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Why am I constantly berated with articles about how renewable energy accounts for a large part of European energy? Are all of these just sensationalist? I'm ask

Why am I constantly berated with articles about how renewable energy accounts for a large part of European energy? Are all of these just sensationalist? I'm asking a serious question because it seems that their renewables just aren't cutting it. There seems to be a large push to force America on to the same "green" plan. If the choice is between not having enough energy and being able to get fossil fuels from your own nation's land, being mostly self-sustaining. I know what I'm choosing. Putting all your eggs in one basket just seems like a bad idea. Yes invest in green/renewable energy but this idea that we can just cut out fossil fuels doesn't seem to hold up.

orthecreedence 5y ago
> I'm asking a serious question because it seems that their renewables just aren't cutting it. Right, renewables don't cut it, and they won't without magnitudes more investment. However, notice that France doesn't have these problems. We cannot keep planning to use weather-dependent energy sources when our climate is rapidly changing in unpredictable ways.
koheripbal 5y ago
> Are all of these just sensationalist? Yes
Jensson 5y ago
Texas 6 months ago had a worse energy crisis than western Europe have had in a very long time. Seems like America is way ahead of Europe in terms of unreliable power generation.
- CountDrewku 5y ago
  That's because they got hit by an extremely rare ice storm they weren't adequately prepared for. It really had nothing to do with having more/less renewable energy. https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2021/02/16/texas-weather-power-outage-rolling-blackouts-leave-millions-dark/6764764002/ https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2021/02/16/tex...
  - Jensson 5y ago
    I didn't say it had anything to do with renewable energy, just that they had less reliable power production. And no, it had little to do with that storm, Texas face power problems almost every year. It is systemic, and largely due to politics of them cutting themselves off from other grids and how their energy sector works. Europe is way more robust since the net is extremely well connected between countries, and I don't think that factories can buy up all available electricity like they did in Texas causing power outages for homes. Rather Europe would shut down the factories and let people have electricity in their homes. Homes losing power for a few days is a huge problem, factories shutting down for a few days isn't a big deal.
    - CountDrewku 5y ago
      Ok sorry I misunderstood your comment. I thought you were blaming it completely on not having enough renewables.
- maccolgan 5y ago
  Imagine if Europe got hit with a ice storm
  - Jensson 5y ago
    I hope you realize that Europe got hit by that same ice storm as Texas did, it wasn't a crisis. Europe just has better power infrastructure in general, being dense and well connected helps a lot. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/02/08/snowstorm-europe-uk-cold/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/02/08/snowstorm-...

orthecreedence 5y ago

> I'm asking a serious question because it seems that their renewables just aren't cutting it. Right, renewables don't cut it, and they won't without magnitudes more investment. However, notice that France doesn't have these problems. We cannot keep planning to use weather-dependent energy sources when our climate is rapidly changing in unpredictable ways.

koheripbal 5y ago

> Are all of these just sensationalist? Yes

Jensson 5y ago

Texas 6 months ago had a worse energy crisis than western Europe have had in a very long time. Seems like America is way ahead of Europe in terms of unreliable power generation.

CountDrewku 5y ago
That's because they got hit by an extremely rare ice storm they weren't adequately prepared for. It really had nothing to do with having more/less renewable energy. https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2021/02/16/texas-weather-power-outage-rolling-blackouts-leave-millions-dark/6764764002/ https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2021/02/16/tex...
- Jensson 5y ago
  I didn't say it had anything to do with renewable energy, just that they had less reliable power production. And no, it had little to do with that storm, Texas face power problems almost every year. It is systemic, and largely due to politics of them cutting themselves off from other grids and how their energy sector works. Europe is way more robust since the net is extremely well connected between countries, and I don't think that factories can buy up all available electricity like they did in Texas causing power outages for homes. Rather Europe would shut down the factories and let people have electricity in their homes. Homes losing power for a few days is a huge problem, factories shutting down for a few days isn't a big deal.
  - CountDrewku 5y ago
    Ok sorry I misunderstood your comment. I thought you were blaming it completely on not having enough renewables.
maccolgan 5y ago
Imagine if Europe got hit with a ice storm
- Jensson 5y ago
  I hope you realize that Europe got hit by that same ice storm as Texas did, it wasn't a crisis. Europe just has better power infrastructure in general, being dense and well connected helps a lot. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/02/08/snowstorm-europe-uk-cold/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/02/08/snowstorm-...