Astrophysicist explains CO2 effect in 2 minutes

As a veteran of the solar industry, I am familiar with the advantages and limitations of solar power, and the destructiveness of wind turbines. I love birds and mountaintops, and do not approve of boondoggle projects that are the northeast’s version of mountaintop removal.

Solar energy is excellent when the sun is shining, obviously, and it shaves the peak demand curve during air conditioning season, reducing the amount of power utilities are forced to purchase off the spot market during peak demand times (summer afternoons). Thus costs are reduced, with, yes, zero emissions. We all win.

Winter is another matter. In the depths of winter, heat pumps become resistance coil space heaters, which are wildly inefficient and brutally expensive. We must not penalize our citizens for heating with more efficient and effective carbon-based fuels, be they wood, oil, propane, or coal. Let us not be foolish, impoverished, and cold.

In a cautionary tale, Germany, having invested heavily in solar power, is now firing up its mothballed coal-fired power plants in order to maintain its economy and the health of its citizens, who are now razing remaining forests en route to trying to burn (green) wood this winter. How’s that working out for the environment? This is to make up for its dependence upon cheap Russian natural gas, the purchase of which is now, under sanctions, verboten.