4 ms·
The update is telling: > Update 3/17/2021: Our original article stated "Costa Rica Has Run on 100% Renewable Energy for 299 Days." It was pointed out to us tha
by aazaa 5y ago
The update is telling:
> Update 3/17/2021: Our original article stated "Costa Rica Has Run on 100% Renewable Energy for 299 Days." It was pointed out to us that while Costa Rica's electric grid does run primarily on renewable energy, a better title would have been "Costa Rica Has Run on 100% Renewable Electricity". Below the article says that the government had not burned any oil to power the country, but this would technically imply that the government does not own gasoline powered vehicles, which couldn't be true.
Accounting for the origins of energy is tricky business. Want to squeeze out internal combustion engines? Go electric. Where do the batteries come from, and how much non-renewable energy does it cost to produce them? For that matter, how many goods are important with non-neglibile carbon footprints? Because carbon emissions can be exported.
> In other words, a country can be considered carbon neutral while still using fossil fuels by planting trees that offset the carbon, or funding conservation programs which aim to reduce the amount of carbon in the air.
How long do those trees you're planting keep CO2 out of the atmosphere? When they die, a good chunk of that carbon may be released.
- lrem 5y agoCut them down and build something out of them, or bury them. I heard that charring before burning is beneficial, but never looked into why that might be.
- ncmncm 5y agoCharring burns off the hydrogen, leaving solid carbon. Pulverizing the charcoal and plowing it into farm fields improves the soil.
- ip26 5y agoWhere do the batteries come from, and how much non-renewable energy does it cost to produce them? There's an interconnection. As the world electrifies, it will become easier for manufacturing to electrify, too.
- RhodoGSA 5y agothis. Alot of people forget that progress for progress sake does indeed beget more progress. Anecdotal, rather whimsical example; As soon as i transitioned my factorio to electricity, i found it much easier to just build a solar panel factory and batterys to power everything because i stop getting attacked by the mobs. Also, one future problem that i find funny. Electric is better. If everyone had access to cheap, renewable energy it only makes sense to transition to that renewable energy. Also with the rise of carbon removal, I see global warming in the future becoming an entirely different problem to solve. It shows in our models that the PPM of carbon in the atmosphere has different effects throughout the world. So once we 'solve' the climate crisis, what entity says where the happy medium is? If it makes one region arid and another eden, who gets to be the deciding factor. I see a future where carbon sequestration and maybe even addition is a matter of national security.