Wind now competes with fossil fuels, and solar almost does

Post by JoeAltmaier » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 3:45 PM UTC

lgieron wrote: post #150

fsloth wrote: post #54

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Totally offbeat angle, nothing to do with energy markets at large, but: My whole country is situated north of the 60th parallel north. Winters are friggin cold and I would be very concerned if there were no sources of energy not dependent on sunlight or wind. Also, I'm a neurotic so in case of a nuclear winter type of effect I would love to have some nuclear reactor technology going. For deep space exploration solar…

> Also, I'm a neurotic so in case of a nuclear winter type of effect I would love to have some nuclear reactor technology going. My guess is that, in case of nuclear winter, the complex societal structures that make operating nuclear energy possible will break down anyway.

Post by toomuchtodo » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:06 PM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #61

timv wrote: post #18

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> Did I cover everything? Anything missing? There's interesting issues to consider with respect to scale + locality in generation/storage. My father-in-law's partner has a property in a rural area. Their property runs on 100% solar. The surrounding area has no local (large scale) power generation. During a recent storm the whole town was knocked off the grid. The property with solar kept working (after the storm, not…

It's pretty rare to invest in small scale, local fossil fuel power generation. I think you're ignoring the diesel or natural gas fueled generators that are now installed at most supermarkets, many office buildings, and even apartment buildings and private homes. They are everywhere these days; even 10 years ago you didn't see them as much.

Post by toomuchtodo » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:14 PM UTC

trhway wrote: post #74

cpprototypes wrote: post #44

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If cars and all the oil infrastructure didn't exist, EV and batteries are superior. They have far better efficiency and are a much more elegant solution. But all the oil infrastructure does exist and is a huge advantage for oil producing solutions. Consider asking a random person, would you rather keep your current car and use oil that has a side benefit of being carbon neutral or throw away the car, buy a brand new…

>But the Prius combines both technologies and gets 40% thermal efficiency well, you can get an even better ICE with relatively simple improvements. In some sense there is just no business case for it as metal-air batteries would probably beat all the other options for passenger cars in near future. >Many think that hybrids and plug-in hybrids are a bridge technology to a pure EV future. But the future may end up bein…

Post by task_queue » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 5:48 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #39

crdoconnor wrote: post #37

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>Natural gas will stick around until utility scale batteries ramp up, to where peaking plants are too expensive compared to utility scale batteries. There's another possibility which is that there will be an overbuild of solar and wind caused by a clean energy boom (ZIRP already did this to oil; where is that ROI-hungry risk capital going to look for returns next?). The market will then figure out ways of putting the…

I have high hopes that practically free energy leads us to post scarcity.

Post by toomuchtodo » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 8:13 PM UTC

thaumasiotes wrote: post #65

toomuchtodo wrote: post #8

1. This is excellent. It means we're well on our way to sustainable energy generation. Wind and solar are only going to get cheaper. Even without subsidies, there is no reason to ever build another coal or oil fired generation facility. Natural gas will stick around until utility scale batteries ramp up, to where peaking plants are too expensive compared to utility scale batteries. 2. Nuclear is dead. Very dead. Thor…

> Even without subsidies, there is no reason to ever build another coal or oil fired generation facility. You seem to be assuming that world demand for power can never rise. I find that... unlikely.