IT WAS SUPPOSED to be a cool “save the Earth” type happening. Environmental activists set up an inflatable replica of a coal-fired power plant to protest the use of fossil fuels by Madison Gas & Electric in Madison Wis. To demonstrate their boundless faith in renewable energy, the protesters rigged the inflatable to a solar panel and batteries that had been charged by wind power the previous day.
But the renewable power supply failed to provide enough juice to last throughout the protest, and the inflatable collapsed. (Watch on YouTube http://youtu.be/2Fs5v6NHTHg.)
The incident is more than a bit ironic, considering that some environmental extremists believe renewables can completely replace fossil fuels – despite the intermittent nature of wind and solar energy, which require dependable back-up systems most often provided by fossil-fuel-powered systems.
The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers has long been an advocate of a balanced portfolio of energy generation capabilities, including coal, nuclear, hydro, gas, wind, solar and other renewable technologies.
While this demonstration was an unintended example of the inconsistency and limitations of current renewable technologies, it is also a demonstration of the knowledge limitations of their environmental advocacy groups.
The Brotherhood recognizes that the source of the video referenced above is a right-wing think tank, the MacIver Institute. While we fundamentally oppose the group’s views, this particular video was simply too good to pass up.
