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Unless the price of energy goes up globally because of political/commercial instability created by climate change ? If we knew something that had all the perks

Unless the price of energy goes up globally because of political/commercial instability created by climate change ? If we knew something that had all the perks of oil and none of the disadvantages, we would be all hooked on it. All clean energy are trade-off's compared to oil. Solar ? Short lifespan, land occupation, requires mining, the sun does not always shine, not much energy so you need a lot Wind ? Lifespan, much skill to build and to maintain, the wind does not always blow, not much energy so you need a lot Nuclear ? Big upfront cost, need skilled workforce to build and maintain Geothermal ? Big cost for not so much energy ? All of those need a good grid too

kwhitefoot 2y ago
> All of those need a good grid too So does oil.
- zdragnar 2y ago
  Lots of oil rigs work off-grid, and refineries have historically also operated off grid, though nowadays they buy or sell electricity as needed, depending on load and price. What oil actually depends on is a transportation network, and aside from trains and pipelines, that's pretty flexible too.
fooqux 2y ago
Sorry, I should have worded my comment better. It was not to detract from the need for new and renewable sources of power, but rather surprise at how little power you get from each well, and the cost of drilling each of them.
- beembeem 2y ago
  Hence the reason this hasn't taken off yet. Add in the geographical requirements of heat close enough to the surface and costs go up higher. Because it's baseload power, its ouput has higher value than intermittent sources per mwh produced.
fshbbdssbbgdd 2y ago
> Solar ? Short lifespan, land occupation, requires mining Almost everyone I know of who has had solar panels for a long time reports they last a lot longer than promised. And even if some part breaks, it can be replaced. You don’t need to repeat the whole time and expense of acquiring the land, building the facility, grid interconnect and permitting. This means humanity gets a dividend in energy over the very long term, which balances favorably against the upfront cost. The issue of intermittency is more valid. It can be mitigated with battery storage, which has its own cost and downsides, but the chemistries are advancing rapidly, so I think the future is bright for energy abundance.

kwhitefoot 2y ago

> All of those need a good grid too So does oil.

zdragnar 2y ago
Lots of oil rigs work off-grid, and refineries have historically also operated off grid, though nowadays they buy or sell electricity as needed, depending on load and price. What oil actually depends on is a transportation network, and aside from trains and pipelines, that's pretty flexible too.

fooqux 2y ago

Sorry, I should have worded my comment better. It was not to detract from the need for new and renewable sources of power, but rather surprise at how little power you get from each well, and the cost of drilling each of them.

beembeem 2y ago
Hence the reason this hasn't taken off yet. Add in the geographical requirements of heat close enough to the surface and costs go up higher. Because it's baseload power, its ouput has higher value than intermittent sources per mwh produced.

fshbbdssbbgdd 2y ago

> Solar ? Short lifespan, land occupation, requires mining Almost everyone I know of who has had solar panels for a long time reports they last a lot longer than promised. And even if some part breaks, it can be replaced. You don’t need to repeat the whole time and expense of acquiring the land, building the facility, grid interconnect and permitting. This means humanity gets a dividend in energy over the very long term, which balances favorably against the upfront cost. The issue of intermittency is more valid. It can be mitigated with battery storage, which has its own cost and downsides, but the chemistries are advancing rapidly, so I think the future is bright for energy abundance.