MacroVoices #408 Lyn Alden: Broken Energy

In this extensive discussion, Lyn Alden and Eric Townsend explore what they see as fundamental problems with global energy systems. Alden argues that energy has become broken because politicians now have more influence over energy decisions than engineers, leading to narratives overtaking mathematical reality in energy planning. She emphasizes that energy security is one of the biggest risks facing society, alongside war, and that insufficient energy leads to reduced standard of living and food insecurity.

Townsend presents data showing that per capita energy consumption and standard of living peaked in the early 1970s and have been declining since, attributing this to intentional government policies that made energy artificially scarce to protect fossil fuel industry profits. He argues that nuclear energy was deliberately sabotaged by the Nixon administration despite being the clear technical solution to energy needs.

Both discuss energy density as a crucial concept, explaining how concentrated energy sources like uranium provide vastly better returns than diffuse sources like wind and solar. Alden explains energy return on investment (EROEI) and how higher energy density sources enabled the Industrial Revolution by freeing people from subsistence farming to specialize in other fields.

They critique current wind and solar deployment, noting how these intermittent sources create negative electricity pricing and grid instability. The subsidies and political favoritism toward these technologies distort price signals that would otherwise guide efficient energy choices. They argue that while wind and solar have niche applications, forcing them into baseload roles creates more problems than solutions.

Alden introduces Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) as a promising alternative that harnesses temperature differentials in tropical oceans to generate baseload power. This technology could provide energy-dense, sustainable electricity by letting nature concentrate solar energy in ocean water rather than trying to capture it directly.

Townsend discusses the inefficiency of steam turbines in converting heat to electricity, highlighting new carbon dioxide turbine technology that could dramatically improve efficiency and reduce costs. He emphasizes that breakthrough technologies for heat-to-electricity conversion could revolutionize energy production across multiple sources.

Both conclude that nuclear energy represents the best near-term solution for abundant, clean baseload power, arguing that proper implementation could provide energy cheaper than 1960s levels while being environmentally superior to current alternatives. They stress that energy costs directly determine standard of living and that political manipulation of energy markets undermines human prosperity.