The Obama Administration sold its $787 billion stimulus plan on the basis of improving the economy through investing in green energy and by doing so, increasing employment in the United States. But what is actually happening, particularly with wind and solar projects, is that the majority of the manufactured components are being built offshore in [...]

We do not understand why IER gets the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) so spun up. Maybe it’s because of our opposition to government subsidies. Maybe it’s because we don’t believe that government mandates forcing people to buy energy from expensive, inefficient sources is good for the economy. Or perhaps it is because of our [...]

Economic impacts from the promotion of renewable energies: The German Experience (PDF 358KB)
Washington, DC – Though proponents of so-called government-funded ‘green jobs’ often reference the ‘success’ European countries have enjoyed in their experiments with such regulations and mandates, a study released today in the United States sheds new light on Germany’s experience with renewable energy [...]

Energy is critical for our economy and our future and the real issues deserve to be debated. That is why we appreciated the initial response on the American Wind Energy Association’s website to the recent study, Wind Energy: The Case of Denmark. It appears that AWEA actually read the study and raised some questions related [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 14, 2009
Contact:
Chris Tucker, 202.346.8825
Patrick Creighton, 202.621.2947
Something Rotten? Obama Says Danes Receive 20% of Their Power Via Wind; New Study Tells the Real Story
Danish experts visit Washington this week to explain to American audiences what’s really happening in Denmark
WASHINGTON – President Obama has frequently cited Denmark as an example to be followed in [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4 , 2009
CONTACT:
Laura Henderson
202.621.2951
Patrick Creighton
202.621.2947
Renewable Electricity Mandate: Pay More For Less
WASHINGTON—In advance of a Senate Energy Committee hearing on the renewable electricity mandate (REM), the Institute for Energy Research (IER) released the following fact sheet:
A National REM Would Increase the Cost of Electricity:

Wind and solar electricity are significantly more expensive than [...]

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The Energy Information Administration (EIA) produces forecasts of energy supply and demand for the next 20 years using the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS)[1]. These forecasts are updated annually and published in the Annual Energy Outlook (AEO). EIA published a preliminary version of the AEO 2009 in December 2008, and updated the forecasts [...]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2009
CONTACT:
Laura Henderson (202) 621-2951
Fantasy Land: Salazar Announces that East Coast Windmills Could Provide 100 Percent of Nation’s Electricity
WASHINGTON, D.C. – IER President Thomas J. Pyle today issued the following statement in response to Secretary Salazar’s assertion that windmills off the East Coast, “could generate 1 million megawatts of power, roughly the [...]

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Energy makes modern society possible. It lights the night, heats our homes, powers our entertainment, and most importantly, it helps us conserve the ultimate non-renewable resource—time. Energy amplifies our ability to do work. Machines help autoworkers assemble cars, power tools help construction workers build our homes, gasoline-powered automobiles help us take care of [...]