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Iran war energy shock sparks global push to reduce fossil fuel dependence

reuters.com

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Re: Iran war energy shock sparks global push to reduce fossil fuel dependence

#61

Post by aa-jv »

I'm unpacking my electric motorbike[1] and its moped sister[2] from winter storage and preparing them both for a summer in a city in a nation which energy supply is mostly renewables.

Of course, it took a lot of gasoline to get them here, but I sure as heck won't be using much gasoline to put them to solid use clocking up the kilometers, 100 at a time.

Got a few deals on solar panels for the backyard that'll get me completely off the grid for the most part, and from then on it'll be maintenance mode and solar powered travel as priority number one ..

[1] - https://www.blackteamotorbikes.com/

[2] - https://unumotors.com/

Re: Iran war energy shock sparks global push to reduce fossil fuel dependence

#62

Post by crimsoneer »

coldtea wrote: post #52
tfourb wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you invest in nuclear power, which is several times more expensive per kwh than wind + battery in Denmark, which also has excellent links to reliable hydropower from Norway and Sweden? Especially when your greatest external security threat is Russia which has openly threatened targeting nuclear reactors of a country they are trying to invade? Not to speak of the inconvenient fact that Uranium is not a resou…

> Why would you invest in nuclear power, which is several times more expensive per kwh Because the related lobby pays well and a huge power station project (which runs well into the tens of billions) has much larger space for bribes

Alternatively, because nuclear power still works at night.

Re: Iran war energy shock sparks global push to reduce fossil fuel dependence

#63

Post by [deleted] »

ryukafalz wrote: post #44

As someone who's been pushing for renewables for quite a while now it's dismaying that it's taken a war to accelerate this push, but I'm glad to see that it's happening at least. It's doubly dismaying that my own country (US) is still doubling down on fossil fuels despite everything. The concern about a new dependency on China is real, but renewables do have the advantage that once you have the infrastructure in plac…

[deleted]

Re: Iran war energy shock sparks global push to reduce fossil fuel dependence

#65

Post by schnitzelstoat »

ViewTrick1002 wrote: post #35
Chyzwar wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Levelized Cost of Energy for solar is 30-60$ and 100-200$ for nuclear. In the case of Spain, it is cheaper to build more energy lines with Morocco and battery storage than to use nuclear. Spain already has some of the cheapest energy in Europe thanks to renewables. In the case of Germany, nuclear makes sense, but it is not clear where you would buy fuel for it, It might still be a supply chain risk since Russia and K…

Existing nuclear power is acceptably cheap. For France the longterm LCOE for running their fleet to EOL is €60 per MWh. The problem is new built nuclear power which costs €180-240 per MWh excluding insurance, backup, final waste disposal etc. It also won't be online until the 2040s meaning it is entirely irrelevant as as solution to anything on a time scope not on the level of decades.

Yeah, but that reminds me of Nick Clegg in the UK in 2010 saying:

> By the most optimistic scenarios... there's no way they are going to have new nuclear come on stream until 2021, 2022. So it's just not even an answer

Well, now we are in 2026, and we still have the same problem.

Re: Iran war energy shock sparks global push to reduce fossil fuel dependence

#66

Post by surfaceofthesun »

kuerbel wrote: post #41
samuel wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that easy, and the 2025 blackout good evidence of that. Renewables need a grid that's engineered for them and that require significative investments. Without them, closing power plants (of any kind) is, IMO, nonsensical. Ironically, Spain has plenty of Uranium, but there is an environmental law that doesn't allow its mining. https://alpoma.medium.com/uranium-in-spain-8ef975763257 This country is crazy.

No it's not. Nuclear plants are not compatible with climate change. Spain and it's rivers will be too warm to cool them down: https://www.euronews.com/2025/07/02/france-and-switzerland-s...

That may require retrofitting the plants to use open loop cooling instead of closed loop. That would increase water consumption.

Re: Iran war energy shock sparks global push to reduce fossil fuel dependence

#67

Post by mono442 »

pydry wrote: post #20
DaedalusII wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what do you think of theory that denuclearisation movement in west europe was funded by CCCP? it makes sense to think CCCP/Putin would finance subversive movements to remove nuclear and coal and make the region dependent on russian energy exports

An absurd conspiracy theory. Nuclear power has an LCOE that is 5x the cost of solar and wind. Nobody would build it on cost alone. The only reason countries build and run nuclear power plants is because it shares supply chain and a skills base with the nuclear military. Which means they have nukes (France, Russia, US) or they they want to take out an option to one day build a nuke in a hurry just in case for a threat…

Solar and wind are intermittent. Grid scale energy storage is not even a thing yet.

Re: Iran war energy shock sparks global push to reduce fossil fuel dependence

#68

Post by abustamam »

sharemywin wrote: post #10

Wonder how much WFH could help. Seems like during covid demand went way down.

I don't have data but I was always under the impression that consumer use of fossil fuels (ie gas) was a drop in the bucket compared to enterprise use of fossil fuels (shipping trucks/boats/planes, private jets, etc).

The whole "reduce your carbon footprint PSA" was just a ruse.

Re: Iran war energy shock sparks global push to reduce fossil fuel dependence

#69

Post by formvoltron »

ryukafalz wrote: post #44

As someone who's been pushing for renewables for quite a while now it's dismaying that it's taken a war to accelerate this push, but I'm glad to see that it's happening at least. It's doubly dismaying that my own country (US) is still doubling down on fossil fuels despite everything. The concern about a new dependency on China is real, but renewables do have the advantage that once you have the infrastructure in plac…

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