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not who you responded to but... Do we even have enough lithium etc. to produce all the solar panels (and batteries for ev's ??) we're gonna need ? P.S. - good

not who you responded to but... Do we even have enough lithium etc. to produce all the solar panels (and batteries for ev's ??) we're gonna need ? P.S. - good point on the dangers of mining!

defrost 3y ago
It's highly probable we will have enough economically viable lithium from ground mining, we have "known measured reserves" that are less than we need (but have been explored, drilled, and modelled) and an excess of indicated resources (which are places trace tested that look a lot like other places with good reserves, but have not yet been drilled). Then there's seawater (which always gets bought up but isn't really a thing yet). More to the bigger picture, it's not just lithium - Vanadium redox batteries are better for grid storage where light nimble weight for a mobile vehicle doesn't matter so much. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanadium_redox_battery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanadium_redox_battery Not to mention other ongoing battery research and forms of energy storage (thermal mass, hydrogen, ammonia, etc) that make sense in an abundance of renewable energy that may soon arrive.
- mech422 3y ago
  oh - the Vanadium thing is interesting... I guess the poor round trip efficiency and poor energy-to-volume ratio are what we're waiting for before they become more common? speaking of ammonia - what do you think of ammonia engines? I just recently heard of them...
zer00eyz 3y ago
The battery and the panels we can do. ITs the upgrades to the grid that we aren't close on and aren't making progress on. If you have an all electric house, a 3 day battery, all electric appliances and cars to charge... works great. Now how about a week of rain. Suddenly your either powerless or your utility has to import enough power to keep that all electric everything running. It's more lines, and transformers. We can't maintain global transformer demand today. A large disaster would be crippling (think solar flair, terrorism). It has been a major issue for Ukraine to replace this damaged infrastructure (due to production constraints).
- mech422 3y ago
  I'd assume even if you have all that, you'd still be tied to the city grid, so it wouldn't require any 'extra' over your current connection? (At least, thats how it works here - you might have roof top solar, but you keep your existing grid connection...) P.S. - I'm curious what (if any) solar flares/storms will have in the near future as we're approaching the 'bad' part of the solar cycle...Doubtful anything will happen since the strongest recorded sun flare was in 2001 and I dont recall any disruptions. We've added a lot more stuff in orbit, and made transistors a lot smaller since then though, so it will be interesting.

not who you responded to but... Do we even have enough lithium etc. to produce all the solar panels (and batteries for ev's ??) we're gonna need ? P.S. - good point on the dangers of mining!

defrost 3y ago

It's highly probable we will have enough economically viable lithium from ground mining, we have "known measured reserves" that are less than we need (but have been explored, drilled, and modelled) and an excess of indicated resources (which are places trace tested that look a lot like other places with good reserves, but have not yet been drilled). Then there's seawater (which always gets bought up but isn't really a thing yet). More to the bigger picture, it's not just lithium - Vanadium redox batteries are better for grid storage where light nimble weight for a mobile vehicle doesn't matter so much. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanadium_redox_battery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanadium_redox_battery Not to mention other ongoing battery research and forms of energy storage (thermal mass, hydrogen, ammonia, etc) that make sense in an abundance of renewable energy that may soon arrive.

mech422 3y ago
oh - the Vanadium thing is interesting... I guess the poor round trip efficiency and poor energy-to-volume ratio are what we're waiting for before they become more common? speaking of ammonia - what do you think of ammonia engines? I just recently heard of them...

zer00eyz 3y ago

The battery and the panels we can do. ITs the upgrades to the grid that we aren't close on and aren't making progress on. If you have an all electric house, a 3 day battery, all electric appliances and cars to charge... works great. Now how about a week of rain. Suddenly your either powerless or your utility has to import enough power to keep that all electric everything running. It's more lines, and transformers. We can't maintain global transformer demand today. A large disaster would be crippling (think solar flair, terrorism). It has been a major issue for Ukraine to replace this damaged infrastructure (due to production constraints).

mech422 3y ago
I'd assume even if you have all that, you'd still be tied to the city grid, so it wouldn't require any 'extra' over your current connection? (At least, thats how it works here - you might have roof top solar, but you keep your existing grid connection...) P.S. - I'm curious what (if any) solar flares/storms will have in the near future as we're approaching the 'bad' part of the solar cycle...Doubtful anything will happen since the strongest recorded sun flare was in 2001 and I dont recall any disruptions. We've added a lot more stuff in orbit, and made transistors a lot smaller since then though, so it will be interesting.