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I am half surprised. People are often shocked when they discover the real number about the Carbon intensity of the German electricity production. There is year

• hef19898 3y ago
  I am not at all surprised, why would I? Looking atvtha numbwers for installed capacity by source so Germany is on a good way (despite all the head wind regarding wind mills, grid extensions and so in and so forth), even if we could, and absolutely should, move faster. It is nowhere near the desaster people like to make it seem so. Also, isn't this thread about Portugal?
• KingOfCoders 3y ago
  And electricity usage is only a minor part of CO2 production. Primary energy usage in Germany is split 25% is electricity, 25% is traffic and 50% is heating and cooling. As proven by the article the whole discussion is a huge red herring. Amdahl's law applies [0], if I reduce CO2 from electricity production by 50%, my overall reduction is only 12.5% [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amdahl%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amdahl%27s_law
  • hef19898 3y ago
    See, that is why the switch to heat pumps for heating makes sonmuch sense: you can store oversupply of renewable electricy in the form of hot water, cutting down significantly on the CO2 emissions currently produced by heating with oil and gas.
    • KingOfCoders 3y ago
      Yes.
  • sergiosgc 3y ago
    Obviously these aren't independent domains. Make electricity cheap and it takes over the other energy domains. Heat pumps for heating, BEV/hydrogen for transportation.
• natmaka 3y ago
  This is not because renewables cannot tackle the challenge, but because this is a work in progress (not quick enough) => not enough electricity produced => it offers a path for coal which is important for social and financial reasons. Add the Ukraine crisis (less imported methane). From 2010 to 2020 (crisis) Germany burnt less and less fossil fuels for its electricity, and methane (gas) isn't booming (from 90 to 96), while renewables do: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/electricity-production-by-source?time=2010..latest&country=~DEU https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/electricity-production-by... it induced a decrease in its carbon intensity: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-intensity-electricity?tab=chart&time=2010..latest&country=~DEU https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-intensity-electric... Comparing it to France implies to take every pertinent parameter into account, for example GDP/capita, climate (heating needs) and the fact that France imports more, and exports less (it lost approximately 50% of its industry since 1980) and therefore "avoids" emitting by using products built in other nations: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-co2-embedded-in-trade?tab=chart&time=2000..latest&region=Europe&country=FRA~DEU https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-co2-embedded-in-tra...
  • troupo 3y ago
    > This is not because renewables cannot tackle the challenge, but because this is a work in progress (not quick enough) => not enough electricity produced What is the end of this work in progress? 1000% overprovisioning of renewables?
    • ZeroGravitas 3y ago
      Generally models of fully renewable grids aim for about a 4x overprovisioning (based on peak demand), though of course since that's based on achieving the lowest cost way to provide energy, you could debate whether the phrase "overprovisioning" really applies. Some have taken to calling it "superpower" (terrible name) because by overbuilding to meet the peak demand, you end up with masses of cheap energy at all non-peak times. https://www.rethinkx.com/energy https://www.rethinkx.com/energy
      • troupo 3y ago