3 ms·
> .. one hydrogen pipeline can move as much renewable energy as 5-10 giant transmission lines, using one 50' right-of-way and no visible infrastructure (vs tran
by ephbit 4y ago
> .. one hydrogen pipeline can move as much renewable energy as 5-10 giant transmission lines, using one 50' right-of-way and no visible infrastructure (vs transmission towers, 500'-2000' of right-of-way and 100'+ tall towers).
This.
Most people don't seem to be aware of how massive the upgrades to a 100 % renewable electric grid would have to be. In order to always be able to transmit 100 % of available peak renewable energy from where it's produced to where it can be used.
Also, an electric grid is a much more fragile infrastructure than gas pipelines, which are in themselves a large buffer.
- ephbit 4y agoI think right now, almost noone can actually grasp how valuable the stability and anti-fragility of the current hydrocarbon-based energy system is to society (with ~ 85 % of all energy still being fossil). The (necessary/inevitable) shift from that hydrocarbon system towards more and more electricity IMO will introduce more and more fragility. Strategic oil reserves and natural gas reserves can supply nations for months of heating, car/truck driving and electricity generation. Now shift all this to electric heating and EVs and the system will have a lot less buffer overall. It'll be weeks (and that's optimistic) instead of months. Yes, sounds a bit like FUD even to myself, but this is what it looks like to me, when I try to look at the energy system in a more abstract way.
- ephbit 4y agoDevelopments such as passive heating homes that reduce energy consumption to almost zero, might solve these problems. But that'll take another 30 years at least.