https://zionlights.substack.com/p/most-people-are-wrong-about-energy
Most people are wrong about energy
The 10 mistakes that are holding us back
By Zion Lights
Excerpt:
1. Equating “renewables” with just wind and solar power
Ask most people what renewables are, and they’ll say wind and solar power: the poster children of renewable energy. But even with significant finances being poured into them, the largest source of renewable electricity in the world isn’t either of them. It’s hydropower.
And then there’s biomass – the messy cousin no one likes to talk about, which still makes up a good chunk of the “renewable” pie in Europe.
…
2. Ignoring biomass and pretending it’s clean
The UK likes to claim a high share of renewable electricity, but a huge chunk of that is from burning wood pellets at power stations like Drax.
Technically, biomass is classed as renewable because the trees might grow back. But in reality, it involves chopping down forests, shipping the pellets across the Atlantic, and burning them, which releases carbon in the process.
If biomass wasn’t classed as “renewable,” the statistics for investment in clean energy would look very different for many countries. That classification is one of the biggest scams of the 21st century.
…
3. Confusing installed capacity with actual generation
This one’s everywhere. Journalists hear a country has installed 100 GW of solar and report that it now generates 100 GW of electricity. But that isn’t how it works.
Capacity is what a system could theoretically produce under perfect conditions. Generation is what it actually produces. A solar panel in Scotland in December isn’t as efficient as one in Arizona in July. Since wind and solar are intermittent, i.e. they rely on weather, they rarely reach full capacity, at least not for long periods of time.
No matter how much capacity a country installs, that doesn’t increase the amount of sunshine or wind it gets. Essentially this means gambling on the weather to produce electricity. It’s never reported like that though.
…
4. Believing that political revolution will bring down emissions
There’s a popular belief that we can’t solve climate change without first bringing down capitalism or completely overhauling the political system. But emissions don’t wait for utopia. Most global emissions come from energy systems, supply chains, and infrastructure, which are all things that can be decarbonised through policy, investment, and technology within the existing system.
In fact, countries with strong institutions and market mechanisms like carbon pricing, clean energy subsidies, or green finance, have done more to cut emissions than revolutionary slogans ever have. Big systemic change sounds exciting, but it’s often slow, messy, and unlikely to deliver the fast, pragmatic energy transition we need.
…
6. Sidelining nuclear, even though it works
Nuclear energy is weirdly political. Ideology aside, nuclear is a proven, zero-carbon source of baseload power, and it has helped countries like France and Sweden maintain low-carbon grids for decades. If we’re serious about cutting emissions, it has to be a significant part of any net zero plan.
