I recommend that anyone who is interested in researching the story behind the complexities of the energy system and relying on renewable wind and solar energy read two series of posts at the Climate Etc and the Science of Doom blogs. In both cases the authors are trying to provoke thought and spur discussion.
The Science of Doom blog was written for “People interested in the science behind the climate stories we read about every day.” While there are a whole slew of articles that address the nitty gritty of climate science there also have been a series of posts on renewable energy. The author does a good job of not only distilling down the information but also providing links to original documents with the admonition that readers review the entire documents. The following list of links shows the topics available:
- Renewable Energy I – Introduction
- Renewables II – Solar and Free Lunches – Solar power
- Renewables III – US Grid Operators’ Opinions – The grid operators’ concerns
- Renewables IV – Wind, Forecast Horizon & Backups – Some more detail about wind power – what do we do when the wind goes on vacation
- Renewables V – Grid Stability As Wind Power Penetration Increases
- Renewables VI – Report says.. 100% Renewables by 2030 or 2050
- Renewables VII – Feasibility and Reality – Geothermal example
- Renewables VIII – Transmission Costs And Outsourcing Renewable Generation
- Renewables IX – Onshore Wind Costs
- Renewables X – Nationalism vs Inter-Nationalism
- Renewables XI – Cost of Gas Plants vs Wind Farms
- Renewables XII – Windpower as Baseload and SuperGrids
- Renewables XIII – One of Wind’s Hidden Costs
- Renewables XIV – Minimized Cost of 99.9% Renewable Study
- Renewables XV – Offshore Wind Costs
- Renewables XVI – JP Morgan advises
- Renewables XVII – Demand Management 1
- Renewables XVIII – Demand Management & Levelized Cost
- Renewables XIX – Behind the Executive Summary and Reality vs Dreams
The other series of blog posts on renewable energy is at Climate Etc. Most of the posts at this blog are on climate science but guest bloggers have contributed relevant posts on this topic. The blog posts on energy planning give a very good overview of current energy related issues. The posts were provided to provoke thought and spur discussion to provide valuable background information. They were not written to “be cited for homework, peer reviewed papers, master’s thesis or public testimony”. Unfortunately there isn’t a summary page at Climate Etc. that lists all the posts in this series so the following list will have to do:
- Myths and realities of renewable energy
- More renewables? Watch out for the Duck Curve
- All megawatts are not equal
- Taxonomy of climate/energy policy perspectives
- What should renewables pay for grid service?
- Transmission planning: wind and solar
- True costs of wind electricity
- Solar grid parity?
- Intermittent grid storage
- Microgrids and “Clean” Energy
- Renewable Resources and the Importance of Generation Diversity
New York Energy Policies 