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(1) I don't know how it's in the US, but in France the price for wind turbine projects must include underground electric cable setup and retirement of old turbi

(1) I don't know how it's in the US, but in France the price for wind turbine projects must include underground electric cable setup and retirement of old turbines after x years. I don't think it's included for any other kind of energy source. (2) You are thinking the old way, the way fossil fuel formatted your thinking. There is always wind __somewhere__. There is always sun __somewhere__. We currently have very centralized way of harvesting energy. If we want to transition to alternative energy sources, it must come with changing the shape of the grid to accommodate a more decentralized system. Also partnership between countries would help a lot.

treis 9y ago
It would be great if we had a continent wide grid that could efficiently transfer energy from one region to another, but we don't. Building one would be enormously expensive and we'd lose a lot of power in transit.
- disconnected 9y ago
  Wouldn't it be great if such a thing existed? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_area_synchronous_grid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_area_synchronous_grid
  - treis 9y ago
    There's nowhere near enough capacity to transmit enough solar power from say Florida to power the Northeast. Besides, then you still run into problem 2. Florida has to have enough excess capacity to support the NE. And enough excess to make up for summer vs winter.
- sametmax 9y ago
  You don't need that. A grid at the country scale is enough. Power is less consumed during the night, so using only wind by night is alright. Plus we already have "grid-contract" with neighbors in France to load balance. And even the biggest defenders of solar and wind don't advocate for going 100% at first. Mixing sources and increasing solar / wind gradually years and years is already nice.
hokkos 9y ago
A wide grid is extremely costly, also the grid is not sexy, politician don't care about it, so there is little incentive to make it. Outsourcing your electricity production is a political hazard, for Europe it would mean put it in north Africa, still an unstable region, electricity production sovereignty is paramount.
- sametmax 9y ago
  Most electricity in France come from nuclear energy, and the radioactive material isn't found in France. However, wind and solar are found in France in great quantity Besides, nobody advocate to go full wind/solar and discard all the rest at once. A mix is a nice first target.

treis 9y ago

It would be great if we had a continent wide grid that could efficiently transfer energy from one region to another, but we don't. Building one would be enormously expensive and we'd lose a lot of power in transit.

disconnected 9y ago
Wouldn't it be great if such a thing existed? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_area_synchronous_grid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_area_synchronous_grid
- treis 9y ago
  There's nowhere near enough capacity to transmit enough solar power from say Florida to power the Northeast. Besides, then you still run into problem 2. Florida has to have enough excess capacity to support the NE. And enough excess to make up for summer vs winter.
sametmax 9y ago
You don't need that. A grid at the country scale is enough. Power is less consumed during the night, so using only wind by night is alright. Plus we already have "grid-contract" with neighbors in France to load balance. And even the biggest defenders of solar and wind don't advocate for going 100% at first. Mixing sources and increasing solar / wind gradually years and years is already nice.

hokkos 9y ago

A wide grid is extremely costly, also the grid is not sexy, politician don't care about it, so there is little incentive to make it. Outsourcing your electricity production is a political hazard, for Europe it would mean put it in north Africa, still an unstable region, electricity production sovereignty is paramount.

sametmax 9y ago
Most electricity in France come from nuclear energy, and the radioactive material isn't found in France. However, wind and solar are found in France in great quantity Besides, nobody advocate to go full wind/solar and discard all the rest at once. A mix is a nice first target.