[DR-Motion]

Nice post Mariss, My initial impression is that this type of analysis points at the most fundamental flaw in the discussion of GW or CC. While our modern culture has certainly increased our literacy, sadly our numeracy is pretty dismal.

</flame bait on> Our most vocal Greenies, spouting their rhetoric, inevitably are lacking in fundamental math skills. This is why they are so easily convinced of the security proffered by biofuels , solar power and (IMNSHO the biggest scam of all) hydrogen . </flame bait off>

As a reality check on your, "US per capita energy consumption is 4.5 X 10^11 Joules per year" I checked my electric utility bill and found my yearly consumption to be about 15,000 kWh per year for a family of 6. My gasoline consumption for 25,000 kM per year at 10 kM per litre is about 2500 litres . So while not accounting for my natural gas consumption ( 'cause I don't know how to relate it to the correct units) and not including all the energy used to fuel my "consumer" goods, I estimate my 6 person family usage to be less than the PER CAPITA US energy consumption... and we're not living a particularly "green" lifestyle.

Geof, ... "some regions are experiencing increased precipitation" ... yeah it was all in my driveway this morning... 6 inches of heavy wet snow with a three foot drift blocking the entrance to my shop. And inevitably as soon as I finished shoveling the driveway... the snowplow came by and buried me in again.LOL

You are absolutely correct in your consideration of energy consumption required in the growing or manufacturing of alternate energy sources, as any accountant will tell you. The same energy cost must be applied to manufacturing "greenie" technology such as modern batteries, fuel cells and solar panels; the amortisation of these costs reveals a large energy footprint.

" And Mariss' bleak Conclusion: There are no "alternative energy sources". It's oil or it's nuclear or we go back to a primitive agrarian existence." Why so bleak?
Once you know what is real and what is imagined, you have the opportunity to move towards your clearly perceived goal. This is a positive thing.