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> All of which raises a question: if renewables can’t cheaply power Germany, one of the richest and most technologically advanced countries in the world, how co
by stubish 6y ago
> All of which raises a question: if renewables can’t cheaply power Germany, one of the richest and most technologically advanced countries in the world, how could a developing nation like Kenya ever expect them to allow it to “leapfrog” fossil fuels?
None of the problems claimed to affect Germany are applicable to Kenya. Indeed, the lack of existing infrastructure in Kenya probably tips the balance way in favor of renewables, using localized power generation rather than centralized and the massive grid projects Germany is claimed to be having problems with. You can bootstrap power in remote regions much easier with renewables by plonking down a few solar cells and a battery, and it scales right down to a single cell tower. Unlike fossil fuel, where you need an energy grid or trucking in fuel.
And are renewable energy plants still killing more birds than alternatives? I thought that argument lost validity about 30 years ago and is now just a bullshit flag?
Sorry about Germany if the problems are true. In other parts of the rich western world things are going fine and in a few regions 100% renewable and exporting power. Suggest to the author to learn from the successes, not just the failures.
- AtlasBarfed 6y agoglass skyscrapers kill far more birds. Buildings overall kill 550 million per year Wind turbines? 28,000 https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr191/psw_gtr191_1029-1042_erickson.pdf https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr191/... page 10ish
- tuatoru 6y agoDomestic and feral ex-domestic cats kill far more birds than either. If this is a real concern, banning cat ownership is top of the list.
- jollofricepeas 6y agoSource? Or is HN now Newsmax where evidence isn’t needed and statements alone serve as “facts”?
- refulgentis 6y agohttps://lmgtfy.app/?q=birds+killed+by+cats+annually https://lmgtfy.app/?q=birds+killed+by+cats+annually
- DangitBobby 6y agohttps://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380 https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380 Feral cats seem to be a particular danger to little critters.
- paradox242 6y agoCats do kill a shocking number of small birds and other mammals. A conservative estimate is somewhere around 7 billion a year, and that's just in the United States. I have 4 cats myself but they never go outside. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_predation_on_wildlife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_predation_on_wildlife
- mrdata 6y agoYour statement is true - glass skyscrapers kill more birds than wind turbines. What if the number of wind turbines was equivalent to the number of glass buildings? Would your statement hold true? Or, a child comment makes a remark about house-cats killing more birds than wind turbines. What if the number of wind turbines was equivalent to the number of house-cats? You're not comparing like-to-like. If you're recommending scaling the number of wind turbines greatly (to combat climate change), you should instead consider a metric like ' number of birds killed per turbine per year' like 'number of birds killed per glass building per year' to at least get to the data.