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California Moves to Require 100% Clean Electricity by 2045

bloomberg.com

11–20 of 397 posts

Re: California Moves to Require 100% Clean Electricity by 2045

#11
post #7

That's very interesting. Right now California seems to run about 40-60% renewable according to https://www.electricitymap.org/?page=country&solar=false&rem...

California is at a bit of a tipping point. It has so much renewable energy, it has to pay other states to export their excessive energy because they don't have enough storage [1]. So you have to decide if you're going to subsidize utility scale energy storage to help drive it below the cost of fossil and peaker generators (which, it appears, California is prepared to do). It also helps that renewables are quickly approaching 1-2 cents/kwh at utility scale, as more of your cost can be storage (as your generation is almost free). China is ending subsidies of their solar manufacturing industry [2], which is going to push down the cost of panels, increasing the rate of uptake. You will see California meet their 100% renewable mandate much sooner than they're targeting.

A side effect is this is going to cause extensive losses to investor owned fossil generators. C'est la vie.

[1] https://www.zmescience.com/science/california-renewable-ener...

[2] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-solar/chinas-solar-su...

Re: California Moves to Require 100% Clean Electricity by 2045

#14
post #9
post #6

Once again, making me proud to pay CA taxes. If they do not take large hydro into account when calculating this 100%, I wonder what we'll do with the dams. Destroy them to let the rivers free-flow again? Dams would have been a great store of energy for this project by pumping the water up during the day using solar/wind. Tesla Energy must be salivating at all those batteries that will need to be constructed.

I think you misread. Hydro will be allowed under this bill.

oh I must have, I read this sentence "The state currently gets about 44 percent of its power from renewables and hydropower." as continuing with the current thought that hydro wasn't 100% clean.

Pump it up then.

Re: California Moves to Require 100% Clean Electricity by 2045

#15
post #8

Another subsidy for Tesla. All PR hype as it is an impossible goal unless you want to live in a very expensive Stone age and will do nothing of significance for global warming. More reasons to leave California.

Baloney. https://www.google.com/search?q=economics+of+clean+energy+ca...

Re: California Moves to Require 100% Clean Electricity by 2045

#16
I understand this is amazing and totally love my state for doing it, but man seeing 2045 is always a little dismaying as I wish we could be even more aggressive. 2035 for example. I realize I am being too ambitious, but we went to space in a decade why not 100% clean energy in 1.5?

Re: California Moves to Require 100% Clean Electricity by 2045

#19
post #6

Once again, making me proud to pay CA taxes. If they do not take large hydro into account when calculating this 100%, I wonder what we'll do with the dams. Destroy them to let the rivers free-flow again? Dams would have been a great store of energy for this project by pumping the water up during the day using solar/wind. Tesla Energy must be salivating at all those batteries that will need to be constructed.

Meanwhile, NYC's plan is a measly 80% reduction in carbon emissions in city run operations alone by 2050. We'll be going backwards once Indian Point is decommissioned.

Re: California Moves to Require 100% Clean Electricity by 2045

#20
post #12
post #2

Why not 2025?

I would assume it would be better to use 30%-40% effecient panels that will come out in 10 years than forcing everyone on the current 23% tech.

Efficiency is pretty much irrelevant when the land in question is worthless. You just cover more land. With current utility-scale equipment you need only 300000 acres of PV to generate all power demanded in California today.
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