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The problem with your position is that, on current calculations, and assuming the IPCC calculations are correct, all of the current policies with building solar
by brc 14y ago
The problem with your position is that, on current calculations, and assuming the IPCC calculations are correct, all of the current policies with building solar + wind + other alternatives will change the trajectory by a year or two.
The big lie is that building endless solar panels and windmills is the solution to the problem, when it patently is not. A large game-changer would be needed, and niche technologies patently are not.
Any solar panels or windmills must be backed up by another form of energy, or their intermittent power will be unpredictable and extremely bad for quality of life. So if you have to build a regular power plant to make up for the intermittent nature, then why not just have the one power plant?
If you strongly believe that 'we are taking almost certain catastrophic risks' (paraphrasing) then trying to solve the problem with solar + windmills is like throwing buckets of water onto a housefire. It is simply ineffectual except for making people believe they are doing something.
- ktizo 14y agoor their intermittent power will be unpredictable and extremely bad for quality of life. So if you have to build a regular power plant to make up for the intermittent nature You don't have to build a power plant, you have to build power storage, preferably with long distance interconnects.
- aannnaa 14y agoI never said I thought the current policies that exist are sufficient. Quite the contrary. I completely agree that intermittent power is very hard to work with and I don't know what I said that made it seem otherwise. However, maybe we will have to live with it? Just because it sucks doesn't mean it isn't our best option since we can do a lot to match power demand to irregular power production and make it suck slightly less. I would call modern fission power "clean" energy also in that it doesn't emit loads of carbon. I would support any plan that stops releasing greenhouse gasses and can actually be implemented if enough people support it. Such a plan can include fission, solar, wind, whatever, as long as it meets most of our energy needs, it is possible to build it, and doesn't depend on inventing something new that doesn't exist. Maybe this plan would require us to drastically change how we use electrical power and only let us use "luxury" power when solar power production is high. Who knows. Anything that adds up!