The piece doesn't mention the recent blackout in Spain. Wasn't it caused by the lack of energy sources with rotational inertia?
Solar power has begun to transform the world’s energy system
211–220 of 607 posts
Re: Solar power has begun to transform the world’s energy system
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
My google-fu is failing to resurface the links, but IIRC: One study determined the cheapest energy grids for many countries. IOW, if you had to rebuild the energy grid from scratch today, what would be the cheapest way to meet your needs? And the answer was 90 - 95% renewables, depending on country. Solar + wind + batteries for 90 - 95% of the power, with natgas peakers for the rest. And that 90-95% number increases…
Finland does not have any geothermal. The country lies on two billion years old basement rock with approximately zero geothermal activity. Wind is the dominanting renewable source, with enough of it for Finland to enjoy the second cheapest electricity in Europe last year. And indeed, even solar is profitable, hindered by the winters but helped by the long days during summer.
> second cheapest electricity in Europe
Re: Solar power has begun to transform the world’s energy system
#213> Solar power is now growing faster than any power source in history, and it is closely followed by wind power—which is really another form of energy from the sun, since it is differential heating of the earth that produces the wind that turns the turbines. It's interesting to realize that the vast majority of the energy used by humans comes from the sun (with the exception of nuclear and geothermal energy). Even hyd…
Tidal power doesn't come from the sun either. It slows the earth's rotation by a tiny amount.
Is the origin of that rotation not also the gravitational wells created by the Sun?
Re: Solar power has begun to transform the world’s energy system
#214Nice article explaining solar energy policy. I think the article still doesn't address the mismatch between solar energy production and consumption, which needs to be filled by storage mechanisms. Also would have been nice to have a critical look at how the Chinese were able to corner the Solar market via state sponsored means.
> Also would have been nice to have a critical look at how the Chinese were able to corner the Solar market via state sponsored means. What if... (stick with me here because this is about to get crazy)... free market capitalism isn't the best solution for everything...?
The correct solution is to make China pay tariffs in proportion to their explicit and implicit state support for their "private" industries. It is not too late to push back.
Re: Solar power has begun to transform the world’s energy system
#215The piece doesn't mention the recent blackout in Spain. Wasn't it caused by the lack of energy sources with rotational inertia?
It was a design/dimensioning error, something was expected to absorb reactive power and it added it instead.
Re: Solar power has begun to transform the world’s energy system
#216> Instead of relying on scattered deposits of fossil fuel—the control of which has largely defined geopolitics for more than a century—we are moving rapidly toward a reliance on diffuse but ubiquitous sources of supply. The sun and the wind are available everywhere I’m all for solar - but does it really solve the geographical / geopolitical issues of oil, as it’s currently rolling out? China produces pretty much all…
I’m all for solar - but does it really solve the geographical / geopolitical issues of oil, as it’s currently rolling out? Yes, because if the US blockades you so you can't import oil, your trucks and power plants stop running in six weeks. If the US blockades you so you can't import Chinese solar panels, your power grid stops running in 20 years. Actually, that's just the end of the warranty period, so more like 30.…
It's more banal than that. Oil you have to pay for. Which for most countries you need to constantly come up with foreign currency. If you have a financial crisis like hot money flees you end up at the mercy of the world banking systems mafia enforcers the IMF.
With solar and electrified transport and industry? Can't pay the loans for the solar panels? Sucks for the saps that loaned you the money. Come and take them.
Re: Solar power has begun to transform the world’s energy system
#217A remarkably positive and hopeful article. It's really staggering seeing the figures of not just how much solar has grown in recent years, but how massively its growth has outstripped everyone's predictions from essentially any time in the past. I also really liked this passage about the direct on-the-ground effects of being able to install solar panels: > If you have travelled through rural Asia, you know the sound…
> diesel sales in Pakistan apparently fell thirty per cent in 2024
Re: Solar power has begun to transform the world’s energy system
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
Plausible alternatives to cables include ships full of synthetic diesel, ships full of iron, ships full of aluminum, or ships full of magnesium. Inside China HVDC cables are indeed carrying solar power across the continent, but the Netherlands have not managed to erect any yet. Cables provide efficient JIT power delivery, but they're vulnerable to precision-guided missiles, which Ukrainians are 3-D printing in their…
There's at least one HVDC cable connected to Netherlands, Norned: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NorNed . As probably everyone knows, Netherlands is very flat and Norway very mountaneous. Norways is also very rainy. So it's a match made in heaven - Norway's mountain reservoirs can act as balancers for dutch wind power.
And to Denmark:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBRAcable
While Denmark in term essentially is a trading hub for electricity between Scandinavia, the UK and continental Europe.
Re: Solar power has begun to transform the world’s energy system
#219"Last year, for the third year straight, heat pumps outsold furnaces in the U.S." Now that's a major development not mentioned much. Heat pumps have both improved quite a bit, and become cheaper due to sheer volume.
I recently bought a heat pump dryer and it's pretty cool. No exhaust vent, just water drain. It also doesn't need the heavy duty power plug since it pulls so much less electricity than a typical heated air dryer.
Ah of course - it can recycle the heat. Hot air going out a vent is wasted energy that you've paid for.
Re: Solar power has begun to transform the world’s energy system
#220The piece doesn't mention the recent blackout in Spain. Wasn't it caused by the lack of energy sources with rotational inertia?
The reporting so far is that they did not manage the reactive power correct leading to a voltage trip.
But the fossil and nuclear lobbies were straight on blaming renewables when it happened. They are desperate for any handouts they can get their hands on before a select few are preserved as museum pieces.