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National Geographic published an interesting article about renewable energy myths.
Still, myths about renewable energy are commonplace, says Andy Fitch, an attorney at Columbia Law School's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law who coauthored a report rebutting dozens of misconceptions. This misinformation, and in some cases, purposeful disinformation, may lead people to oppose renewable projects in their communities. Support for wind farms off New Jersey, for example, dropped more than 20 percent in less than five years after misleading and false claims began circulating.
"It's easy to prick holes into the idea of an energy transition," because it is a new concept to many people, Fitch says.
Myth #1 Renewable energy is unreliable.
There will always be days when clouds cover the sun or the wind is still. But those conditions are unlikely to occur at the same time in all geographic areas. "There's always a way to coordinate the energy mix" to keep the lights on, Fitch says.Today that coordination generally includes electricity from fossil fuels or coal. In California, where more than half the state's power now comes from solar, wind, and other renewables, natural gas and other non-renewables generate the rest.
Improvements in storage technology will also increasingly allow renewable energy to be captured during sunny or windy days. Already, some 10 percent of California's solar-powered energy is saved for evening use.
Myth #2 Rooftop solar is super pricey.
Back in 1980, solar panels cost a whopping $35 (in today's dollars) per watt of generated energy. In 2024 that figure fell to 26 cents. Solar has become so cost-efficient that building and operating the technology is now cheaper over its lifespan than conventional forms of energy like gas, coal, and nuclear power.Homeowners also save a significant amount of money after rooftop solar is installed, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. (The method remains cost effective, even after federal subsidies to purchase the panels ceased late last year.) A family who finances panels might save close to a thousand dollars a year in their electric bills, even taking into account payments on the loan.
Myth #3 Wind power inevitably kills wildlife.
With hundreds of thousands of turbines in operation, wind power now makes up eight percent of the world's energy. But alongside these sprouting modern windmills has come stories of birds, whales, and even insects and bats killed or injured in their presence.In some cases, wind energy can cause a small fraction of wildlife deaths, but they "pale in comparison to what climate change is doing to [the animals'] habitat," says Douglas Nowacek, a conservation technology expert at Duke University. "If we're going to slow down these negative changes, we have to go to renewable energy."
When it comes to whales or other marine mammals, "we have no evidence—zero" that any offshore wind development has killed them, says Nowacek, who studies this as lead researcher in the school's Wildlife and Offshore Wind program. (Most die instead from ship strikes and deadly entanglements in commercial fishing gear.)
Myth #4 Electric cars can't go far without recharging.
Electric vehicles are an important element of the transition to renewable energy because, unlike gas-powered cars, they can be charged by solar and wind energy. EVs are also more energy efficient, since they use nearly all of their power for driving, compared with traditional cars' use of just 25 percent. (Most of the rest is lost as heat.)Concerns that EVs can't make it to their destination likely spring from early prototypes, when cars developed in the 1970s got less than 40 miles per charge. Today, some 50 models can go more than 300 miles, with some topping 500.
Worries about the longevity of EV batteries are also unfounded. Only one percent of batteries manufactured since 2015 have had to be replaced (outside of manufacturing recalls, which have been negligible in recent years). Studies done by Tesla found the charging capacity in its sedans dropped just 15 percent [PDF] after 200,000 miles.
Myth #5 Renewables are on track to solve the climate crisis.
The world is in a better place than it would be without renewables. Before the 2015 Paris Agreement called for this energy transition, experts had forecast 4°C planetary warming by 2100; now they expect it to stay under 3°C, according to a recent report by World Weather Attribution, a climate research group. But even this target "would still lead to a dangerously hot planet," the report states. Last summer Hawaiian observatories documented carbon dioxide concentrations above 430 parts per million—a record breaking high far above the 350 PPM Paris target.To sufficiently slow climate warming, experts say wind generation must more than quadruple its current pace by 2030, and solar and other renewables must also be more widely adopted. Yet while global investments for renewable energy rose 10 percent in the first half of last year, it fell by more than a third in the U.S.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by jman on Sunday January 11, @12:16PM (13 children)
Ten years ago I made a road trip for work, a little over 900 highway miles. A trunk full of equipment to be installed precluded flying.
Starting with a full tank in my then year-old Prius, stopping twice along the way for gas, I arrived after around fourteen hours.
An electric car would have added several hours to that, making it a two-day drive.
Paul Harvey: With work done, the trip back was a tad more leisureful, though I did still have to hustle bit, barely returning home in time for Xmas eve. The ol' gal is going on 11 now, long paid off, still in great shape mechanically, getting not quite the mileage she did back then, but still filling up in just a few minutes for another 400 - 500 miles.
Once I can top off the juice for that same kind of range in the same time it now takes at the pump, I'm in.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Undefined on Sunday January 11, @12:38PM
These tend to be "heater off, AC off" mileage ratings as well.
In my state, the number of days where one or the other has to be on... is most of them.
I'm a huge fan of EVs, but here (very, very rural), people have to consider range more carefully.
I use a dedicated preprocessor to elaborate abbreviations.
