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I really can't understand how so many smart people fall for wind/solar promises. If you just think about it you have to realize it is not reliable solution for
by mirzap 4y ago
I really can't understand how so many smart people fall for wind/solar promises. If you just think about it you have to realize it is not reliable solution for 21 century, it is not scalable for ever increasing (exponential) energy demand, population growth, land needed for expansion. It is simply stupid to rely on energy produced from sources that are by nature unpredictable (like wind, or sun).
Solar/Wind can and should be present as energy sources, but only as supportive sources, with no more than 5-10% of total production. Everything more than that is risky and countries will have hard wake up call one day.
- adrianN 4y agoWe have a long way to grow before solar energy is not enough for our energy needs.
- mirzap 4y agoIt is not enough already. Its output is not reliable already. It takes huge space, land that could be used differently (like say expansion, so housing becomes cheaper, or farming, etc.), it has huge environmental impact (nothing lives anymore where solar farms are built). No thanks. I'll take nuclear any day.
- adrianN 4y agoWe don't have enough solar power because we didn't build enough yet. It's not reliable because we haven't build enough yet. It doesn't use a lot of land (try doing the math), and a lot of the land it uses can be parking lots or roofs. It can also be used in the form of Agrophotovoltaics, so the assertion that nothing lives where solar farms are built is wrong too.
- Gwypaas 4y agoIf land use is the hill to die on a much better target is the beef industry. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/land-use-per-kg-poore https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/land-use-per-kg-poore
- tomp 4y agoWhy? Cow pastures are nice to look at. Grass, trees, ponds. Land paved with solar panels? Not a nice view.
- ncmncm 4y agoSolar is absolutely compatible with continued use as pasture. Talk about land shortage is disingenuous concern trolling. There is absolutely no shortage of places to site solar.
- Gwypaas 4y agoI don't know why statistics scares you? The interesting thing is the correlation factors and then choose an uptime requirement. > South Australia is at the vanguard of the global energy transition, having transformed its energy system from 1% to over 60% renewable energy in just over 15 years. > By 2025/2026, the Australian Energy Market Operator forecasts this could rise to approximately 85%. > South Australia’s aspiration is to achieve 100% net renewables by 2030. In 2021, South Australia met 100% of its operational demand from renewable resources on 180 days (49%). https://www.energymining.sa.gov.au/industry/modern-energy/leading-the-green-economy https://www.energymining.sa.gov.au/industry/modern-energy/le...
- tomp 4y agoWow you literally picked the sunniest driest place on Earth. Now do NYC or Germany. Long winters, rainy summers, lot’s of fun with solar!
- Gwypaas 4y agoChina has a 12 GW 3,300 km (2,100 mi) HVDC transmission line in use for a couple of years now already. That covers South Australian climate to the polar circles. That is of course on the extreme end, but as renewables and storage continue to drop in price the latitude of where it's easily possible will keep climbing towards the poles. This is also why regions closer to the poles focuses on off-shore wind. It is the windiest regions and the windiest months are the winter months. Capacity factors of 60-64% are achieved with the latest 15 MW turbines. Or maybe UK was completely incompetent in allocating 7 GW off-shore wind for £37.5/MWh in the latest CFD round finalized a couple of weeks ago? https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/contracts-for-difference-cfd-allocation-round-4-results https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/contracts-for-dif...
- adrianN 4y agoGermany is building more wind turbines than PV panels.