I am actually doing some research on various forms of biofuels. I had not gone looking for horror stories, but now that you have mentioned it, I did find one:

DailyMail link is under the name in the previous post. A good overview, yes. =)

Generally, many links and even cross-posts appeared on wattsupwiththat.com over the years. Like stopthesethings.com (dedicated to bird swatters) etc.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4078820/The-great-green-guzzler-Monster-digesters-meant-guzzle-waste-churn-eco-friendly-energy-fed-CROPS-produce-pitiful-levels-power-cost-216m-subsidies-HARM-environment.html

Such horror stories will be useful to my discussions with green energy enthusiasts in the coming weeks, so if you have any to share, I am all ears. [Also if you have success stories or general advice for green energy entrepreneurs, let me know!] Comments should be free for all at:

https://gaikokumaniakku.wordpress.com/2025/04/05/disasters-of/

If I pushed the right buttons, you should be able to comment anonymously without logging in.

I have great sympathy for technophiles who strive for self-sufficiency, even when they use unproven technologies to seek out that ideal. But if a government gives those technophiles a “certification” then it goes the way government usually goes.

Well, yes. Minimizing external dependencies, especially controlled by whims of loons and thieves is just sane. But it gets warped easily.

My favourite example is European corruption of methane infrastructure: it’s something obviously useful turned into abomination.

What the actual people need: scalable solutions to turn existing waste (whether from cities or farms) into heat and electricity, it’s win-win. And mutual economy-of-scale bonuses with other methane options. What actually happens: oversized “monster digesters” eat crops, overuse roads and explode in toxic gunk.

Why? The design and usage are not driven by real-world forces like the end user demand or actual costs of externalities. There’s a distorted market, and then there’s broken market. Yet another fake industry of “green blob”.

Mostly virtue signaling. But it’s subsidized, so also deliberate collaboration with the looters, for a share. Then the first wave of loot dries up, in a surprising twist the bureaucratic robbery turns on them…

I have great sympathy for technophiles who strive for self-sufficiency, even when they use unproven technologies to seek out that ideal. But if a government gives those technophiles a “certification” then it goes the way government usually goes.

Some ultra-green technophiles seem to have considerable success by emphasizing the physical self-sufficiency of their experimental homesteads. Example:

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/about/the-solar-website/

It is virtue signalling, certainly, but it seems to be a robust technology.

The biggest draw of solar and wind is psychological. Some people who never passed a calculus course in their lives, who get their ideas of

If so, do they act on this when the choice immediately costs them more than a tiny inconvenience?

Mostly virtue signaling. But it’s subsidized, so also deliberate collaboration with the looters, for a share. Then the first wave of loot dries up, in a surprising twist the bureaucratic robbery turns on them, and much wailing ensues: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/03/18/how-a-heat-pump-destroyed-one-consumers-perfect-energy-rating/

For reference, here is a Chobani yogurt commercial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Ng5ZvrDm4

These people *like* solar panels and wind turbines. These people do not like counting kilowatt-hours. They like the Chobani vibes.

Manhattan Contrarian has posted a large number of analyses of solar and wind generating plant. The short answer is that they make no sense whatever, except for a few, small niche applications.

They have sense as a way to put the real industry on a leash and raise fake industry (which starts on a leash, because it cannot exist on its own without state suppressing real industry).

Also, for costs the scale matters a lot. A modest rotor over a barn is one thing. Just make sure the bearings don’t clog with dust or something.

But large bird-grinders not only have starting costs with requirements like concrete foundation, they consume energy when there’s no wind. If a huge asymmetrically hung turbine is not rotating for too long, axles and bearings deform too much and will break on restart. Lubricant must be at the right temperature. Control circuitry for all this should not overheat. Negative net output is quite possible in the worst cases.

As to the storage, an electric train going uphill and generating when it’s allowed to go down was found to be no less practical option than accumulator banks.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=“rail+energy+storage”&ia=web

It’s reasonable to assume compared to this… Incredible Machine grade solution, no method so far was found to be better in every parameter which counts.

Wind has to be replaced every 10 to 15 years. Solar every 20. Batteries every 5 to 10 years. All expensive, and all destructive to the power grid in actual use.

Operating costs are all grossly understated and ultimately ruinous to rate payers.