Energy Matters

  Corny Subsidies We can’t shake the conviction that using actual quantitative analysis - THE NUMBERS - in making energy decisions would help the world along on the road toward making sense. Take for instance nearly everything that’s said about energy policy in opinion pieces in the media. It’s no place for opinion, this energy transition stuff.  The stakes are high, the impacts of policy are vast, the costs can be enormous, the benefits can be transformative.  Let’s do it right:  At least let’s make every attempt to base our opinions on quantitative analysis, not “intuition,” hearsay, and “common sense.” One tool that we’ve found instructive in analyzing the impacts of renewable alternatives to fossil fuels is an examination of the land area required for a net yield of energy from a given fuel.  Fossil fuels take up little surface area - they are underground, and moreover incomparably concentrated. (Of course, you need to keep in mind that they have taken hund...