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Seven countries now generate nearly all their electricity from renewables (2024)

the-independent.com

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Re: Seven countries now generate nearly all their electricity from renewables (2024)

#331

Post by mastermage »

littlestymaar wrote: post #300
pfdietz wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just political reversal risk; there's the risk of technological obsolescence. It's very much a stretch to assume a nuclear plant will remain operationally viable (in the sense of being competitive) for 40 years, never mind the 60 or 80 years sometimes mentioned, because the competition isn't standing still.

The only credible competition against a state funded nuclear plant is hypothetical next gen geothermal power though. Nuclear won't save the planet, as few countries can develop a nuclear industry. But for countries that have one, it should be a no brainer if not for irrational nuclear bomb fears.

looking at the current Geopolitical Climate this does not seem like an Irrational Fear. And I do not mean the fear of a reactor meltdown. But if you refine Uranium for a Powerplant you can also Refine it for a bomb.

Re: Seven countries now generate nearly all their electricity from renewables (2024)

#332

Post by mastermage »

ninalanyon wrote: post #202
sumea wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, ground transport (except long distance trucks) can be electrified now. In principle, most homes could be heated with electricity if we had means to store all the "excess" wind energy or waste heat from e.g. datacenters and use it in district heating. The technology for heat storage is mostly ready but the capacity is not. But would it be easy or obvious what to do next? Absolutely not. Everything is simple if yo…

> except long distance trucks) can be electrified now. What do you call long distance? And why do you think it can't be electrified now. Both Volvo and Scania have electric tractor units. Scania has trucks with over 500 km range at 42 t GTW. In Europe you can't drive more than 360 km in one go. See https://www.scania.com/group/en/home/products-and-services/t...

My exact area at the moment, the problem is not the distance but recharging because the infrastructure for fast charging Electric Trucks has not rolled out broadly enough yet. Other than that the technology is completely ready its literally just missing some infrastructure that is being built right now.

Re: Seven countries now generate nearly all their electricity from renewables (2024)

#333

Post by Y-bar »

analog31 wrote: post #74
Y-bar wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can’t speak for large scale sites with abundant volcanic activity… But for residential geothermal the bore hole has a lifetime based on how much ground water there is and how active usage it sees. This is because using it cools the hole slowly and after a few decades (depending on how quickly ground water can dissipate heat gradient) a new hole need to be drilled a distance away.

Can we cycle the holes? Use one while the other one is warming back up.

There are some modern heat pumps which can put heat energy back into the hole during the warmer season when the pump acts as a (cooler). For my own Daikin pump this would be possible if I had a different flooring than wood.

"Unfortunately" I choose wooden flooring on my heated floors. Cooling this means that the I risk condensation due to moisture build-up and therefore a long-term risk of mould. But I have only need of cooling 1-2 months of the year, so it is not a big deal, I can solve it by clever use of insulation instead.

But for those able to use a geothermal pump like this it also has the short-term benefit of increasing the effectiveness of the hole as well.

Re: Seven countries now generate nearly all their electricity from renewables (2024)

#334

Post by mastermage »

Moldoteck wrote: post #88
ffsm8 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tbf, solar has gotten so much more effective/cost efficient in the last 12-24 months that it's beating pretty much everything aside from hydro in the cost efficiency department at this point - including (most of) northern Europe and Canada. Most data you find will be using data that's massively out of date and be off by at least 2x though... I had another facepalm moment when I read about EU planning to go nuclear ag…

Germany spends 10x more than france on transmission and curtailment each year. Households have highest prices in EU per Eurostat despite EEG subsidies. Even if everything goes well gas expansion is still required to firm renewables. All this while it still burns coal and gas. Going nuclear was sane in the past and sane now. If Germany wants to prove expanding nuclear is dumb it should try first to have lower annual e…

EEG Subsidies no longer exist. Germany's high electricity price is due to the weird af Laws on Renewables, terrible planning, and well Gas Power, which is just expensive as shit.

Re: Seven countries now generate nearly all their electricity from renewables (2024)

#335

Post by mastermage »

wolfhumble wrote: post #240
ffsm8 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tbf, solar has gotten so much more effective/cost efficient in the last 12-24 months that it's beating pretty much everything aside from hydro in the cost efficiency department at this point - including (most of) northern Europe and Canada. Most data you find will be using data that's massively out of date and be off by at least 2x though... I had another facepalm moment when I read about EU planning to go nuclear ag…

> I had another facepalm moment when I read about EU planning to go nuclear again. That would've been amazing and smart in 2015 - but now? Yeah, it's dumb af. And that's coming from a German living at the northern end of the country. In 2015, Germany produced about 650 TWh of electricity. In 2025, it’s around 507 TWh , a drop of roughly 22–23% . Consumption has also declined, mainly due to efficiency improvements, hi…

Wind has a problem in Germany thats true, but the problem is not volatility its the maddening regulations that basically only exist because nimbys do not want Windparks built anywhere.

