Skip to main content

The Debate with Amory Lovins Continues

Here's their rebuttal to my part two.

Comments

Charles Barton said…
David, you continue to point out the inconsistencies in Lovins work. It would appear that the RMI is in disarray over the Jevons Paradox issue.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/05/beating-energy-efficiency-paradox.php

Lovins will probably rest his case on the Calironia example, but this is a case where Lovins inspired government policy has created an energy shortage. The resulting price rise created a drive for energy efficiency.

Far from confounding Jevons Paradox the California case is an example of how shortage induces efficiencies.
Matthew B said…
As you note, high energy prices in California drive efficiency. But they also drive energy intensive industries out of the state. The energy consumption statistics of California ignore the consumption involved in that manufacturing that is no longer in California.
Charles Barton said…
matthew b The cost of California electricity and the consequences of that high cost, are problems to be laid at Lovins' feet.
Anonymous said…
Actually, I disagree with Charles. The real blame goes to the people who decided to believe in and act in accordance with Lovins and his disinformation. True, much culpability can be laid at Lovins' feet for the disinformation he has knowingly disseminated. But ultimately, you reap what you sow and, California has sown the whirlwind. The "peepul" deserve what they declared that they wanted. And so goes democracy - two wolves and one sheep voting on what's for dinner.

I for one don't feel one bit of pity for the foolish "peepul" who placed their faith in Lovins. Rather, I feel sorry for those very few innocent individuals who opposed Lovins and now must reap what the majority of Californians wanted.

Fruits and nuts beget - well, fruits and nuts!
Anonymous said…
It's true that you reap what you sow. The voters in CA decided to ban nuclear construction, and now they are faced with shortages, high prices, importing electricity from surrounding states, dependence on unreliable sources that can't carry the load (wind), and using more carbon-based fuels like natural gas. The voters in SMUD decided to trash Rancho Seco, foolishly believing the liars who said they could make up the shortage by putting solar panels on the plant site, enacting efficiency measures, and believing in the vain and vapid promise of "negawatts". You see what happened. They couldn't carry the load. Anyone with any common sense could have foreseen that outcome. Well, they made their bed, let them lie in it.
Matthew66 said…
California may have a republican government, and some democratic looking institutions, but it is far from a democracy. In most states in this country, the state legislatures draw the state and federal congressional districts to ensure that the districts never change parties. I would consider governors, Federal Senators and Mayors to be democratically elected, but most federal and state representatives are elected by gerrymander so are hardly democratic.

I'm not convinced that the California energy policy is anything other than the views of social elite imposed upon the majority.
brian wang said…
I had posted to the first part of their rebuttal.

The Lovins paper declares nuclear to be a dieing for decades industry but nuclear increased power generation by 400% since the 70's when that claim was first made.

The Natural gas which is the bulk of the "micropower" generation, still kills 4 people per TWH. So 2000 TWH would be 8000 deaths per year. (Externe source)

Natural gas is not renewable.

All power source construction costs have gone up. Wind (more concrete and steel, turbine shortages and order backlog), solar (they have to make the plants and equipment to produce the solar).

Popular posts from this blog

An Ohio School Board Is Working to Save Nuclear Plants

Ohio faces a decision soon about its two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse and Perry, and on Wednesday, neighbors of one of those plants issued a cry for help. The reactors’ problem is that the price of electricity they sell on the high-voltage grid is depressed, mostly because of a surplus of natural gas. And the reactors do not get any revenue for the other benefits they provide. Some of those benefits are regional – emissions-free electricity, reliability with months of fuel on-site, and diversity in case of problems or price spikes with gas or coal, state and federal payroll taxes, and national economic stimulus as the plants buy fuel, supplies and services. Some of the benefits are highly localized, including employment and property taxes. One locality is already feeling the pinch: Oak Harbor on Lake Erie, home to Davis-Besse. The town has a middle school in a building that is 106 years old, and an elementary school from the 1950s, and on May 2 was scheduled to have a referendu

Why Ex-Im Bank Board Nominations Will Turn the Page on a Dysfunctional Chapter in Washington

In our present era of political discord, could Washington agree to support an agency that creates thousands of American jobs by enabling U.S. companies of all sizes to compete in foreign markets? What if that agency generated nearly billions of dollars more in revenue than the cost of its operations and returned that money – $7 billion over the past two decades – to U.S. taxpayers? In fact, that agency, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), was reauthorized by a large majority of Congress in 2015. To be sure, the matter was not without controversy. A bipartisan House coalition resorted to a rarely-used parliamentary maneuver in order to force a vote. But when Congress voted, Ex-Im Bank won a supermajority in the House and a large majority in the Senate. For almost two years, however, Ex-Im Bank has been unable to function fully because a single Senate committee chairman prevented the confirmation of nominees to its Board of Directors. Without a quorum

NEI Praises Connecticut Action in Support of Nuclear Energy

Earlier this week, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed SB-1501 into law, legislation that puts nuclear energy on an equal footing with other non-emitting sources of energy in the state’s electricity marketplace. “Gov. Malloy and the state legislature deserve praise for their decision to support Dominion’s Millstone Power Station and the 1,500 Connecticut residents who work there," said NEI President and CEO Maria Korsnick. "By opening the door to Millstone having equal access to auctions open to other non-emitting sources of electricity, the state will help preserve $1.5 billion in economic activity, grid resiliency and reliability, and clean air that all residents of the state can enjoy," Korsnick said. Millstone Power Station Korsnick continued, "Connecticut is the third state to re-balance its electricity marketplace, joining New York and Illinois, which took their own legislative paths to preserving nuclear power plants in 2016. Now attention should