Hover to reveal elaborations.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Whoever on Sunday January 11, @10:43PM (10 children)
1. You need an employer who will pay for an overnight stay on your journeys there and back.
2. If you drove for 14 hours, you were a menace on the roads.
3. In the long journeys that I have taken in my Tesla, whenever I stop for food, usually, the car is charged to 80% before I have finished my meal, so the charging makes little difference to the journey.
4. Once in 10 years! You would decide what vehicle you would buy based on a once-in-a-decade journey?
(Score: 1, Troll) by khallow on Monday January 12, @01:32PM (4 children)
So you can't even "fill" your batteries in a reasonable time? I assure you, you would have to eat fast in order to be done by the time I fill my gas tank to 80%.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Whoever on Monday January 12, @03:47PM (3 children)
You ignore the obvious fact that you still have to eat after filling up your car. While the EV drivers are sitting comfortably and eating, you are filling your cat, then either eating garbage gas station food, or hunting for somewhere to eat.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday January 12, @06:44PM (2 children)
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Monday January 12, @07:54PM (1 child)
So you are a dangerous driver who should not be on the roads. Thanks for making this clear.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday January 13, @12:50PM
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday January 12, @07:15PM (3 children)
While there are all styles of road-travel, I personally used to do quite a number of "bounce trips" to avoid the hassle of an overnight stop. Adding an extra hour or two to one of those itineraries can be a real drag on the overall experience.
Me, today, driving 14 hours in a 24 hour period, I would be far from a menace, but I avoid it because it's un-necessary and un-comfortable, I'll find a nice B&B along the way and stop - because I can easily afford the time and money and it's how I prefer to travel. Younger me, often did not have the money and/or time for a place to stay along the way, and so I did drive straight through up to 15-16 hours a day in some instances. I'll admit, the 22 hour straight through trip (I planned to stop at hour 12-14, then didn't) around hour 19-20 I became a "less than optimal" driver, but being 3-4am with no traffic on the roads, I opted to push on through for a 5:30am arrival rather than stop less than 2 hours from destination. That 22 hour trip started at 7am, took one 30 minute stop for food, and stopped for a 5-10 minute gas fill once every 4-ish hours.
>Once in 10 years! You would decide what vehicle you would buy based on a once-in-a-decade journey?
We bought a sailboat 8 years ago, in part because of its capability of sailing to the Bahamas. In the 8 years since, it has never been more than a 3 hour sail away from our marina slip. Know anybody who wants to buy a sailboat?
🌻🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Informative) by Whoever on Monday January 12, @07:58PM
You have had one of the two best days in the life of a boat owner and are waiting for the second to happen.
(Score: 2) by jman on Monday January 12, @11:25PM (1 child)
That reminds me of a wedding I attended for one of my service buddies after I'd gotten out. He stayed in Montgomery Alabama where we were all stationed, and met a gal there. I drove in from Houston and hung out for a few days reconnecting with folks.
One of the other buddies drove down for the ceremony from New Hampsire. An ungodly long drive. He didn't even stay for all of the reception; just turned around and went right back after an hour or so.
We all thought it was a bit extreme, but were happy to see him again.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday January 13, @01:01AM
>Montgomery Alabama ... from New Hampsire. ...just turned around and went right back after an hour or so.
One day in Miami I decided I was bored and wanted to do something different, so I drove to Atlanta - looked up a friend from High School, hung out for the evening, crashed on the couch, then left out the next morning.
In the middle of Tamiami Trail I got stopped (for speeding, obviously) - cop made the argument about how it doesn't get you there any faster - I was doing 75mph, at the time the limit was 55. He only held me up for 20 minutes, I could have been stopped three or four times like that and the trip still would have gone faster at 75mph than 55.
🌻🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by jman on Monday January 12, @11:19PM
1. You need an employer who will pay for an overnight stay on your journeys there and back.
Irrelevant to my desire for minimal time wasted when making a long trip from A to B.
2. If you drove for 14 hours, you were a menace on the roads.
Not true. Haven't had a ticket in years. If tired, I pull over. If not, no need to.
3. In the long journeys that I have taken in my Tesla, whenever I stop for food, usually, the car is charged to 80% before I have finished my meal, so the charging makes little difference to the journey.
Does it take 5 minutes? That was the point of my comment.
4. Once in 10 years! You would decide what vehicle you would buy based on a once-in-a-decade journey?
Absolutely! Electric cars are the future, they're just not yet for me due to the reasons stated. YMMV.
(Score: 2) by Covalent on Monday January 12, @04:34PM
This is a big point worth highlighting. I now own two EVs, and recently drove what would have been a 7 hour drive in a gas car (including stops for gas). It was about 9 hours with the EV. Slightly annoying, but not a game changer, regardless of the range of your EV.
But the bigger problem was that nearly every charging station I could find was a slow (Level 1 or Level 2) charger. That would have turned the drive into a 15 hour drive - unacceptable. A Level 3 charger makes that drive doable, but those are rarer and often crowded.
As a nation, we should be building out a level 3 charging network, complete with their own independent batteries and solar panels. With a reliable large network of those, driving an EV becomes a very attractive proposition. The driving experience with an EV is so much more enjoyable than in a gas car that adoption of this tech will skyrocket.
You can't rationally argue somebody out of a position they didn't rationally get into.