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.
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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.
Everyone who bought into this propaganda/marketing is cursing themselves as wasting hard earned money for something so useless!
Even in the US for where EVs were designed for EV sales are nowhere close to the worse scenario expected. But ask yourselves how likely it is for the rest of the world to adopt.
A parking spot/garage in #Amsterdam has reached 7digits. Not likely within an extension chord's reach
@yianiris@osma@jackofalltrades 🙄 Amsterdam, like the rest of the Netherlands, has highly developed and integrated public transport. Large numbers of people get by without cars most of the time. My former building in London has underground parking now w EV charging. Am currently en route from Geneva (back) to Cherbourg in an EV; charging infrastructure almost a non-issue and expanding rapidly w EU support. US might remain stuck in the past. Europe won't.
@yianiris@osma@jackofalltrades As for cursing, I'm laughing every time I "fill up" for a fraction of the cost I paid to fill up my last petrol car, a pretty economical VW Golf - - even on the motorway paying extra for fast DC charge. At home my cost actually negative at this time of year as I feed more into the grid w solar panels than I use to charge in a few hours overnight.
Are you lying through your teeth thinking you are speaking to someone without knowledge of physics, or is "your American home" a few acres of solar panels?
Humanity and vegetation of any kind can not live under propellers and the shadow of solar panels so a handful of Americans can have EVs instead and travel 100mi a day casually.
@yianiris@osma@jackofalltrades I have no idea what you're referring to regarding "my American home". I referred to a building in London which I owned a home in which has underground parking w charging for EVs (increasingly common). Your assertions about solar panels and wind power are simply wrong. Inform yourself by following @solar_chase (read her book too). Muting you now for lack of manners. Bye.
What makes something popular is not what makes it right. It is sinlply funding and propaganda from industry to mass media (inluding social) to divert attention to where the industry wants the fish to go.
It is so ingenious that it has internal passed messages for the contrary as an auto-reaction to criticism, that it comes from big oil big coal auto etc.
Those are the exact industries driving the transition to EVs because it is a dead end and will end up quadrupling their profits instead of just trying to cut down on consumption.
Cutting down on consumption is to no interest of any of those industries and it is the least talked about approach
Only war in the middle east can raise the price of oil in the global market
@yianiris
Congratulations, this rude tirade of yours has earned you an eternal block. Perhaps you will one day learn to respect and listen to other people - but I will never know because I never will hear of you again. @samueljohnson@jackofalltrades
@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.
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