As an advocate of green energy, it is great to read an article by a fellow chemical engineer, Pat the Engineer. It is so laced with half truths, one quarter truths and no truths at all that it is quite easy to counter.

I take it Pat the Engineer must belong to the fossil fired school of scientists. He talks about the distortion of prices that wind power and solar power force on the electricity consumer. Pat the Engineer surely knows that the fossil fuel industry is subsidised by about $360bn USD every year. These subsidies can take the form of tax write offs, or paying for aircraft carriers to patrol the Gulf or indeed special concession for rights of way from Governments, etc.

So what is Pat the Engineer comparing the price of renewable electricity to?