Brookings Why the Best Path to a Low-Carbon Future is not Wind or Solar provides a detailed analysis of why natural gas is the best choice for reducing carbon emissions associated with the production of electricity.
The key quote is why solar and wind are not currently viable options:
This is the case because solar and wind facilities suffer from a very high capacity cost per megawatt, very low capacity factors and low reliability, which result in low avoided emissions and low avoided energy cost per dollar invested.
The issues of low capacity factors and reliability results in many more plants - and money - being required to replace a single coal or natural gas plant. From the article:
we estimate that at least 7.3 solar plants and 4.3 wind plants are required to produce the same amount of power with the same reliability as a coal-fired plant ...In dollar terms, it takes a $29 million investment in solar capacity, and $10 million in wind capacity, to produce the same amount of electricity with the same reliability as a $1 million investment in gas combined cycle capacity.
Brookings is a widely respected, politically left leaning think tank. They firmly believe that climate change is one of major issues facing the globe today and are strong advocates of carbon taxes and climate change mitigation.
It's good see a group like this come out with a balanced analysis showing the advantages of natural gas - and more importantly the drawbacks of wind and solar - in the production of electricity.
As we've discussed in the past, America's growing energy advantage is leading to stronger economic growth, more jobs and more opportunities for small companies due to the adundance of natural gas.
An important added benefit is natural gas is much, much more environmentally friendly than coal. As Brookings points out, it is a great bridge fuel to a cleaner future.
One downside of natural gas is its become so cheap its crowding out even cleaner energy sources such as wind and solar. The NY Times article The Potential Downside of Natural Gas covers this. Key quote:
“There is no question that depressed natural gas prices have had an adverse effect on the wind and solar industries,” said Kenneth Kimmell, the president of the Union of Concerned Scientists and the former commissioner of environmental protection in Massachusetts. “It’s stunting zero-carbon alternatives.”
But despite this problem, natural gas is lowering emissions and improving our economy. Not a bad combination.