarbon energy to renewables has been oversold.
Heavy industry is the toughest challenge. Renewables account for about 15% of energy in the fertilizer, chemical, plastic, steel, cement industries. The fact is, you can’t make a wind turbine with wind power. The author also does a good job explaining why Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) + hydrogen won’t work. The fact is that human flourishing depends on hydrocarbon energy. Today, 900 million people (12%) don’t have access to electricity, and over 3 billion people don’t use as much electricity per person annually as the average air conditioner consumes in the USA.
Since 1800, global energy consumption increased by a factor of 30. In 2021, 77% came from hydrocarbons, 10% hydroelectric + nuclear 4%, wind/solar/ + biomass/other fuels 9%. Nations with highest per capita energy use enjoy highest standards of living.
Our healthcare market relies on hydrocarbon energy: Pacemakers, artificial heart valves, prosthetic legs, and contact lenses consist of plastics. Syringes, blood bags, surgical gloves, catheters, and intravenous tubes are made from nylon and flexible polyvinyl chloride. Pharmaceuticals are petroleum-based chemicals, x-ray film, pill coatings, CAT scans, x-ray machines, operating rooms, back-up power from diesel generators, the list goes on.
Ghanaians use a word, dumsor (pronounced doom-so): “A period of time in which darkness is more prevalent than light.” Solar and wind have three shortcomings: they’re dilute energy; they’re intermittent; they’re costly. It would take 500 years of Tesla’s Nevada battery production to make enough batteries to store just one day’s worth of America’s electricity needs. A 100 Mega Watt wind system uses about 30,000 tons of iron ore in the form of steel, 50,000 tons of concrete, and 900 tons of non-recyclable plastics for the turbine blades—all produced with hydrocarbons. Solar installations—concrete, steel, and glass—are 150 percent larger than that used by wind systems for the same energy output. And the recycling of wind-turbine blades and solar panels (78M tons by 20250, 2x for wind waste) is going to be a major issue.
The USA has 250 million vehicles on road (80 per 100 hundred people). In 2021, EVs were 8.3% of new vehicles sold worldwide. Global exports have grown 2,000 times since 1900. How can companies, with a straight face, say they are powered 100% by renewable electricity? As Steve writes, “virtually nothing our modern society does is “zero emissions” (not even a grass hut).” Nuclear power peaked at 18% in 1996, about 10% in 2018.
Renewables are in trouble, and this book documents that fact with empirical evidence, backed by physics, science, and engineering. Is there any way to get policy makers see the light? Or will it take skyrocketing prices, shortages and blackouts to create pitchforks at the pumps and kitchens defending cars and gas stoves? Stay tuned.
We had Steve Goreham on The Soul of Enterprise to discuss this book. You can listen at:
https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/t...
Heavy industry is the toughest challenge. Renewables account for about 15% of energy in the fertilizer, chemical, plastic, steel, cement industries. The fact is, you can’t make a wind turbine with wind power. The author also does a good job explaining why Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) + hydrogen won’t work. The fact is that human flourishing depends on hydrocarbon energy. Today, 900 million people (12%) don’t have access to electricity, and over 3 billion people don’t use as much electricity per person annually as the average air conditioner consumes in the USA.
Since 1800, global energy consumption increased by a factor of 30. In 2021, 77% came from hydrocarbons, 10% hydroelectric + nuclear 4%, wind/solar/ + biomass/other fuels 9%. Nations with highest per capita energy use enjoy highest standards of living.
Our healthcare market relies on hydrocarbon energy: Pacemakers, artificial heart valves, prosthetic legs, and contact lenses consist of plastics. Syringes, blood bags, surgical gloves, catheters, and intravenous tubes are made from nylon and flexible polyvinyl chloride. Pharmaceuticals are petroleum-based chemicals, x-ray film, pill coatings, CAT scans, x-ray machines, operating rooms, back-up power from diesel generators, the list goes on.
Ghanaians use a word, dumsor (pronounced doom-so): “A period of time in which darkness is more prevalent than light.” Solar and wind have three shortcomings: they’re dilute energy; they’re intermittent; they’re costly. It would take 500 years of Tesla’s Nevada battery production to make enough batteries to store just one day’s worth of America’s electricity needs. A 100 Mega Watt wind system uses about 30,000 tons of iron ore in the form of steel, 50,000 tons of concrete, and 900 tons of non-recyclable plastics for the turbine blades—all produced with hydrocarbons. Solar installations—concrete, steel, and glass—are 150 percent larger than that used by wind systems for the same energy output. And the recycling of wind-turbine blades and solar panels (78M tons by 20250, 2x for wind waste) is going to be a major issue.
