AukeHoekstra, a useful source for renewal energy factz, laments that we can't bankrupt [oil companies] before we have weaned ourselves off oil. And this is part of a mish-mash of the usual leftist economic confusions.BH is sad that oil & gas companies are giving windfall profits to shareholders instead of re-aligning towards clean energy. But why? What else should they do with their profts, except give them to the people that own the companies, or invest them in their business. Only in some bizarre statist fantasy would they direct them towards whatever BH deems most worthy. And he thinks that governments should aim to starve and bankrupt them a.s.a.p. which is distinctly "nice company you've got there, be a shame is something happened to it" type language. It doesn't occur to him that if people stop buying their products the oil companies would be starved without any need for govt muscle.
But that's not all, oh no, that is not all: he also objects to giving subsidies and windfall profits to the oil companies. But this too is bollox: he isn't. The subsidies stuff is largely drivel; and no-one is "giving" windfall profits, other than the people buying the product. That people continue to buy the product despite its price increasing demonstrates how much they value it. If govts care to provide an alternative that is better and cheaper then that would be one solution; although just letting the market do it would be better.
Refs
* Degrowth and the monkey's paw.
* The Case Against (Most) Books - contains some words I'll want to reference one day. Though it weirdly and uncritically refs this piece which gets the Galileo story completely wrong, sigh.
While I'd prefer that oil and gas companies survived only by repurposing their expertise into non-fossil energy, watching the ones that stick to just carbon eventually wither away is something I might not live long enough to see. But the industry has lots of expertise that transfers to non-fossil energy use - from offshore platform construction and operations, to CO2 transport, to geological databases and new drilling techniques that could also assist with expanding the types of geothermal energy stored and harvested.
ReplyDeleteRegarding your closing sentence: "If govts care to provide an alternative that is better and cheaper then that would be one solution; although just letting the market do it would be better."
I read the link and that's not "just letting the market do it" - the article notes that Hollandse Kust Zuid is the FIRST offshore wind farm built without subsidies. It's certainly not the first offshore wind farm.
"just letting the market do it after decades of purposeful government support policies brought new technologies to a point where they are the better and cheaper solution" lacks zing and snap, but it's more to the point of how the energy transition's been moving.
So policy support to assist the fossil industry in changing their market focus might also lead to outcomes where the industry can find a profitable existence while NOT destroying the stability of climate and coastlines globally.
Happy Summer!
> the industry has lots of expertise that transfers to non-fossil energy use
ReplyDeleteTrue. And that transfer can occur by the company itself doing such stuff, which is happening on at least a small scale; or people who know leaving and joining someone doing that; or the company breaking up and someone else with different intent buying it. Or, indeed, by them making their knowledge available via journals.
> after decades of purposeful government support
Agreed, this is a reasonable point; whether we think that this was the best way to get to this point or not, govt has certainly influenced the dev of the industry. Nonetheless, after a long time of people crying up "renewables are actually competetive with FFs" it is good to see that being actually true. And (to repeat something I think I've said before) this is my hope for the world: industry / tech / science is going to make renwables cheaper, and all the govt fluff, and the endless stupid conferences, will be much froth on the top.