It's very clear how desperate green tech advocates are to paint the current developments as a win for the climate. But by doing so they only reinforce the status quo.
@jackofalltrades Your implied contention that nothing should be done is absurd. The cost of renewable energy systems (wind, batteries, solar) is falling dramatically every year and installation is growing exponentially and will continue to do so precisely because people started to make a difference which then compounds.
"""
More than 99.7 per cent of electricity in Albania, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Iceland, Nepal, Paraguay and the Democratic Republic of Congo comes from geothermal, hydro, solar or wind power.
Norway came close with 98.38 per cent of its energy from wind, water or solar, according to the data compiled by Stanford University Professor Mark Jacobson.
"""
Denmark says "hold my Carlsberg" with 55% wind and 6% solar. When the wind doesn't blow they still rely on Norway's hydro and Sweden's nuclear to avoid blackouts.
@jackofalltrades
That's how grids work. Point being, very, very large systems are able to absorb much higher shares of weather-conditional renewables than previously thought, with no issues and much reduced average cost of energy. Does it mean only renewables with no backup are a solution? No. But it does mean the practical limits of wind and solar are much higher than you claim.
@osma Yep, I know it's theoretically possible to have a majority solar&wind grid, the numbers check out. I just find it interesting that current renewables success stories are all based on hydro or geothermal.
I've been accused of expecting to live in the future when it comes to solar&wind, but I've been waiting a few years now, and the future always gets postponed. 😉
@jackofalltrades
It's not theoretical. It is happening already, and I already showed your original claims false. You do need majority hydro nor geothermal in order to successfully operate a renewables grid. If you haven't seen that, you haven't been paying attention.
This does not mean that hydro, geothermal, nuclear of battery storage don't have a place in the grid. Of course they do. Solar and wind are not a threat but an opportunity.
@jackofalltrades
You wrote: "If you're lucky and have a solid hydroelectric/geothermal base you can complement that with a few percent of solar and wind"
And I showed you data that directly contradicted your claim.
Move the goalposts all you want, but you'll continue to be wrong.
Literally all national grids listed in the report with a share of renewables greater than 70% rely on hydro, geothermal or both.
The article's author applauds the growth of solar and wind and lists multiple countries with a share of renewables close to 100% while failing to mention that they are so high only because of the hydro/geothermal infrastructure that existed there for decades. This gives a false impression of good progress on the energy transition.
California is constantly running out of electricity, 2022 was still under the covid-slow-down which was a relief for demand and carbon burning.
The unfortunate transition to EVs (oil,gas,coal,electric industry promoted) will put a huge demand on more electricity, maybe up to 30% on the long run.
X-national statistics sometime list biomass as "sustainable" which is a HUGE lie, it will never be a real alternative.
@yianiris@osma@jackofalltrades There is nothing unfortunate about reducing carbon emissions by using renewable energy. People cheating eg claiming non-renewables are renewable is unfortunate... and should be criminal.
What I find unfortunate is the increase in use of EVs before power production is switched to cleaner sources. So the increase in electric demand will further increase the proportion of oil/gas/coal.
Also, EVs by far are either non-recyclable or too expensive to recycle, with highly toxic elements going to landfills. Your 66 AMC Rambler was nearly 100% recyclable easily.
@jackofalltrades Indeed. The only countries/states which managed to decarbonise their grid despite not being blessed by hydro or geothermal conditions have done so by relying on nuclear.
There are a number of larger countries generating a lot of their electricity from wind and solar. The ones listed happen to be dominated by hydro and, in the case of Iceland, geothermal.
For example, the UK routinely generates 20 to 50% of its electricity from wind https://grid.iamkate.co Don't know where the average is this year, but the Office of National Statistics (ONS) of the UK says, for 2020, before the installation of further wind farms: "Wind energy generation accounted for 24% of total electricity generation (including renewables and non-renewables) in 2020" https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/windenergyintheuk/june2021
The UK didn't make it into the list because it doesn't get to 100% of its electricity from renewables. But the fraction is a large and growing double-digit percent. There's still a fraction from coal (dwindling fast), gas, and nuclear. A number of other countries are in a similar situation: improving fast.
Yes, Denmark is probably the best example with 55% of electricity generated from wind and 6% from solar in 2022. Being part of the European market I'm sure they can get it to an even higher levels.
Add comment