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>The thing about land use that always got me was that solar can be implemented as a roofing system in parking lots. That's not enough. Rooftop solar panels on
by macspoofing 6y ago
>The thing about land use that always got me was that solar can be implemented as a roofing system in parking lots.
That's not enough. Rooftop solar panels on a single family home roof cannot provide adequate power for even that family (forget even trying to use appliances like washer/dryer/stove when on solar, much less charging your electric car). And if they cannot do that, then how the hell are they going to provide power to even moderate-density housing (e.g. a small apartment building), much less high-density buildings and housing (like office buildings), or heavy industry and transportation (from electric cars, to buses, to trains).
Solar and wind are diffuse energy sources. That will never change. So you will always have to have a large number of collectors. Our population will continue to go up for a few more decades. Our per capita energy use will also keep going up for a few more decades.
So you're going to have to build huge solar and wind farms and place them somewhere. You're going to have to mine necessary minerals to build those farms from somewhere. You're going to have to landfill the collectors somewhere.
- justatdotin 6y agoyeahnah, ever since putting panels on my roof a few years ago I've got kinda slack about consumption (I got a second fridge, and I now run aircon whenever I feel like it) while still producing ~2x my needs. My home has a pool pump and a very busy washing machine. Solar panels on my roof provide so much excess power that when my family next buys a car, we'll be able to power it too. lots of homes in my neighbourhood have same, and I see big banks of panels on churches, schools and shopping centres. solar is totally up for it. Yes there are plans in my region to build large plants, but that's more about capitalising on new abundant cheap energy than your false claim of rooftop shortfall.
- macspoofing 6y ago>while still producing ~2x my needs. Come on. Don't be disingenuous. What do you do in the evening? at night? on cloudy days? Just not use electricity? I'm not against solar, nor wind and I'm happy you're happy with your rooftop solar deployment. Both have their niches. But I don't see renewables powering a modern economy.
- justatdotin 6y agothe panels on my roof produce around double my power requirements. When I have too much, I sell it to my neighbours (the grid). At night, I'm pulling from the gas plant. Out bush, I ignore the grid and run a couple of small batteries to keep the fridge going and the lights and wifi on. In town, I'll get the home battery set up once that's cost effective (I'm guessing this will be about the time we get the electric car) this isn't niche: this config is pretty common both in the suburb where I live and in the rural area where I have my weekend hideaway, and its the way my whole region is quickly heading. Our governments are planning new solar + battery plants that can provide our current energy demands many times over. This is the shape of a modern economy.