UnSubRocky wrote on May 20
th, 2021 at 7:48pm:
You are not concerned about using renewables as a back up or coinciding with current power sources?
Apart from the fact they can't back up anything? If reliable energy goes down - what are the chances of having enough renewable energy?
UnSubRocky wrote on May 20
th, 2021 at 7:48pm:
Of course, batteries will cost a bit to put in place.
Yes the 100MW battery in SA cost $90 million or thereabouts. So for 1000MW that is a cool $900 million and that won't power much for very long. And of course then you have to factor in battery life. Coal and gas plants can run for 50 years or longer. Batteries don't.
"And while batteries can provide stored power when other sources are down, most current batteries can deliver power only for several hours before needing to recharge. That makes them nearly useless during extended outages. . . . Most current storage batteries can discharge for four hours at most before needing to recharge."
https://www.wsj.com/articles/batteries-challenge-natural-gas-elecric-power-gener...UnSubRocky wrote on May 20
th, 2021 at 7:48pm:
But the savings on having these renewable energy sources available will outstrip the initial costs of installing them.
Only IF they are heavily subsidised.
"According to the IEA, an average conventional car requires 22.3kg of copper and 11.2kg of manganese. An average electrical vehicle requires 53.2kg of copper, 8.9kg of lithium, 39.9kg of nickel, 24.9kg of manganese, 13.3kg of cobalt, 66.3kg of graphite, and 0.5kg of other rare earths.
Also, the IEA compares sources for power generation on a megawatt basis. Natural gas requires the least minerals; 1100 kg of copper and 48.3kg of chromium. Offshore wind requires the most minerals; 8,000kg of copper, 240kg of nickel, 790kg of manganese, 525kg of chromium, 109kg of molybdenum, 5500kg of zinc, and 239kg of rare earths.
If one adds the thousands of tons of concrete and steel that wind power needs for its foundations to both the energy and environmental impact of these mining operations, clean energy is not looking so clean. Mark Mills discussed the report in the Wall Street Journal which Paul Homewood reproduced in part. See links under Problems in the Orthodoxy."
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/05/17/weekly-climate-and-energy-news-roundup-44...So one gas fired generator versus one wind generator. And solar is not much better. And those wind turbines and solar panels are all made using fossil fuel energy.