Read now to learn how fiat severely distorts the true costs of one of the world's "new" energy technologies.
Fiat currencies are enormously wasteful. They incentivize companies, governments, and individuals to take out massive debts that they frequently can’t pay back. They can also be printed by governments and banks at any time, stealing massive quantities of wealth from the billions of people who are forced to use them day in and day out.
There’s one aspect of fiat-based excess that doesn’t get talked about frequently because it isn’t well understood: governments have an unlimited ability to fund their pet projects through fiat, no matter the costs to society at large.
In today’s newsletter, I hope to pull back the curtain a bit on the true costs of one government pet project: renewable wind energy.
A Storm Is Brewing
Contrary to what some people may believe, wind power is not new. Societies have used wind power for millennia to push their boats, grind their grain, and pump their water. But wind power fell out of fashion with the development of nuclear- and hydrocarbon-based power generation because they could produce power nearly anywhere and at any time, while wind power simply can’t (good luck generating it when the wind isn’t blowing).
As public opinion has seemingly turned against nuclear- and hydrocarbon-based power over the past several decades, wind power has seen a resurgence in its popularity, especially in the ivory towers of governments worldwide. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being spent — far more than most people realize — to move the world onto a grid powered, in part, by renewable wind energy, with promises from proponents that the switch will be good for both the environment and our wallets. The reality is that neither is true:
Wind energy isn’t as clean as you’ve been told
It’s nearly impossible to separate “wind energy” and “clean energy” in people’s minds these days. The two terms are basically synonymous and people are buying into wind power due to their belief that it is a wholesale improvement over energy produced from oil, coal, and natural gas.
However, wind power is hiding a number of dirty secrets. For example, wind turbines are massive, requiring enormous quantities of steel, fiberglass, and other materials that largely end up in landfills when the turbines are retired.
But by far the dirtiest secret is that wind power does little to actually reduce humanity’s reliance on hydrocarbon energy. Wind power is wildly unreliable, subject entirely to the frequency and strength of winds in the areas where wind farms are built. But societies can’t eliminate the need for electricity around the clock, even when the wind isn’t blowing. So each wind farm requires backup power plants that use reliable energy sources to provide power generation when wind power can’t keep up with demand.
Wind power costs taxpayers billions
There’s a quote from billionaire investor Warren Buffet that makes one of wind power’s biggest flaws painfully obvious:
On wind energy, we get a tax credit if we build a lot of wind farms. That's the only reason to build them. They don't make sense without the tax credit.
The reality is that wind power isn’t very profitable unless governments are willing to fork over billions of dollars’ worth of taxpayers’ money. Since, as we discussed above, wind power is actually far less green than we’ve been told, why would we ever pay more for it than hydrocarbon-based power?
The truth is that most people wouldn't. They’d likely prioritize their money and financial security over virtue signaling.
Wind power is rather inefficient
Wind farms take up massive amounts of space. They also can’t be near large structures that would block wind, for obvious reasons. All this to say that wind farms are usually located out in the middle of nowhere.
People usually don’t live in the middle of nowhere. They live in massive cities and far off towns that need enormous amounts of energy to survive. So having wind farms dozens or even hundreds of miles away can be a bit problematic for energy transmission.
How do companies and societies deal with transmission issues? By investing billions in building transmission lines to connect with the grids powering the cities and towns where people actually live.
Let The Free Market Decide
The point of this article is not to sell you on the wonders of hydrocarbon or nuclear power. Producing energy, from any source, has financial, ecological, and other costs. But I do believe that we have a right to know where and how we’re being misled or otherwise lied to.
The truth is that a lot of people may choose to discriminate more frequently against wind power if they understood the true costs associated with generating it. But the ability of governments to control fiat and direct it where they will eliminates the possibility that free markets can make informed choices in the matter.
Free, unbiased, and uncontrolled money will reduce governments’ ability to fund their pet projects and will allow markets and market participants to make their own educated guesses. Bitcoin is the only money in the world that puts total financial self-sovereignty in the hands of individuals, and with that self-sovereignty will come the ability to make one’s choices without outside interference.
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This is not financial or business advice. This newsletter and related content are for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrencies and digital assets can be risky. Always do your own research before making any sort of investment.
