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Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

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Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#51
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Winds can be low for extended periods. So can sun, but that's why we build both where that's unusual. We've got plenty of stats and data gathering on where it's reliably sunny/windy enough.

[flagged]

Can you point to large scale solar or wind projects that were shoved into places that have extended periods of low sunlight or wind?

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#52
post #31

How is that working for German industry where you need dense energy if you are going to continue build anything big..

Multiple ways. One interesting one is huge sand batteries that are being heated up to massive temps, then having pipes run through there to collect the heat energy as hot water and doing the industrial processes that way.

Another way is using excess green energy to produce green hydrogen, which can be used as a fuel source in very high energy scenarios.

Past that, we recently have made electric arc furnaces and electric smelting furnaces for steel and aluminum, and several of these are fully solar powered.

It’s a shift to change the energy source for industrial production, but we have the technology and the ability. And the sun is free!

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#53
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm going to guess they are against it because it's "woke". A question might be "why is it woke?" And if it's because libtards like it, then you can point out that libtards like coffee, beer, sports, etc -- so when will they boycott those?

[flagged]

> Woke is cultural Marxism

> Woke is an adjective derived from African-American English used since the 1930s or earlier to refer to awareness of racial prejudice and discrimination, often in the construction stay woke. [1]

> Cultural Marxism is a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory that misrepresents Western Marxism (especially the Frankfurt School) as being responsible for modern progressive movements, identity politics, and political correctness. [2]

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woke

[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Marxism_conspiracy_th...

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#55
post #9

I know some people who are adamantly against solar and wind (personally I like both but I can see some shortcomings - for example I have heard that ai datacenters are using gas at times because of its flexibility) So what are some of the best talking points to "sell" solar and wind to the unconvinced? Or will they just adopt it once it's seen everywhere?

I don’t know how you can be against solar unless you’ve been given some uninformed talking points. Are they against solar subsidies or other policy provisions? It’s hard to understand someone who is against passive energy collection.

> Are they against solar subsidies or other policy provisions?

They're mainlining paid propaganda from the fossil fuel industry. Same dynamic that made people defend cigarettes into the late 90s.

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#56
post #9

I know some people who are adamantly against solar and wind (personally I like both but I can see some shortcomings - for example I have heard that ai datacenters are using gas at times because of its flexibility) So what are some of the best talking points to "sell" solar and wind to the unconvinced? Or will they just adopt it once it's seen everywhere?

LCOE is the talking point that should shut down all others along with LCOS of LFP batteries

Yeah the relatively recent paper that takes LCOE and adds back a bunch of cherry picked system costs is a PITA to refute because it's inherently complicated and actually has some good points.

The problem is every good argument for renewables will always inevitably have someone come up with some kind of counterpoint that on the surface may seem reasonable to those without the time or inclination to deeply research it all.

Energy is complicated.

FWIW I agree with a sibling poster who said to just say "its cheaper".

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#57
China having managed to position itself as the main driver of the green transition by investing into key industries illustrates the power of state planning. The markets simply can't operate on horizons of decades because there is no immediate profit to be had. You need long term planning and sustained investment that only a state is able to provide.

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#58
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nailed it. Solar, wind, and batteries are going to be the predominant form of generation in a decade, but there is no speculative benefit, so it’ll happen silently.

To be fair (and, somewhat ironically, rationally detached libertarian) that's the way it's supposed to be. We don't develop and deploy technology to make a bunch of too-online nerds rich. We develop and deploy technology to make everyone's lives better by providing goods at lower expense and lower externalized cost.

Indeed, but wouldn't it be great if all of this capital pouring into the AI bubble went into global electrification and clean energy instead?

Ah well, we'll get there eventually.

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/installed-solar-pv-capaci...

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/wind-generation

https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy

https://ourworldindata.org/electricity-mix

https://electrek.co/2026/02/23/texas-is-about-to-overtake-ca...

https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/battery-storage-is-...

https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/germanys-solar-installa...

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#59
post #9

I know some people who are adamantly against solar and wind (personally I like both but I can see some shortcomings - for example I have heard that ai datacenters are using gas at times because of its flexibility) So what are some of the best talking points to "sell" solar and wind to the unconvinced? Or will they just adopt it once it's seen everywhere?

I don’t know how you can be against solar unless you’ve been given some uninformed talking points. Are they against solar subsidies or other policy provisions? It’s hard to understand someone who is against passive energy collection.

I'm not against solar, my primary issue is that in northern Europe there's not much sun at some times. Energy storage and "smart grid" are not there yet, in my view, but maybe should have come first. Hydrogen (electrolysis) sounds a bit wild and impractical to me.

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it depends. some places it makes sense, some places it doesn't. it will be adopted when the money speaks. the good news is that money is a reasonably close proxy to "environmental benefit" (balancing the environmental costs of green infra production versus dirtiness of gas generation)

> some places it doesn't I can see this for wind, but not solar. PV turns sunlight into electrical energy. The whole damp rock gets sunlight on the outside, why not build panels anywhere? For wind yeah, if you live one of those boring flat places which gets tornadoes a wind turbine is definitely a bad idea, it won't make much energy and then a tornado turns it into scrap and possibly destroys nearby things with chunk…

If we can build skyscrapers that can survive tornadoes, can wind turbines be made tornado proof?
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