1. Agenda Above Water Argument 1 Topic1 Above Water Argument 2 Topic2
Compared to coal energy, nuclear power and hydroelectricity, sun and wind power are very expensive
Electricity needs are highest in the winter so a reliable energy source is needed to do the heavy lifting – in Germany, that energy is coal
“Energy poverty” is a new phrase to describe Germans who cannot afford to pay their electricity bills
For solar energy, you need additional resources like highly purified silicon, phosphorus, boron, titanium dioxide and other complex compounds.
For something to be cheap and plentiful, every part of the process must be low-cost and plentiful
For wind energy, you need high-performance compounds to make turbines and rare earth metal neodymium to make special magnets.
Germany has spent tens of billions of dollars on solar panels and windmills, but coal use has not decreased – it’s increased
Germany is the world’s leader in renewables where wind and solar energy production is erratic – higher in the summer, lower in the winter
In the world, there is not one free-standing solar or wind power plant. All of them require backup, typically fossil fuel
It takes a lot of resources to collect sun and wind energy, and even more resources to make them available as needed
Less than 10% of Germany’s energy is generated by solar and wind
Sun and wind are free, clean and don’t product CO2 emissions
Solar and wind together provide just 2% of the world’s energy
Sun and wind energy are weak (“dilute”) and unreliable (“intermittent”)
Switching between solar, wind and coal to maintain a steady energy source is costly
The sun and wind are free, but the process to turn them into energy if far from free
The sun doesn’t shine all the time and the wind doesn’t blow all the time, so you need to store that energy for later use
There’s no free lunch and there’s no free energy – including solar and wind energy
Unlike coal and oil, the sun and wind don’t produce much energy, so you have to add additional resources
You can store oil in a tank, but there is no mass storage system for sun and wind energy
Topic4

2. Agenda Above Water Argument 1 Topic1 Above Water Argument 2 Topic2
Compared to coal energy, nuclear power and hydroelectricity, sun and wind power are very expensive
Electricity needs are highest in the winter so a reliable energy source is needed to do the heavy lifting – in Germany, that energy is coal
“Energy poverty” is a new phrase to describe Germans who cannot afford to pay their electricity bills
For solar energy, you need additional resources like highly purified silicon, phosphorus, boron, titanium dioxide and other complex compounds.
For something to be cheap and plentiful, every part of the process must be low-cost and plentiful
For wind energy, you need high-performance compounds to make turbines and rare earth metal neodymium to make special magnets.
Germany has spent tens of billions of dollars on solar panels and windmills, but coal use has not decreased – it’s increased
Germany is the world’s leader in renewables where wind and solar energy production is erratic – higher in the summer, lower in the winter
In the world, there is not one free-standing solar or wind power plant. All of them require backup, typically fossil fuel
It takes a lot of resources to collect sun and wind energy, and even more resources to make them available as needed
Less than 10% of Germany’s energy is generated by solar and wind
Sun and wind are free, clean and don’t product CO2 emissions
Solar and wind together provide just 2% of the world’s energy
Sun and wind energy are weak (“dilute”) and unreliable (“intermittent”)
Switching between solar, wind and coal to maintain a steady energy source is costly
The sun and wind are free, but the process to turn them into energy if far from free
The sun doesn’t shine all the time and the wind doesn’t blow all the time, so you need to store that energy for later use
There’s no free lunch and there’s no free energy – including solar and wind energy
Unlike coal and oil, the sun and wind don’t produce much energy, so you have to add additional resources
You can store oil in a tank, but there is no mass storage system for sun and wind energy
Topic4