71–80 of 312 posts
France seems to be in a sweet spot: low electricity price and low CO2 emissions, thanks to nuclear power?
There's a important lesson about using nuclear power as an energy source in there. Contrast that with Germany which is shuttering their nuclear power plants in favor of renewables.
This is overly simplified. A few aspects come to mind that have huge effects, in orders of magnitude: * Price differences during day/week/seasons. Cold day? Electricity can be 2-3x higher than the day before. Lots of sun/wind? Price plummets. ... * Price differences in regions. Norway, Sweden, Germany, those alone have huge differences in electricity prices depending on where you live. * Pricing relative to economic…
Yes, but these are averages so it shouldn't matter. Assuming this is total spent in all households over a year, divided by population, it accounts for all fluctuations in time and region. And at the end of the day, all that really matters is what you paid over the year. And they already have a chart that adjusts for average wages as well. So nothing whatsoever here strikes me as misleading or propaganda. Averages are…
Except that that's definitely not what's shown here.
> I'm actually curious just what you imagine this could even be "propaganda" for
I did end the post with just that.
$0.14/kWh in the US? My goodness. It's double that in the Bay Area. There's a reason I invested in solar for my home. Also the map of low-carbon countries looks a lot like a map of where it rains a lot.
It's also state owned.
From what I've seen it's the best combo of green and pricing in the world.
0: https://www.hydroquebec.com/residential/customer-space/rates...
France seems to be in a sweet spot: low electricity price and low CO2 emissions, thanks to nuclear power?
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/03/edf-to-redu...
This is overly simplified. A few aspects come to mind that have huge effects, in orders of magnitude: * Price differences during day/week/seasons. Cold day? Electricity can be 2-3x higher than the day before. Lots of sun/wind? Price plummets. ... * Price differences in regions. Norway, Sweden, Germany, those alone have huge differences in electricity prices depending on where you live. * Pricing relative to economic…
Maybe it strikes you as propaganda because you disagree with what it seems to indicate? Why would it matter if people in Berlin pay more than people in Munich, or vice versa? Energy policies are generally national, so national data is the correct level of granularity. Most of your criticisms seem to stem from a lack of understanding as to what the word "average" means.
France seems to be in a sweet spot: low electricity price and low CO2 emissions, thanks to nuclear power?
Sweet spot of a mess I guess: half of the 56 nuclear plants were offline (and some still are) due to maintenance or too warm cooling water in Summer. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/03/edf-to-redu...
If you are asking yourself why prices in Germany are so high: It's mostly the price surge of natural gas after Russia cut off deliveries in retaliation to sanctions in the wake of the war against Ukraine. About 50% of the price per kw/h in Germany is set by an auction system. Electricity providers are bidding at any given point in time to provide energy for the grid. The lowest price per kw/h wins. BUT: because no on…
You describe the auction system as a bad thing. But actually it's a good thing. The providers who (through investment and/or technological superiority) are able to provide cheaper electricity, make more money. Capitalist progress engine at its finest!
If you are interested in my opinion, I'm perfectly willing to accept that this kind of auction system works efficiently and effectively under normal circumstances. But in this specific scenario, it led to consumer prices rising by about 130% due to a sudden geopolitical shock. I personally find this less than ideal and I would have preferred a system that provides a bit more stability, because electricity is a fundamental need. Price jumps of this nature were unheard of in Germany, so no one was prepared for them, either.
If you are asking yourself why prices in Germany are so high: It's mostly the price surge of natural gas after Russia cut off deliveries in retaliation to sanctions in the wake of the war against Ukraine. About 50% of the price per kw/h in Germany is set by an auction system. Electricity providers are bidding at any given point in time to provide energy for the grid. The lowest price per kw/h wins. BUT: because no on…
You describe the auction system as a bad thing. But actually it's a good thing. The providers who (through investment and/or technological superiority) are able to provide cheaper electricity, make more money. Capitalist progress engine at its finest!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To think there were nuclear reactors already built and running perfectly fine in Germany. That were closed down presumably for ecological reasons. Burning coal and natural gas instead.
They werent that many to begin with they growing increasingly expensive to run, were coming to the end of their lifespan and Fukushima was a risk that was hard to ignore. It's interesting how Poland's electricity mix has been 80% coal for decades and this passes without comment, but what really enrages some people is a few nuclear power plants in Germany being mostly swapped out with solar and wind energy. Doesnt see…