> Wind power installations outpaced those in solar power for the first time in several years and represented $24.6 billion of investment
So wind is number one and solar is the next one? That's great news!
More wind energy was installed in 2020 than any other energy source
21–30 of 166 posts
Re: More wind energy was installed in 2020 than any other energy source
#22Am I correct to assume that wind is a more indirect source of power than solar? In my mind, solar energy creates wind by heating up the surface of the earth, which then heats up the air above it, which then moves around to even out the temperature differences. Therefore I suspect that in the long run (10 years? 100 years?) solar energy will be more common than wind energy. Similar to how solid state drives are overta…
[deleted]
Re: More wind energy was installed in 2020 than any other energy source
#23Am I correct to assume that wind is a more indirect source of power than solar? In my mind, solar energy creates wind by heating up the surface of the earth, which then heats up the air above it, which then moves around to even out the temperature differences. Therefore I suspect that in the long run (10 years? 100 years?) solar energy will be more common than wind energy. Similar to how solid state drives are overta…
They are complementary. You tend to have more wind when there's no sun, like during storms and some places are very windy at night.
The problem with wind is dealing with the huge uptick in energy coming down the pipeline during a major wind event. Last I checked, this was still not a solved problem but I haven't been keeping current like I used to.
So in practice they shut down some windmills during major wind events to protect the system. The other issue both wind and solar have is storage. Though we've seen substantial gains in battery storage in recent years, so there is good news but I don't know if we are really "there" yet.
Re: More wind energy was installed in 2020 than any other energy source
#24What I’m more worry about those Renewables stuff is their ressource footprint , when you look at how much « rare earth » « composite » material is needed to build just one its seems like a nonsense to use wind their are many documentaries on this topic. Today the vast majority of those turbines are not recycled.
On top of that wind being intermittent you need gas power plant to provide.
France power provider RTE estimated that if the country moved to 100% renewable it would need 12 times its gas capacity or 10% of ALL lithium available on earth for battery.
1st gen renewable are far from a panacea.
Re: More wind energy was installed in 2020 than any other energy source
#25Am I correct to assume that wind is a more indirect source of power than solar? In my mind, solar energy creates wind by heating up the surface of the earth, which then heats up the air above it, which then moves around to even out the temperature differences. Therefore I suspect that in the long run (10 years? 100 years?) solar energy will be more common than wind energy. Similar to how solid state drives are overta…
Wind doesn't shut down at night (though it might be lower).
Depends where you are. In my state in Australia the wind tends to be more negatively correlated with daylight (i.e. it's more likely to be more windy overnight) but down south it tends to be a bit more the other way.
Then there's offshore, where there's a higher likelihood to be more consistently windy just generally.
Re: More wind energy was installed in 2020 than any other energy source
#26Am I correct to assume that wind is a more indirect source of power than solar? In my mind, solar energy creates wind by heating up the surface of the earth, which then heats up the air above it, which then moves around to even out the temperature differences. Therefore I suspect that in the long run (10 years? 100 years?) solar energy will be more common than wind energy. Similar to how solid state drives are overta…
Solar is indeed long term cheaper to install but subject to periodic down-time. Wind blows at night and when it is cloudy. Also the nature of our atmosphere is that there is always some wind somewhere. So, they are complementary.
Right now everybody is focused on getting to 100% carbon neutral. However, the question must be asked: why stop there and not go to something like 500 or even 1000% energy generation.
There will be plenty of things we can do with the excess energy. I think this will play out over the next few decades. Mass produced solar will go on any available surface just because we can. There are already some lower efficiency but potentially very cheap to produce solar systems based on e.g. organic materials that can be printed on flexible surfaces (i.e. not glass). Having that stuff put all over the place is going to make an impact.
Solar is already regularly creating surpluses regularly. It's a huge problem for energy providers because they have to shut down more expensive to manage production when that happens. Any time you see a wind mill not spinning, don't assume it is because it is broken and instead consider that there might be too much wind power temporarily.
A structural surplus will create supply of very cheap (often negatively priced even) energy. There are all sorts of valuable things we can do with that.
Re: More wind energy was installed in 2020 than any other energy source
#27Am I correct to assume that wind is a more indirect source of power than solar? In my mind, solar energy creates wind by heating up the surface of the earth, which then heats up the air above it, which then moves around to even out the temperature differences. Therefore I suspect that in the long run (10 years? 100 years?) solar energy will be more common than wind energy. Similar to how solid state drives are overta…
They are complementary. You tend to have more wind when there's no sun, like during storms and some places are very windy at night. The problem with wind is dealing with the huge uptick in energy coming down the pipeline during a major wind event. Last I checked, this was still not a solved problem but I haven't been keeping current like I used to. So in practice they shut down some windmills during major wind events…
The turbines automatically shut off to protect themselves, not the system, from my understanding.
They have a max amount of power they can generate per turbine anyway, and I would imagine that's designed around.
https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/how-do-wind-turbines-su...
Re: More wind energy was installed in 2020 than any other energy source
#28Am I correct to assume that wind is a more indirect source of power than solar? In my mind, solar energy creates wind by heating up the surface of the earth, which then heats up the air above it, which then moves around to even out the temperature differences. Therefore I suspect that in the long run (10 years? 100 years?) solar energy will be more common than wind energy. Similar to how solid state drives are overta…
> Therefore I suspect that in the long run (10 years? 100 years?) solar energy will be more common than wind energy.
This doesn't follow at all.
Even if solar was 100% efficient there would still be many cases where wind power would be preferred. Overcast days, night, and very high latitudes where seasonal effects means there are months where solar isn't very useful are just a few cases.
Re: More wind energy was installed in 2020 than any other energy source
#29What I’m more worry about those Renewables stuff is their ressource footprint , when you look at how much « rare earth » « composite » material is needed to build just one its seems like a nonsense to use wind their are many documentaries on this topic. Today the vast majority of those turbines are not recycled. On top of that wind being intermittent you need gas power plant to provide. France power provider RTE esti…
I'm sure the provider isn't interested in anything but the scientific truth here.
/s
Re: More wind energy was installed in 2020 than any other energy source
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
They are complementary. You tend to have more wind when there's no sun, like during storms and some places are very windy at night. The problem with wind is dealing with the huge uptick in energy coming down the pipeline during a major wind event. Last I checked, this was still not a solved problem but I haven't been keeping current like I used to. So in practice they shut down some windmills during major wind events…
The turbines automatically shut off to protect themselves, not the system, from my understanding. They have a max amount of power they can generate per turbine anyway, and I would imagine that's designed around. https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/how-do-wind-turbines-su...
[deleted]