PrairiePundit: Obama's energy plan does not compute

Obama said he wants to invest heavily in solar power. That's fine. We're in favor of solar. So what would it take to replace OPEC oil if Obama wanted to just use electric cars supplied by solar power? If you assume a conversion efficiency of 12 percent, the United States would need about 3.5 million megawatts of installed solar capacity. That's more than three times the existing electric capacity in the country. It also translates into about 35.5 million acres of solar collectors, or an area about the size of the state of Illinois. and that assumes no room for roads or power lines or maintenance areas.

In his speech in Denver, Obama — a longtime supporter of the corn ethanol industry — didn't mention ethanol. These days, he prefers to talk about "advanced biofuels."...