The USA has 250 million vehicles on road (80 per 100 hundred people). In 2021, EVs were 8.3% of new vehicles sold worldwide. Global exports have grown 2,000 times since 1900. How can companies, with a straight face, say they are powered 100% by renewable electricity? As Steve writes, “virtually nothing our modern society does is “zero emissions” (not even a grass hut).” Nuclear power peaked at 18% in 1996, about 10% in 2018.
Renewables are in trouble, and this book documents that fact with empirical evidence, backed by physics, science, and engineering. Is there any way to get policy makers see the light? Or will it take skyrocketing prices, shortages and blackouts to create pitchforks at the pumps and kitchens defending cars and gas stoves? Stay tuned.
We had Steve Goreham on The Soul of Enterprise to discuss this book. You can listen at:
https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/t...
August 31, 2024
Steve Goreham describes with empirical examples why green policies are doomed to failure. Goreham makes the extremely important distinction that protecting the environment by reducing harmful emissions such as sulfur dioxide, dust, nitrous oxide is something totally different from reducing carbon dioxide, which is not even a pollutant. Policy-makers will be the last to come to their senses, but the book is extremely useful not only for energy professionals, but also for every person who is interested in economics.
March 26, 2024
This book is terrible, and can hardly be considered a book in the traditional sense. It seems to me to be a propaganda piece, likely written and reviewed by those with ties to “non green” energy. The research and sources are suspect, and the conclusions the author draws are easily refuted.
Thankfully, those smart enough to read books, are likely smart enough to not waste their time on this book.
Thankfully, those smart enough to read books, are likely smart enough to not waste their time on this book.
October 4, 2023
Great book with balanced information.
A lot of detail about the resources that are required to make critical things like steel. If you are interested in detail presented in an interesting way, pick up this book.
A lot of detail about the resources that are required to make critical things like steel. If you are interested in detail presented in an interesting way, pick up this book.
February 16, 2024
Very good book. I rarely read a book for the second time but this book was so well researched and presented in a logical way.
It’s pretty scary to see what governments have planned for us. It doesn’t look good.
It’s pretty scary to see what governments have planned for us. It doesn’t look good.
December 12, 2023
Green Breakdown is well researched and it is full of data and graphs from NASA and NOAA. Environmentalist and politicians warn that hydro-carbon energy sources such as oil and gas must be illuminated to save the planet. Renewables such as solar, biofuels and wind must be adopted. Over the last 20 years the world has spent $5 trillion to promote solar, biofuels and electric vehicles with little to show for it.
A transition to EV's will require vast amounts of special materials such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. This will require mining along with generating mountains of waste. The theory of global warming rest on four concepts: 1) Rising global surface temperatures, 2) rising levels of carbon dioxide, 3) the greenhouse effect, and 4) computer model projections.
The dominant greenhouse gas is not carbon dioxide but water vapor. Water vapor makes up 75% of the greenhouse gases with carbon dioxide making up the remaining 25%. Everyday, nature releases up to 20 times as much carbon dioxide campared to man. Only about 5% of carbon dioxide is man made. Satellite data over the last 30 years shows that computer model projections are too high and don't reflect temperature values. Ocean levels have been rising for the last 20,000 years. No one knows when natural sea level rise ended and man made levels begin.
What about Antarctic ice? On average it is unchanging. Greenland ice is slowly melting contributing about 3 inches of sea level rise per century. Since global warming is dominated by natural trends transitioning to renewable energy will not change these trends.
As for increasing hurricane and storms NOAA data shows the storms are constant since 1970 to the present. In other words they are not increasing in strength and there are not more of them. To faze out fosil fuels wind and solar are championed. But they have two problems: 1) They require massive amounts of land. How much land? 228,000 square miles which is larger than Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, West Virgina and Wisconsin combined. 2) Wind and solar only provide intermittent energy. When its dark or cloudy the solar panels don't work. And if there is no wind, the turbines don't function. Wind and solar increase the cost of electricity in three ways: 1) They incure higher transmission cost, 2) they lower the utilization of traditional generating plants, and 3) they suffer system intermittency cost.
