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Over building renewables and transport capacity would probably be worse than the status quo in terms of cost and carbon generation. Peak power, which is dictat
by jn1234 12y ago
Over building renewables and transport capacity would probably be worse than the status quo in terms of cost and carbon generation. Peak power, which is dictated by people's general schedule, dictates both the generation and capacity requirements. It doesn't make any sense to over build renewables when everyone is using power after the sun went down or when you can't control when the wind blows. In ERCOT, (Texas) the price of electricity overnight (when the wind is blowing) often goes negative meaning that the power producer pays you to use electricity.
This is why the next generation of battery technology is going to be so groundbreaking. It will allow batteries to become more economical feasible both on a small and large scale. It simply cause renewables to become more societally efficient.
- SeoxyS 12y agoDams are one of the best kind of battery there is. They store gargantuan amounts of energy with very little complexity. Basically: pump water up into the dam to "charge," and let water flow and run the turbines to "release" energy. That's why hydro power is absolutely critical to a renewable grid. It's the only scalable way to normalize supply and demand.
- jn1234 12y agoDespite, the inefficiencies (losing 20-30%) there are large environmental impacts associated with turning a large amount of land into a lake. Additionally, when a drought occurs almost all the storage capacity is lost. We are at the stage with battery technologies, where it would make absolutely to build hydro storage, even given the current trend of removing dams.