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This really illustrates how important it is to switch to renewable energy. I know it's not an easy task for impoverished communities to get the startup capital

by goda90 9mo ago

This really illustrates how important it is to switch to renewable energy. I know it's not an easy task for impoverished communities to get the startup capital to install solar+batteries, especially one in such a politically tumultuous position, but that really is a path to stability for so many people around the world. A YouTuber known for talking about dishwashers and Christmas lights recently put out a long rant about how ridiculous it is that humanity still leans so much on single use fuels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtQ9nt2ZeGM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtQ9nt2ZeGM

cosmic_cheese 9mo ago
Extensive deployment of renewables and battery storage is perhaps the best thing that can be done anywhere (even in developed countries) for making the grid more robust. Not only is there no fuel supply to be cut off, targets become too diffuse and decentralized to take out quickly, especially if you can manage to cover 30-40% of cities with rooftop solar.
- bryanlarsen 9mo ago
  You can hit a solar plant with a missile, and it can be back in operation with a reduced capacity within a week: https://www.wanhossolars.com/news/ukrainian-solar-power-plant-partially-resumed-57910103.html https://www.wanhossolars.com/news/ukrainian-solar-power-plan...
  - pixl97 9mo ago
    Honestly I'm not sure if it would take a week in most cases, just took this long in this case. Its really not worth going after the panels with a conventional missile. Maybe something that explodes well above it and litters it with ball bearings would be far more effective.
    - toomuchtodo 9mo ago
      If you know it’s coming, you can command the panels on single axis trackers to avoid damage. This is done today for hail and hurricane risk. Panels are also rated to withstand all but the most aggressive hail.
lstodd 9mo ago
> At length I remembered the last resort of a great princess who, when told that the peasants had no bread, replied: "Then let them eat brioches."
propagandist 9mo ago
It also illustrates the importance of not getting caught on the wrong side of the global hegemon right next door who can choke you out and prevent you from importing energy and integrating with the global economy. A lot of food for thought all around.
- mothballed 9mo ago
  That's definitely part of the equation, but the blockade has been over for a long while. They have suffered not only the brutal effect of US colonization/hegemony but also the brutal effect of the legacy of Castro's brand of economics. If they were just suffering one or the other, they'd be significantly better off. Edit since I am throttled on posts and cannot reply below: The US briefly blockaded Cuba in the 60s, but they have only embargoed them since then. They are not blocked from international trade by the US, except with the US. There is no meaningful block from Cuba engaging in the greater international non-US "global economy" such as EU,Asia, etc.
  - user982 9mo ago
    > the blockade has been over for a long while. What are you talking about?
    - bryanlarsen 9mo ago
      The embargo was partially lifted in 2015. The article is about the effects of the re-tightening in 2025.
      - user982 9mo ago
        > The embargo was partially lifted in 2015 And then reinstated in 2017. How has that been "over for a long while"?
        mothballed 9mo ago
        Put down Motorcycle Diaries long enough to learn the difference between an embargo and a blockade. And then note, blockade was the word I used.
buckle8017 9mo ago
Much of the developing world is close enough to the equator that solar and batteries just have to last a few days. In most developed countries solar is seasonal.
- anonymars 9mo ago
  Solar is one type of renewable. The Nordics have done all right https://www.nordicstatistics.org/news/the-5-large-nordic-countries-all-met-the-eus-2030-renewable-energy-target-in-2023/ https://www.nordicstatistics.org/news/the-5-large-nordic-cou...
  - buckle8017 9mo ago
    They have small populations and so many places to install dams they have their own words for it. Nobody else can do that.
    - anonymars 9mo ago
      Yet their neighbor Denmark has similar penetration of renewables. So what's the final destination of these goalposts then so we can just skip to the end?
- pfdietz 9mo ago
  Interestingly you don't want to be near the equator for the best solar resource, due to something called the "Intertropical Convergence Zone". This creates persistent storms and cloudiness in a band that waves up and down across the equator. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertropical_Convergence_Zone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertropical_Convergence_Zone
- lokar 9mo ago
  Peak efficiency is seasonal. Much of North America is perfectly suited for solar year round, at reduced efficiency.
rented_mule 9mo ago
A fascinating takeaway from that video for me... If you take the US land that is dedicated to growing corn for ethanol that is put in gasoline, and replace all the corn on that land with solar panels, how much energy would it produce? Twice today's total electrical generation in the US, from all sources. And that's in the corn belt, which is far from ideal for solar. It would be billions of panels, but it's a pretty interesting perspective on the questions about the land use requirements of solar.
- johng 9mo ago
  Genuine question: How much energy, minerals, transportation, manufacturing, etc, etc. goes into making the panels. How much are the panels going to make back percentage wise in it's lifetime vs. the cost to make and transport, install? Corn kind of reproduces itself every year (If you don't get the GMO kind), so you only need natural resources to continue to grow it right? Water, sunlight and labor?
  - MrDrMcCoy 9mo ago
    He goes over that in the video. It's long, but very much worth watching.
  - tfyoung 9mo ago
    > Corn kind of reproduces itself every year (If you don't get the GMO kind), so you only need natural resources to continue to grow it right? Water, sunlight and labor? At industrial scale, it has a huge petro-chemical fertiliser input.
    - pfdietz 9mo ago
      Total energy input to agriculture in the US is less than 2% of total energy consumption. So "huge" there has to be taken in context. All the energy inputs to agriculture could be replaced with non-fossil inputs. Fertilizer in particular needs hydrogen to make ammonia, but that can be produced from non-fossil sources.
- pfdietz 9mo ago
lokar 9mo ago
I think of him as known for his thoughts on the “color” brown.
NedF 9mo ago
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by goda90 9mo ago

cosmic_cheese 9mo ago

Extensive deployment of renewables and battery storage is perhaps the best thing that can be done anywhere (even in developed countries) for making the grid more robust. Not only is there no fuel supply to be cut off, targets become too diffuse and decentralized to take out quickly, especially if you can manage to cover 30-40% of cities with rooftop solar.

