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Seems to me that fossil fuels have been so manipulatively overpriced for enough decades that is the low-hanging fruit renewables are performing favorably agains
by fuzzfactor 5y ago
Seems to me that fossil fuels have been so manipulatively overpriced for enough decades that is the low-hanging fruit renewables are performing favorably against.
Old folks remember when fossil fuels were way cheaper and it does not feel like that underlying floor is quite being struck.
It's physically difficult to capture enough energy in one lifetime to compare with vast deposits of energy captured over millions of years.
However it looks like those controlling the biggest oilfields might have already spent the petrodollars that have not even been pumped out of the ground yet.
This would be expected to compromise their ability to drop the floor out and have as halting of an effect on alternatives as there was in the early-to-mid 1980's. Before that alternatives had extreme progress mostly in response to shortages, and skyrocketing costs remaining from the early 1970's, rather than climate, but it was still progress that could not continue after it became unfeasible financially.
Now renewables are again moving fast toward the cost of currently-captured energy especially when they are widely distributed and operated by individuals rather than large powerful controlling organizations. Plus there is an urgency with climate degradation that is more recognized than ever.
- legulere 5y agoA much better explanation why fossil fuels are getting more expensive is that the EROI factor is getting smaller and smaller as fossil fuels get harder and harder to extract: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_return_on_investment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_return_on_investment
- kumarvvr 5y agoOne reason for high price of fossil fuel based power is that they are extremely in-efficient. Coal plants are about 30% efficient, Combined cycle plants about 40 - 45%. Compared to Solar and Wind, which have no input costs other than initial investment and very low maintenance and upkeep costs. And, the investment costs of setting up a 1 MW coal/gas plant vs. 1 MW solar plant, is about the same.
- the_why_of_y 5y ago> Seems to me that fossil fuels have been so manipulatively overpriced for enough decades This IMF research estimates fossil fuels are subsidized globally by $5.2 trillion in 2017, and $649 billion in the US. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2019/05/02/Global-Fossil-Fuel-Subsidies-Remain-Large-An-Update-Based-on-Country-Level-Estimates-46509 https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2019/05/02/Glo...