101–110 of 227 posts
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Both of those are more expensive than pumped storage.
This depends on the time scale. For days or weeks? Pumped hydro is better. But for seasonal storage? The size of the reservoir becomes prohibitive.
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There’s a huge difference between load shifting a couple of hours and seasonal storage
That's why I didn't specify it needed to be seasonal, but it does need to be stored, as a lot of that load isn't shifting. At 7pm on a -35 day there is zero solar generation, but every furnace in the province is on and people are doing their evening cooking and cleaning.
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Note that China's coal usage was basically flat in 2023 and expected to decline in 2024. China's coal capacity is increasing dramatically, but they're increasingly using their coal plants as peaker plants rather than for base production.
For those unaware, China and India do NOT like getting their power from coal. They've both had decades now of abysmal smog and pollution that literally (like, statistically trackable) kills people every year, including people otherwise productive in society. China is absolutely dumping the price of solar panels. A fully renewable energy China is one that is harder for Western countries to sanction, has more prestige…
The rest of your post is spot on, though.
Hey folks, I live in Alberta. This isn't as big of a win as you all think it is. We replaced coal burning with natural gas and gasoline burning power generation. For those who will say, "but Alberta has wind and solar!" please know that our current premiere (similar to a governor) is actively attacking all of our renewable energy investments. Her name is Danielle Smith and she's quite literally a former oil and gas l…
I'll still count it. Natgas is much cleaner than coal. And economics will eventually force their hand as solar costs continue to fall
The provincial government suspended planning permission for all renewable energy projects across the province for six months, then outright banned the installation of grid-scale solar in much of the province. This resulted in the cancellation of tens of billions of dollars worth of private investment in renewable energy in Alberta.
Solar is also not as cheap as elsewhere in the world, as Canada has import duties on the cheap Chinese solar panels are driving the change elsewhere. The duties roughly triple the price, with a tax of ~160% on the purchase price and per-watt charges on the panel's rated output.
I'm sure that in five years things will start to shift. Heck, there's workers installing solar panels on my neighbour's roof right now — but it's not going to change much while Danielle Smith is in charge.
Hey folks, I live in Alberta. This isn't as big of a win as you all think it is. We replaced coal burning with natural gas and gasoline burning power generation. For those who will say, "but Alberta has wind and solar!" please know that our current premiere (similar to a governor) is actively attacking all of our renewable energy investments. Her name is Danielle Smith and she's quite literally a former oil and gas l…
I'll still count it. Natgas is much cleaner than coal. And economics will eventually force their hand as solar costs continue to fall
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As a Canadian it’s hard for me to be upset given we still emit far more carbon per capita than China or India.
But would that be true if Canada had 1 billion people?
It is frustrating as someone who lives in Canada and has spend so much money to remove coal that India and China have said FU to the world and increased their coal usage. I guess given that those two countries are keeping Russia afloat by buying their oil it shouldn't be a surprise, but its still disappointing to see those countries choosing the path they did.
Note that China's coal usage was basically flat in 2023 and expected to decline in 2024. China's coal capacity is increasing dramatically, but they're increasingly using their coal plants as peaker plants rather than for base production.
Short term - nothing much is happening. Rome wasn't built in a day.
The US can idly sit around and burn it's own natural gas and oil. The US at least has the option to maintain the status quo for a long time (it won't). But China doesn't even have this option.
Additionally, auto manufacturing (ICE cars) accounts for ~5% of US employment. For China ICE auto manufacturing is ~0, and they have the opportunity to produce a huge chunk of the worlds EVs. They're not only incentivized massively to get off oil - they're incentivized to get EVERYONE ELSE off of oil, too.
China needs to IMPORT natural gas and oil. They'd much rather lead the world in renewables EXPORT EVs and renewable generation than be reliant on Russia & KSA for energy (the basis of their current economy)...
China will likely cut their emissions faster than the US has - which if you're realistic - the US has done an impressive job.
The US emits ~30% less carbon per capita than it did in 2000. And we're on pace to be at ~40% less by the end of 2030: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1049662/fossil-us-carbon...
In 20 years, China is likely to be around ~75% less than today. The US probably won't get from ~40% to ~75% over that time.
The lobbying from our own energy producers will too much to cut that deep that quickly.
The US and China are close to ~50% of emissions: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/each-countrys-share-co2-emi...
No one else besides India is really going to move the needle (certainly not in the wrong direction - no one else is growing fast enough).
India will be the wild card. Will they import renewable energy generation from China or fossil fuel from Russia and KSA?
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But would that be true if Canada had 1 billion people?
IIRC most people's carbon emissions come from transportation, electricity, heat. My guess is the efficiency of scale at ~40M is within spitting distance of what it would be at 1B. So it ought to scale linearly, for the most part?
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Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction accounts for 8.21% of Canada's GDP. So, not so much, but let's all take a moment to stare at the horror show that is the 13% that is real estate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Canada Edit: I realize that source is from 2020, which may be skewing those numbers, but it seems that statista still roughly agrees in 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/594293/gr…
> let's all take a moment to stare at the horror show that is the 13% that is real estate. 12% in both USA (2023) and Mexico (2015). Other countries that use a similar classification seem to also be in the same range. Japan, for example, also sits at 12% (2022). Is a single percentage point really that horrific?
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That's why I didn't specify it needed to be seasonal, but it does need to be stored, as a lot of that load isn't shifting. At 7pm on a -35 day there is zero solar generation, but every furnace in the province is on and people are doing their evening cooking and cleaning.
I'd note that actual -35 days are pretty rare. Per Environment Canada Climate Normal Data from 1991 to 2020, Edmonton averages only 2.5 days per year with a minimum temperature below -30.