Mark Mills, senior fellow at The Manhattan Institute and partner with Cottonwood Venture Partners recently wrote a report titled “The New Energy Economy: An Exercise In Magical Thinking.” Jessica Morales spoke to Mills about the physics of energy supply and the differences—and relationships—between hydrocarbons and renewable energy.
During the interview, Mills addressed claims that renewable energy is better than hydrocarbons for cost-density and stability. “The claims are typically based on ignoring both direct and indirect subsidies. It’s the entire hydrocarbon economy. 80% of the world’s energy comes from hydrocarbons and 80% of America. Same is true in our electric grid,” he told Hart Energy. “If we tried to make an energy system that didn’t use any hydrocarbons, and just tried to use wind and solar, it would be very unstable and if you tried to make it stable it would be astonishingly expensive.” said Mills.
You can read Mark’s report for The Manhattan Institute here:
The "New Energy Economy": An Exercise in Magical Thinking
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