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3 GW measures average power. Google just buys the entire output of wind or solar farms, so supply is not matched with demand.[1] This is a known problem with re
by allenz 9y ago
3 GW measures average power. Google just buys the entire output of wind or solar farms, so supply is not matched with demand.[1] This is a known problem with renewables. Elon Musk claims that he can solve it with a relatively small area of batteries like the Powerpack, but he's sold less than 1 GW so far because batteries are expensive.
[1] https://environment.google/projects/announcement-100/ https://environment.google/projects/announcement-100/
- fulafel 9y agoI guess that accounting is natural for marketing numbers. I don't generally think it's a problem, it's just a feature of those generation methods and just means we need overprovisioning. Whereas fossil fuels have unsurmountable problems and cause untold human suffering, famines and damage to the environment.
- allenz 9y agoI think that Google has made a fantastic step forward. However, solar and wind require some form of energy storage, such as pumped hydro or batteries (which Google hasn't addressed). Overprovisioning by itself isn't sufficient.