4 ms·
> renewables will have surpassed it in terms of cost Are you thinking in terms of dollars or including the price of future use/materials? In other words, can’t
by bch 7y ago
> renewables will have surpassed it in terms of cost
Are you thinking in terms of dollars or including the price of future use/materials? In other words, can’t a nuclear plant effectively be swapped in for a (e.g.) coal-fired generator and Just Work, versus all the materials (grid-scale collectors, batteries, etc), which is just the next generation of junk in a treadmill that’s still a carbon problem?
I ask because I don’t know.
- zaroth 7y agoLook at the other article on the front page about air pollution. We’ve actually made tremendous progress reducing sulfur dioxide emissions from coal in the last decade. To damages from air quality problems in the US are down 20% overall, which is a economic savings of $1.6 trillion per decade. The waste stream from solar is a real question. The video posted in the other reply brings it up as well. We definitely need panels that are designed for extremely long service and recyclable end of life. I do think the battery tech is evolving extremely rapidly and dovetails with EVs so that will help keep renewables competitive even as total overall renewable supply share increases. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21200082 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21200082