Re: Seven countries now generate nearly all their electricity from renewables (2024)

#336

Post by Gareth321 »

geoduck14 wrote: post #106
phtrivier wrote: post #27

> Albania, Bhutan, Nepal, Paraguay, Iceland, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo produced more than 99.7 per cent of the electricity they consumed using geothermal, hydro, solar or wind power. Let's head to electricitymaps.com ! Albania ( https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/AL/live/fifteen_min... ) - On 2026-04-12 16:45 GMT+2, 22,67% of electricity consumed by Albania is imported from Greece, which gen…

>So, the lessons for all other countries in the world is pretty clear: grow yourselves some mountains, dig yourselves a big river, and dam, baby, dam !! It is a relief that Environmentalists have decided that hydro counts as "renewable" energy! When I was in school, hydro was considered really bad for the environment, and projects like the Hoover dam and Yangzie River dam were "not helping"

Many environmentalists seem completely unwilling to acknowledge the concept of tradeoffs. Unless a solution is 100% perfect in every way, they reject it. Or at least, the committees and infighting become so protracted that they cannot agree no a solution. This is true of our world today. We have limited resources with which to address things like pollution and emissions. We should be focusing on the most impactful changes first, posing the fewest costs. Nothing has zero cost.

Re: Seven countries now generate nearly all their electricity from renewables (2024)

#337

Post by harrouet »

phtrivier wrote: post #27

> Albania, Bhutan, Nepal, Paraguay, Iceland, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo produced more than 99.7 per cent of the electricity they consumed using geothermal, hydro, solar or wind power. Let's head to electricitymaps.com ! Albania ( https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/AL/live/fifteen_min... ) - On 2026-04-12 16:45 GMT+2, 22,67% of electricity consumed by Albania is imported from Greece, which gen…

100%

Writing such an article without mentioning nuclear power is a sign of dishonesty.

Wind and solar can't live alone, since they only operate when nature wants it. Perfect match for hydro, but we don't all live in the Hymalaya. Most (e.g. Germany) burn gas and coal to supplement.

Nuclear is the only tech suited for decarbonation, and once you have it, you don't need solar and power because 95% of the cost is in the construction. Since you'll build it to sustain peak demand, wind or solar are just extra costs.

Re: Seven countries now generate nearly all their electricity from renewables (2024)

#338

Post by kilzimir »

phtrivier wrote: post #27

> Albania, Bhutan, Nepal, Paraguay, Iceland, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo produced more than 99.7 per cent of the electricity they consumed using geothermal, hydro, solar or wind power. Let's head to electricitymaps.com ! Albania ( https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/AL/live/fifteen_min... ) - On 2026-04-12 16:45 GMT+2, 22,67% of electricity consumed by Albania is imported from Greece, which gen…

Portugal doesn't have any mountains and most of the electricity still comes from hydro! (Not saying you can build hydro everywhere, but you certainly don't need the Himalayas)

Re: Seven countries now generate nearly all their electricity from renewables (2024)

#339

Post by graemep »

donkyrf wrote: post #263
graemep wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sri Lanka used to rely on hydro, with oil as a backup, and has added a lot of coal. I wonder how many other countries are increasing non-renewable output?

Sri Lanka has only one coal power plant (construction began 2006), and the later coal project was canceled. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_power_stations_in_Sri_...

You are correct its only one but its gone from zero in 2010 to about half of what hydro produces now, and the proportion from renewables has gone down quite considerably: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Sri_Lank...

Re: Seven countries now generate nearly all their electricity from renewables (2024)

#340

Post by oblio »

micw wrote: post #299
krupan wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And wood, coal, and oil are renewable. It's funny that we have fixated on "renewable" when carbon in the atmosphere is the problem, isn't it?

No, coal and oil is not. Since we have micro organisms that can consume wood, coal and oil will never be produced again. > During the Carboniferous period, massive amounts of plant matter accumulated to form coal because microorganisms and fungi had not yet evolved the ability to break down lignin, a tough, aromatic polymer in woody plants.

We can make synthetic oil and I think we can also make synthetic coal, too.

Though it's close to useless because at that point they're too expensive to be worth it for anything else than very niche uses that absolutely require them.

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