4 ms·

I think you'd have to look at the statistics for consecutive windless days for the given location to rule out battery storage? Also in the US, I think natural g

I think you'd have to look at the statistics for consecutive windless days for the given location to rule out battery storage? Also in the US, I think natural gas peakers are more common than petro.

olivermarks 5y ago
Michael Shellenberger is very good on the realities of this but sadly this site will quickly flag anything that is inconvenient to the preferred narrative. https://michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/finally-they-admit-renewables-dont https://michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/finally-they-adm...
- cycomanic 5y ago
  This is some serious biased data selection going on there. For example he claims that renewables can't replace fossil because of their unreliability. And shows a graph of global energy use that shows that overall percentage of renewables did not grow between 2009 and 2019 despite significant growth in total output. He the compares this to local data which shows that _locally_ turning on and off a nuclear power plant has a significant effect on the _local_ carbon emissions. You can't really compare conclusions from global and local studies. By his own argument nuclear can't function without fossil either, because over the same time frame as the report he quotes nuclear energy output rose as well [1] (except for a drop due to the GFC). What the global data really shows is that global energy demand has increased rapidly largely in countries like China and India etc. who build (cheap) coal plants to keep up with tha demand. It will be interesting to see developments now that China is moving away from growing at all costs. Regarding the baseload myth, it has been debunked many times [2] [3] [1] https://nwenergy.org/featured/debunking-the-myth-of-baseload-power/ https://nwenergy.org/featured/debunking-the-myth-of-baseload... [2] https://nwenergy.org/featured/debunking-the-myth-of-baseload-power/ https://nwenergy.org/featured/debunking-the-myth-of-baseload... [3] https://reneweconomy.com.au/dispelling-the-nuclear-baseload-myth-nothing-renewables-cant-do-better-94486/ https://reneweconomy.com.au/dispelling-the-nuclear-baseload-...
- Krasnol 5y ago
  Shellenberger is running an Astro-Turf campaign against renewable energy for the nuclear industry. It's good he is flagged where serious discussion is encouraged. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-stories-michael-shellenberger-tells/ https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-stories-michael-shel... https://nuclear.foe.org.au/michael-shellenbergers-pro-nuclear-lobby-group-environmental-progress/ https://nuclear.foe.org.au/michael-shellenbergers-pro-nuclea... https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/review-bad-science-and-bad-arguments-abound-in-apocalypse-never/ https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/review-bad-scienc...

I think you'd have to look at the statistics for consecutive windless days for the given location to rule out battery storage? Also in the US, I think natural gas peakers are more common than petro.

olivermarks 5y ago

Michael Shellenberger is very good on the realities of this but sadly this site will quickly flag anything that is inconvenient to the preferred narrative. https://michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/finally-they-admit-renewables-dont https://michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/finally-they-adm...

cycomanic 5y ago
This is some serious biased data selection going on there. For example he claims that renewables can't replace fossil because of their unreliability. And shows a graph of global energy use that shows that overall percentage of renewables did not grow between 2009 and 2019 despite significant growth in total output. He the compares this to local data which shows that _locally_ turning on and off a nuclear power plant has a significant effect on the _local_ carbon emissions. You can't really compare conclusions from global and local studies. By his own argument nuclear can't function without fossil either, because over the same time frame as the report he quotes nuclear energy output rose as well [1] (except for a drop due to the GFC). What the global data really shows is that global energy demand has increased rapidly largely in countries like China and India etc. who build (cheap) coal plants to keep up with tha demand. It will be interesting to see developments now that China is moving away from growing at all costs. Regarding the baseload myth, it has been debunked many times [2] [3] [1] https://nwenergy.org/featured/debunking-the-myth-of-baseload-power/ https://nwenergy.org/featured/debunking-the-myth-of-baseload... [2] https://nwenergy.org/featured/debunking-the-myth-of-baseload-power/ https://nwenergy.org/featured/debunking-the-myth-of-baseload... [3] https://reneweconomy.com.au/dispelling-the-nuclear-baseload-myth-nothing-renewables-cant-do-better-94486/ https://reneweconomy.com.au/dispelling-the-nuclear-baseload-...
Krasnol 5y ago
Shellenberger is running an Astro-Turf campaign against renewable energy for the nuclear industry. It's good he is flagged where serious discussion is encouraged. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-stories-michael-shellenberger-tells/ https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-stories-michael-shel... https://nuclear.foe.org.au/michael-shellenbergers-pro-nuclear-lobby-group-environmental-progress/ https://nuclear.foe.org.au/michael-shellenbergers-pro-nuclea... https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/review-bad-science-and-bad-arguments-abound-in-apocalypse-never/ https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/review-bad-scienc...