bryanlarsen 9mo ago
You can hit a solar plant with a missile, and it can be back in operation with a reduced capacity within a week: https://www.wanhossolars.com/news/ukrainian-solar-power-plant-partially-resumed-57910103.html https://www.wanhossolars.com/news/ukrainian-solar-power-plan...
- pixl97 9mo ago
  Honestly I'm not sure if it would take a week in most cases, just took this long in this case. Its really not worth going after the panels with a conventional missile. Maybe something that explodes well above it and litters it with ball bearings would be far more effective.
  - toomuchtodo 9mo ago
    If you know it’s coming, you can command the panels on single axis trackers to avoid damage. This is done today for hail and hurricane risk. Panels are also rated to withstand all but the most aggressive hail.

lstodd 9mo ago

> At length I remembered the last resort of a great princess who, when told that the peasants had no bread, replied: "Then let them eat brioches."

propagandist 9mo ago

It also illustrates the importance of not getting caught on the wrong side of the global hegemon right next door who can choke you out and prevent you from importing energy and integrating with the global economy. A lot of food for thought all around.

mothballed 9mo ago
That's definitely part of the equation, but the blockade has been over for a long while. They have suffered not only the brutal effect of US colonization/hegemony but also the brutal effect of the legacy of Castro's brand of economics. If they were just suffering one or the other, they'd be significantly better off. Edit since I am throttled on posts and cannot reply below: The US briefly blockaded Cuba in the 60s, but they have only embargoed them since then. They are not blocked from international trade by the US, except with the US. There is no meaningful block from Cuba engaging in the greater international non-US "global economy" such as EU,Asia, etc.
- user982 9mo ago
  > the blockade has been over for a long while. What are you talking about?
  - bryanlarsen 9mo ago
    The embargo was partially lifted in 2015. The article is about the effects of the re-tightening in 2025.
    - user982 9mo ago
      > The embargo was partially lifted in 2015 And then reinstated in 2017. How has that been "over for a long while"?
      - mothballed 9mo ago
        Put down Motorcycle Diaries long enough to learn the difference between an embargo and a blockade. And then note, blockade was the word I used.

buckle8017 9mo ago

Much of the developing world is close enough to the equator that solar and batteries just have to last a few days. In most developed countries solar is seasonal.

anonymars 9mo ago
Solar is one type of renewable. The Nordics have done all right https://www.nordicstatistics.org/news/the-5-large-nordic-countries-all-met-the-eus-2030-renewable-energy-target-in-2023/ https://www.nordicstatistics.org/news/the-5-large-nordic-cou...
- buckle8017 9mo ago
  They have small populations and so many places to install dams they have their own words for it. Nobody else can do that.
  - anonymars 9mo ago
    Yet their neighbor Denmark has similar penetration of renewables. So what's the final destination of these goalposts then so we can just skip to the end?
pfdietz 9mo ago
Interestingly you don't want to be near the equator for the best solar resource, due to something called the "Intertropical Convergence Zone". This creates persistent storms and cloudiness in a band that waves up and down across the equator. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertropical_Convergence_Zone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertropical_Convergence_Zone
lokar 9mo ago
Peak efficiency is seasonal. Much of North America is perfectly suited for solar year round, at reduced efficiency.

rented_mule 9mo ago

A fascinating takeaway from that video for me... If you take the US land that is dedicated to growing corn for ethanol that is put in gasoline, and replace all the corn on that land with solar panels, how much energy would it produce? Twice today's total electrical generation in the US, from all sources. And that's in the corn belt, which is far from ideal for solar. It would be billions of panels, but it's a pretty interesting perspective on the questions about the land use requirements of solar.

johng 9mo ago
Genuine question: How much energy, minerals, transportation, manufacturing, etc, etc. goes into making the panels. How much are the panels going to make back percentage wise in it's lifetime vs. the cost to make and transport, install? Corn kind of reproduces itself every year (If you don't get the GMO kind), so you only need natural resources to continue to grow it right? Water, sunlight and labor?
- MrDrMcCoy 9mo ago
  He goes over that in the video. It's long, but very much worth watching.
- tfyoung 9mo ago
  > Corn kind of reproduces itself every year (If you don't get the GMO kind), so you only need natural resources to continue to grow it right? Water, sunlight and labor? At industrial scale, it has a huge petro-chemical fertiliser input.
  - pfdietz 9mo ago
    Total energy input to agriculture in the US is less than 2% of total energy consumption. So "huge" there has to be taken in context. All the energy inputs to agriculture could be replaced with non-fossil inputs. Fertilizer in particular needs hydrogen to make ammonia, but that can be produced from non-fossil sources.
pfdietz 9mo ago

lokar 9mo ago

I think of him as known for his thoughts on the “color” brown.

NedF 9mo ago

[dead]