2 ms·

No, this is exactly what a base load it. What do we need to build so that, should all of our intermittent energy sources stop and we could not import energy any

No, this is exactly what a base load it. What do we need to build so that, should all of our intermittent energy sources stop and we could not import energy anymore, we could still have the country exist and function. Where you put the line on intermittency is up to you (is hydro intermittent ? After all, you could technically run out of water in your lake. Is nuclear ? You could run out of fissile material. Is wind ? You could have clear skies with no wind all day long) You can also provide a base load with just solar. You just need to spread your panels all over the country to make up for the fact that sun is not always shining everywhere, but the idea stays the same: can we produce 100TWh over a year with our installation, no matter what ? Energy isn't produced for the fun of it. Base load is related to total demand, at all times. Some of that demand is so you can run your USB powered coffee cup, some of it is to run foundries. You pick what you fit in that, but whatever you pick must be covered by that base load. Needless to say, with sources as intermittent as wind and solar, making any kind of plans except "we're going to produce X over this month" is pretty much impossible, and you need to compensate by building tons of storage to smooth things out, otherwise you get brownouts.

rcxdude 4y ago
I don't know how to respond to this other than to reiterate that you seem to be using different definitions of terms to everyone else. Obviously supply need to equal demand at all times in order for the grid to work. The main idea I'm objecting to is that there needs to be some magical flat line somewhere in the breakdown of how that demand is supplied (This is what most people refer to as 'base load'). Yes, the conclusion of how you meet demand with a bunch of intermittent supply is you build more supply than you need on average, you distribute it geographically and increase how much energy you send long-distance through the grid, and you build lots of storage (and think about what you're going to do with all the leftover energy when potential supply exceeds demand). But this solution does not contain anything which resembles what most people mean when they refer to "base load".

rcxdude 4y ago

I don't know how to respond to this other than to reiterate that you seem to be using different definitions of terms to everyone else. Obviously supply need to equal demand at all times in order for the grid to work. The main idea I'm objecting to is that there needs to be some magical flat line somewhere in the breakdown of how that demand is supplied (This is what most people refer to as 'base load'). Yes, the conclusion of how you meet demand with a bunch of intermittent supply is you build more supply than you need on average, you distribute it geographically and increase how much energy you send long-distance through the grid, and you build lots of storage (and think about what you're going to do with all the leftover energy when potential supply exceeds demand). But this solution does not contain anything which resembles what most people mean when they refer to "base load".