Penn State Puts Out Some Hard Facts About Green Energy!
Jim Willis on NGL Pipelines
Editor & Publisher, Marcellus Drilling News (MDN)
[Editor’s Note: Penn State University’s Daily Collegian published a superb letter to the editor the other day that sets out some cold hard facts about not so green energy!]
Every now and again, we come across someone who is willing to risk their career by openly admitting the truth. This time that brave soul is Russell Johns, the George E. Trimble Chair in Energy and Mineral Sciences at the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering at Penn State University. In a letter to the editor published in the student-run Penn State Daily Collegian, Johns points out that when considering the intense mining operations needed to harvest materials used in solar and wind technology, and the shipping associated with those materials, etc., solar and wind actually have a *bigger* carbon dioxide footprint than does using natural gas. In other words, natural gas is greener than wind and solar!
You can be sure there will be a movement to terminate Dr. Johns’ career. He has become a global warming heretic–daring to admit the renewable energy emperor has no clothes. The modern-day equivalent of a witch hunt will now ensue–you can count on it.
Meanwhile, here are the irrefutable facts that natural gas is, indeed, greener (better for the environment) than either wind, solar, or (gasp)…hydrogen:
This letter was written by Russell Johns, George E. Trimble Chair in Energy and Mineral Sciences at the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering.
Natural gas and nuclear are the cleanest energy sources available today. The combustion of natural gas produces little toxins and carbon compared to gasoline and coal. Natural gas could successfully power automobiles today as it does our local CATA Buses. Nuclear energy is carbon-free and could substantially replace fossil fuels at power plants — once safety and radioactive waste disposal are addressed.
So-called “renewable” and “green” energies produce substantial carbon footprints, which are typically excluded from emission calculations. Solar, for example, requires an unprecedented increase in global mining to acquire rare earth and other materials for solar panels and batteries. Disposal and recycling of these toxic materials is a major environmental problem and has largely gone unaddressed.
Wind also requires rare earth materials and fossil-fuel products. In addition to their unreliability as continuous energy sources, wind and solar are inefficient and require substantial land footprints. Supposed “clean” hydrogen is derived from fossil fuels or solar energy, giving little significant advantage.
Hydrogen also creates more smog than natural gas owing to its high combustion temperature. Natural gas, on the other hand, is naturally occurring — especially in Pennsylvania, which is home to two of the world’s largest gas fields.
In summary, the entire life cycle must be considered when evaluating energy sources. For example, electric vehicles produce no emissions themselves, but their components and energy supplied to them do. Emissions created by all imports, including solar panels, should be counted in carbon footprints.
Otherwise, we simply transfer our pollution to other countries — while pretending to be “green.”
Editor’s Note: This is an excellent piece, as it is concise in pointing out the simple facts the green grifters and ideologues want to ensure get ignored. The fact it appeared in a college newspaper is astounding and let us not forget Penn State is still the home to Michael Mann, the creator of the hockey stick that hid the true climate record to help perpetuate the global warming fairy tale. Although it’s my alma mater, I’ve never that much of a Penn State fan except for some great faculty I’ve had the privilege to know and work with, but this might change things!
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