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well no, because most renewable energy sources aim to produce electricity. Very little electricity is generated using oil, so the oil price should have little i

well no, because most renewable energy sources aim to produce electricity. Very little electricity is generated using oil, so the oil price should have little impact on most renewable energy production. The culprits are cheap gas and coal - especially coal, which really should be heavily taxed because of the huge health and environmental impacts from mining and burning coal.

dredmorbius 12y ago
A few corrections. Within the US, little electrical generation comes from oil (about TK%), but outside the US that level's rather higher -- something I only learned recently myself when trying to rebut the statement that oil was significant in electricity generation elsewhere. Hrm. Still not all that big. 256 Mtoe per the IEA in 2012, of 6,497 MTOE, about 4% - 6% depending on how you read net global imports / exports. (How does the world import/export to itself?) http://www.iea.org/Sankey/index.html http://www.iea.org/Sankey/index.html Though in many parts of the world, electricity comes from gasoline or diesel generators on small scale rather than central generation plants. There's also the fact that renewable energy can produce liquid or gas fuels via the Sabatier process (resulting in natural gas) or Fischer-Tropsch fuel synthesis (liquids). These aren't used in bulk now, but could be, and represent a possible carbon-neutral gas and liquid hydrocarbon fuel source in future.
guelo 12y ago
It's all linked because fracking produces both gas and oil. But I agree coal is the biggest culprit. That's why the tax should be on carbon, not a specific fuel. But the tax should be designed to be dynamic somehow to act as a stabilizer to keep prices from going to high or to low too fast.
crdoconnor 12y ago
>Very little electricity is generated using oil ~80% of Hawaii's electricity is generated using petroleum. Lower electricity costs vs. petroleum costs also make electric cars a much better deal.

dredmorbius 12y ago

A few corrections. Within the US, little electrical generation comes from oil (about TK%), but outside the US that level's rather higher -- something I only learned recently myself when trying to rebut the statement that oil was significant in electricity generation elsewhere. Hrm. Still not all that big. 256 Mtoe per the IEA in 2012, of 6,497 MTOE, about 4% - 6% depending on how you read net global imports / exports. (How does the world import/export to itself?) http://www.iea.org/Sankey/index.html http://www.iea.org/Sankey/index.html Though in many parts of the world, electricity comes from gasoline or diesel generators on small scale rather than central generation plants. There's also the fact that renewable energy can produce liquid or gas fuels via the Sabatier process (resulting in natural gas) or Fischer-Tropsch fuel synthesis (liquids). These aren't used in bulk now, but could be, and represent a possible carbon-neutral gas and liquid hydrocarbon fuel source in future.

guelo 12y ago

It's all linked because fracking produces both gas and oil. But I agree coal is the biggest culprit. That's why the tax should be on carbon, not a specific fuel. But the tax should be designed to be dynamic somehow to act as a stabilizer to keep prices from going to high or to low too fast.

crdoconnor 12y ago

>Very little electricity is generated using oil ~80% of Hawaii's electricity is generated using petroleum. Lower electricity costs vs. petroleum costs also make electric cars a much better deal.