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That puts it at an energy return on energy invested of around 9, which is pretty damn bad. Wind is at 18 right now, solar at something like 15. These will only

That puts it at an energy return on energy invested of around 9, which is pretty damn bad. Wind is at 18 right now, solar at something like 15. These will only go up as they become cheaper and cheaper. Given how frequently renewables are critiqued for low energy return on energy investment, 11% is a pretty pathetic stat. I think it's pretty clear that these industries are the walking dead. I should have switched my total market index funds to exclude the fossil fuel companies a few years ago, before they lost so much of their value recently.

fivea 5y ago
> That puts it at an energy return on energy invested of around 9, which is pretty damn bad. Is it, though? That sounds pretty awesome, specially as renewables lower/eliminate energy imports thus improve a country's balance of trade. Also, one aspect of renewables that results in energy dissipation/loss is energy storage. Wind and solar farms generate energy that don't coincide with peaks in demand, thus that production is stored and reintroduced in the grid resulting in a drop of efficiency. However, it would be stupid to argue that losses from, say, restocking the reservoir of a pumped storage hydroelectric plant, specially one which has been retrofitted as an energy reservoir, makes the technology worse than only generating power during periods where demand surpasses supply.