4 ms·

Renewable power is good; more is not always better

13 points by martincmartin 11y ago

nl 11y ago
Better energy storage would help, too. Hydro-electric power stations have been used to store energy for decades. But there is not always an uphill reservoir handy, and other ways of storing energy, such as lithium-ion batteries, are expensive. More promising, probably, is automatic demand reduction. Smart meters can turn down household freezers and air-conditioning units briefly when power is in short supply and then power them up again, thereby shifting demand. Sia Partners, a consultancy, estimates that European countries could cut peak demand by 9% with such methods. This is what I'd bet on. Re-flow batteries are cost effective for many application and available now, and combined with companies like Tesla pushing the cost of lithium-ion and other technologies down it is pretty clear it will only get cheaper. Batteries and smart meters also de-centralize power generation. This is important because it cuts the costs associated with transmission.
briantakita 11y ago
Distributed power generation would reduce transmission power loss & make the grid more robust; similar to distributed computing or the internet. Distributed power generation would also create more community autonomy. Currently, there are large middlemen extracting profit from the users & altering local ecosystems; where the decision makers are not part of the ecological feedback loop. Technologies like biogas use compost & manure to create methane. Biogas reactors are inexpensive, can be built DIY, & scale small to large. Europe has adopted biogas & has several large reactors. http://european-biogas.eu/ http://european-biogas.eu/. The compost can be used to create soil health in the local area. Compost can be collected using bikes in local neighborhoods. Here's a coop called pedal people. https://www.pedalpeople.coop/ https://www.pedalpeople.coop/ Communities becoming self-reliant with their energy production would increase neighborhood autonomy, keep money inside of the community, & would increase awareness what is thrown away. Another underutilized resource is human poop. Millions of tons of nutrients & fuel are poured into the oceans as toxic sludge. Rather than devastate environments, we could utilize this resource to power our cities & heal our soil.
oska 11y ago
This article makes quite an attack on Germany's Energiewende (energy transition) and repeats a number of myths. Here is a link that sets out to debunk some of those myths in a fairly rigorous manner: http://www.energypost.eu/energiewende-dark-side/ http://www.energypost.eu/energiewende-dark-side/
ZeroGravitas 11y ago
What a strange tone that article had. I'm still trying to work out the headline, where the strange tone starts. More wind power in Germany is bad because.... German miners will protest at the closure of coal plants? Because Germany only has very limited carbon tax? Surely a carbon tax would lead to... more renewable energy.

13 points by martincmartin 11y ago

nl 11y ago

Better energy storage would help, too. Hydro-electric power stations have been used to store energy for decades. But there is not always an uphill reservoir handy, and other ways of storing energy, such as lithium-ion batteries, are expensive. More promising, probably, is automatic demand reduction. Smart meters can turn down household freezers and air-conditioning units briefly when power is in short supply and then power them up again, thereby shifting demand. Sia Partners, a consultancy, estimates that European countries could cut peak demand by 9% with such methods. This is what I'd bet on. Re-flow batteries are cost effective for many application and available now, and combined with companies like Tesla pushing the cost of lithium-ion and other technologies down it is pretty clear it will only get cheaper. Batteries and smart meters also de-centralize power generation. This is important because it cuts the costs associated with transmission.

briantakita 11y ago

Distributed power generation would reduce transmission power loss & make the grid more robust; similar to distributed computing or the internet. Distributed power generation would also create more community autonomy. Currently, there are large middlemen extracting profit from the users & altering local ecosystems; where the decision makers are not part of the ecological feedback loop. Technologies like biogas use compost & manure to create methane. Biogas reactors are inexpensive, can be built DIY, & scale small to large. Europe has adopted biogas & has several large reactors. http://european-biogas.eu/ http://european-biogas.eu/. The compost can be used to create soil health in the local area. Compost can be collected using bikes in local neighborhoods. Here's a coop called pedal people. https://www.pedalpeople.coop/ https://www.pedalpeople.coop/ Communities becoming self-reliant with their energy production would increase neighborhood autonomy, keep money inside of the community, & would increase awareness what is thrown away. Another underutilized resource is human poop. Millions of tons of nutrients & fuel are poured into the oceans as toxic sludge. Rather than devastate environments, we could utilize this resource to power our cities & heal our soil.

oska 11y ago

This article makes quite an attack on Germany's Energiewende (energy transition) and repeats a number of myths. Here is a link that sets out to debunk some of those myths in a fairly rigorous manner: http://www.energypost.eu/energiewende-dark-side/ http://www.energypost.eu/energiewende-dark-side/

ZeroGravitas 11y ago

What a strange tone that article had. I'm still trying to work out the headline, where the strange tone starts. More wind power in Germany is bad because.... German miners will protest at the closure of coal plants? Because Germany only has very limited carbon tax? Surely a carbon tax would lead to... more renewable energy.