Derailing the Energy Discussion with Meaningless Facts

A well-meaning reader quotes some figures from energy industry author Robert Bryce:

Nuclear 300 hp/acre
Nat gas 288 hp/acre
Solar 36 hp/acre
Wind 6.4 hp/acre
Corn ethanol 1/4 hp/acre

From what I’ve seen, Bryce appears to have made his fortune as a well-paid pawn of the traditional energy industry, offering a torrent of spurious reasons that renewables will never work. Here, he talks about a statistic that has virtually no meaning: power/area ratio; it’s certainly not in the top 20 reasons to like or dislike an energy technology. Robert, we have plenty of room, and I have to think that you know that.

So nuclear’s good because you can develop a lot of energy in a small space — by endangering every man, woman and child on Earth for the next 500,000 years — at tremendous cost?

Malicious nonsense.