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2/3rds of that fossil fuels becomes wasted heat. We only need to replace the third that actually performs useful functions. Even if the plants were cost compet
by ZeroGravitas 3y ago
2/3rds of that fossil fuels becomes wasted heat. We only need to replace the third that actually performs useful functions.
Even if the plants were cost competitive, which they are not, the existing ones are only built to last 30-50 years which means they'll age out and be replaced by renewables on that timescale at the very worst.
- myshpa 3y agoThat doesn't consider different energy use cases, existing infrastructure, and increasing global energy demands, which could require more than simply replacing the 'useful' energy currently obtained from fossil fuels. Electricity generation (coal) ... 33-40% efficiency Electricity generation (nat. gas) ... 50-60% Heating (nat. gas.) ... upto 97% Transportation ... 20-30% Industrial ... cement for example at about 50% What am I missing? Got any links or references for "we only need to replace the third"?
- ZeroGravitas 3y agoThis works through examples with numbers: https://ourworldindata.org/energy-substitution-method https://ourworldindata.org/energy-substitution-method Also note that heat pump based heating can be 5x as efficient as nat gas heating. Which means using gas to generate electricity to run heat pumps is an improvement. edit to add: also note that the oldest, dirtiest and least efficient plants will get shut first, having an outsized impact.