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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Renewable energy: Oversold and under-delivering... |
| 2022-02-21 |
| [Our Finite World] We have been told that intermittent electricity from wind and solar, perhaps along with hydroelectric generation (hydro), can be the basis of a green economy. Things are increasingly not working out as planned, however. Natural gas or coal used for balancing the intermittent output of renewables is increasingly high-priced or not available. It is becoming clear that modelers who encouraged the view that a smooth transition to wind, solar, and hydro is possible have missed some important points. Let’s look at some of the issues: [1] It is becoming clear that intermittent wind and solar cannot be counted on to provide adequate electricity supply when the electrical distribution system needs them. Early modelers did not expect that the variability of wind and solar would be a huge problem. They seemed to believe that, with the use of enough intermittent renewables, their variability would cancel out. Alternatively, long transmission lines would allow enough transfer of electricity between locations to largely offset variability. [2] Adequate storage for electricity is not feasible in any reasonable timeframe. This means that if cold countries are not to "freeze in the dark" during winter, fossil fuel backup is likely to be needed for many years in the future. One workaround for electricity variability is storage. A recent Reuters’ article is titled, Weak winds worsened Europe’s power crunch; utilities need better storage. The article quotes Matthew Jones, lead analyst for EU Power, as saying that low or zero-emissions backup-capacity is "still more than a decade away from being available at scale." Thus, having huge batteries or hydrogen storage at the scale needed for months of storage is not something that can reasonably be created now or in the next several years. [3] After many years of subsidies and mandates, today’s green electricity is only a tiny fraction of what is needed to keep our current economy operating. More at the link |
| Posted by:M. Murcek |
| #3 Our parents worked from WW2 to provide Reliable Energy that the kiddies are now dissembling in their magical pursuit of Gaia. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2022-02-21 07:04 |
| #2 Of course: Invest in something that's gummint subsidized. Wanna bet only "insiders" could even buy those shares? With a guaranteed upside? |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2022-02-21 04:00 |
| #1 Look who invested. The elites. I'd bet you they got a nice return. |
| Posted by: Dale 2022-02-21 03:58 |