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Solar energy is the cheapest form of energy we have. Storage is a bit more expensive, but judging from the amount of metals the video proposes they want to go a
by adrianN 4y ago
Solar energy is the cheapest form of energy we have. Storage is a bit more expensive, but judging from the amount of metals the video proposes they want to go all-in on battery storage, whereas most experts I heard from propose to use hydrogen (or methane) as a storage medium, precisely because the amount of resources it needs are much smaller.
- disgruntledphd2 4y agoHydrogen would also help with re-using all the ICE cars we have (and will continue to have) on the roads. Definitely not a panacaea, and super-inefficient, but that's OK if we're just using it for storage/transportation.
- goodpoint 4y agosuper-inefficient?
- disgruntledphd2 4y agoas in it's only worth doing if you have nothing else to do with the energy (like when you have too much wind/sun etc)
- goodpoint 4y agoThat's just the concept of energy storage. And even if we lose a significant fraction it's often not an issue given how cheap solar is.
- disgruntledphd2 4y agoSure, but it would be better if we had more efficient methods of doing it.
- modo_mario 4y ago>whereas most experts I heard from propose to use hydrogen (or methane) as a storage medium What experts? Power to gas has been really energy inefficient with little sign of improving from what I know. It can't really compete with pumped hydro even where pumped hydro makes less to no sense it seems.
- adrianN 4y agoEfficiency (almost) doesn't matter. Cost and scalability matters. Pumped hydro and batteries are wonderfully efficient, but they're a lot more difficult to scale than infrastructure for storing, transporting, and burning a gas.