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problematic in the states that are heavily dependent on coal-fired power plants for their electricity. If states such as Wyoming and West Virginia—which are 94 percent and 97 percent reliant on coal, respectively—are required to add renewable electricity to their grids, those states will likely have to make large parallel investments in new gas generation and gas-delivery infrastructure.
    The reason those states will need to add gas infrastructure is that coal plants are not designed to be turned on and off. Instead, they are designed to run at a constant rate. When they run below their optimum
design rates, they become less efficient, and they may emit more carbon dioxide and air pollutants at lower power output levels than when they operate at maximum output.
    All of this matters because Americans have been repeatedly told that electricity generated from wind costs less than electricity produced by other forms of power generation. That’s only true if you don’t count the investments that must be made in other power-delivery infrastructure that assures that the lights don’t go out.
    The extreme variability of wind generation means that wind turbines are simply a supernumerary—an extra—element of our electricity generation system. They don’t displace existing power plants at all. Instead, when they are added they must be carefully integrated into the electricity grid—and backed up with gas-fired generators—so that they won’t cause too much disruption. And therein lies the punch line: The costs of all the new gas-related infrastructure that must be installed in order to accommodate increased use of wind power should be included in calculations about the costs of adding renewable sources of energy to the U.S. electricity grid. Those calculations should be done on a state-by-state basis. But so far, little, if any, of that type of work has been done.
    So why hasn’t it been done? Part of the blame should be aimed at promoters like Pickens, who have continually understated the costs of moving the U.S. toward wind power. In addition, Pickens confuses the issues of wind-generated electricity and oil by claiming that more wind power would mean less oil use and therefore less need for imports.
    That claim leads to the next myth-busting opportunity. Americans have repeatedly been told that increasing the production of “green” energy in the United States will result in a reduction in U.S. imports. That’s just not true. Nearly all of the wind turbines now being produced depend on a rare element called neodymium. One of the most confounding aspects of the push for “green” energy in America is that, by rushing headlong into efforts to reduce the use of hydrocarbons, the United States is making itself even more beholden to China, which has a stranglehold on the world’s supply of neodymium and other “green” elements.

PART III
    THE POWER OF N2N

PART IV
    MOVING FORWARD

APPENDIX B: SI NUMERICAL DESIGNATIONS
    As discussed in Chapter 3, SI units are an essential part of modern life. We use many SI numerical designations—milli, mega, nano—on a regular basis without recognizing that they are part of a larger system. Given the fact that most Americans are only passingly familiar with these terms, it makes sense to examine all of the designations—starting with “yocto” and “yotta”—and understand what they mean.
    The difference between yocto and yotta is the difference between a septillionth and a septillion. Between yocto, the SI prefix for 10 –24 , and yotta (sometimes spelled yota), the SI prefix for 10 24 , there are 48 zeroes. It’s the difference between 0.000,000,000,000,000,000,000,001 and 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. But in SI, those numbers would be written without the commas, thus, yocto is: 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001; and yotta is: 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000.
    Herewith, the