To mitigate global warming the government is pushing electric vehicles. But they have several hurdles. EV's are heavier and have shorter ranges. They require more metals than regular cars and the result is that EV's are expensive. Finally, charging them in public spaces is problematic.
The renewable energy movement is in trouble. Countries with rising renewable electricity penetration suffer higher electricity prices and declining reliability. Escalating metal cost threatens to stunt the growth of EVs. Accumulating waste from old turbine blades, solar panels and EV batteries clog man fill sites. More than $15 trillion will be wasted in efforts to switch to zero carbon processes with little gained in energy system performance reliability or reduction of real pollutants.
The good news is that human carbon dioxide emissions are not causing dangerous global warming. Earth has only warmed one degree Celsius in 140 years. Human industry only causes 1 - 2% of Earth's greenhouse effect. Climate change is dominated by nature not man-made climate change. Finally, carbon dioxide emissions are not a pollutant, but it is plant food. There is much in the book that I did not cover such as factories, boats and airplane emissions. The world isn't ending, so have a nice day.
A transition to EV's will require vast amounts of special materials such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. This will require mining along with generating mountains of waste. The theory of global warming rest on four concepts: 1) Rising global surface temperatures, 2) rising levels of carbon dioxide, 3) the greenhouse effect, and 4) computer model projections.
The dominant greenhouse gas is not carbon dioxide but water vapor. Water vapor makes up 75% of the greenhouse gases with carbon dioxide making up the remaining 25%. Everyday, nature releases up to 20 times as much carbon dioxide campared to man. Only about 5% of carbon dioxide is man made. Satellite data over the last 30 years shows that computer model projections are too high and don't reflect temperature values. Ocean levels have been rising for the last 20,000 years. No one knows when natural sea level rise ended and man made levels begin.
What about Antarctic ice? On average it is unchanging. Greenland ice is slowly melting contributing about 3 inches of sea level rise per century. Since global warming is dominated by natural trends transitioning to renewable energy will not change these trends.
As for increasing hurricane and storms NOAA data shows the storms are constant since 1970 to the present. In other words they are not increasing in strength and there are not more of them. To faze out fosil fuels wind and solar are championed. But they have two problems: 1) They require massive amounts of land. How much land? 228,000 square miles which is larger than Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, West Virgina and Wisconsin combined. 2) Wind and solar only provide intermittent energy. When its dark or cloudy the solar panels don't work. And if there is no wind, the turbines don't function. Wind and solar increase the cost of electricity in three ways: 1) They incure higher transmission cost, 2) they lower the utilization of traditional generating plants, and 3) they suffer system intermittency cost.
To mitigate global warming the government is pushing electric vehicles. But they have several hurdles. EV's are heavier and have shorter ranges. They require more metals than regular cars and the result is that EV's are expensive. Finally, charging them in public spaces is problematic.
The renewable energy movement is in trouble. Countries with rising renewable electricity penetration suffer higher electricity prices and declining reliability. Escalating metal cost threatens to stunt the growth of EVs. Accumulating waste from old turbine blades, solar panels and EV batteries clog man fill sites. More than $15 trillion will be wasted in efforts to switch to zero carbon processes with little gained in energy system performance reliability or reduction of real pollutants.
The good news is that human carbon dioxide emissions are not causing dangerous global warming. Earth has only warmed one degree Celsius in 140 years. Human industry only causes 1 - 2% of Earth's greenhouse effect. Climate change is dominated by nature not man-made climate change. Finally, carbon dioxide emissions are not a pollutant, but it is plant food. There is much in the book that I did not cover such as factories, boats and airplane emissions. The world isn't ending, so have a nice day.
October 16, 2024
A useful collection of comment and ideas
Whilst many scientists agree with much of Steve Goreham’s material, more references to the sources used for the discussion would have been useful. For example, the IPCC (AR6 - Working Group l) could have been quoted as the source for the statement that extreme weather events are not increasing in frequency globally.
Whilst many scientists agree with much of Steve Goreham’s material, more references to the sources used for the discussion would have been useful. For example, the IPCC (AR6 - Working Group l) could have been quoted as the source for the statement that extreme weather events are not increasing in frequency globally.
November 29, 2024
Profound. Excellent breakdown of this Hysteria
Well organized. Although full of detail, the author manages it in an easy to follow format. The flow is very well managed considering the vast amount of information.
Well organized. Although full of detail, the author manages it in an easy to follow format. The flow is very well managed considering the vast amount of information.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews