3 ms·
TWh/year is definitely convenient if the central purpose of the discussion is to figure out the CO2e that will be emitted to produce it, or how to reduce the to
by cormacrelf 5y ago
TWh/year is definitely convenient if the central purpose of the discussion is to figure out the CO2e that will be emitted to produce it, or how to reduce the total energy use. This is good, in contrast to the coal/oil lobby's laser-like focus on peak demand, because their argument has long centered on the unpredictability of renewables. If you can do what the "smart grid" folks are trying to do, and spread out energy demand over the day, then the peak is not as big of a problem. Maybe Sweden's peaks are just naturally not so dramatic.
In Australia everyone worries about peak demand because the central interaction most people have with the grid (aside from their electricity bill) is a blackout during a heatwave due to heavy air conditioner use. This is incredibly dumb, because the argument completely fails to hold up against solar, for which a heatwave is a blessing.
- tmikaeld 5y agoIt's blackouts that Sweden is dangerously close to, because the majority of power is consumed in the south but it's produced in the north. There's not only a production issue, but also a transport issue.
- cormacrelf 5y agoYeah. Everyone's got the same problems; practically nobody has invested enough in transmission. (I'm hoping someone sees this and corrects me, I'd love to see a good example.) Good luck up there.
- magicalhippo 5y agoWe have a similar issue in Norway. There's currently a huge difference in prices between north and south of Norway due to limited transport capability. It's been over 10x at times this winter[1], though on average "just" 3-4x. In addition the water reserves for our hydro, which is like over 90% of our power generation, is quite low... [1]: https://www.nordpoolgroup.com/Market-data1/Dayahead/Area-Prices/NO/Hourly/?view=table https://www.nordpoolgroup.com/Market-data1/Dayahead/Area-Pri... (December 21, Oslo vs Tromsø)
- fulafel 5y agoWhat is preventing fixes to transmission, isn't it straightforward engineering with predictable construction times that can be planned well in advance?
- tmikaeld 5y agoIt is very much fixable, but the Swedish ruling party don't want to do the recommended upgrades, even though they themselves commissioned the investigations into the infrastructure..