Environmentalists and their allies in big business have argued that batteries solve this problem. Battery technology has come a long way, with “mega-batteries” able to store and release power when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. Indeed, South Australia is home to one of the biggest lithium batteries in the world, with installation of more big batteries planned for more states and territories.

Yet to build these mega-batteries we need more mining, which in turn releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Batteries for electric cars and renewable energy storage are made out of copper, zinc, aluminium and lithium. According to a report by the ABC, “a wind turbine needs four times more minerals than a coal-fired power station to generate the same amount of electricity”. The irony is that we will need to increase our carbon emissions to reduce them.

And not only does mining produce large amounts of carbon dioxide but mines also can leak toxic materials into waterways. Mines often are opposed by environmental groups for this reason. It can take years for new mines to be approved because of Australia’s high standards of environmental protection regulation.

To complicate things further, the trend in the corporate world is to avoid investment in mining because of environmental, social and governance considerations.

The result is that demand for the minerals that go into batteries is going up while supply is going down, leading to what some analysts have called “greenflation”.
...

The experience of Germany demonstrates the impact that renewables can have on electricity markets. A 2019 report produced by Deloitte on the German electricity market says newer, more modern coal-fired plants are able to meet the “flexibility challenge” posed by renewables, but older plants cannot.

Despite having the highest share of cheap renewable energy from wind and solar, Germany has the highest electricity prices in Europe. Fossil fuels are locked in as backup power, which has led Germany to become dependent on imported gas from Russia. This is despite spending $743bn on its energy transition.

Some countries, such as France, Sweden and Iceland, do get most of their electricity from low-carbon dioxide sources. But these low-CO2 sources are not wind and solar, which make up only 2 per cent and 1 per cent of global total energy production, they are hydropower and nuclear.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen recently described the case for nuclear energy as “a complete joke” and moratoriums on gas exploration and extraction remain in place across the country. West Australian Premier Mark McGowan has announced that his state will shut two coal-fired power plants. In addition to the two plants in WA, the Liddell power plant in NSW is scheduled to close next year and Yallourn power station in Victoria is set to shut in 2028.

When the Hazelwood coal-fired plant in Victoria closed in 2017, the closure resulted in higher energy prices that lasted for years. The Australian Energy Regulator reported that in 2018 the closure of Hazelwood led to average electricity spot prices that were 85 per cent higher than the previous year in Victoria, 63 per cent higher in NSW, 53 per cent in Queensland and 32 per cent higher in SA.
...
From watching the European experience, we know baseload power can come only from coal, gas or nuclear energy. If our leaders do not manage this situation carefully and learn from other nations, Australians may have to prepare for an energy crisis that never ends.
Clare Lehman

We should build more hydro power stations and replace old coal/gas fired stations with modern ones. Also a couple of latest tech small nuclear power stations. Tiny S Korea has 24 (and massive manufacturing sector), Belgium 7, Sweden 6 (again, massive manufacturing sector).

Australia is 26 million people on an amazingly energy and resource rich CONTINENT with sky high energy prices and no real high tech, high skill industry.  Exporting Iron ore, coal/gas and education to Asia is not a smart, long-term plan, it is, rather, turning Australia into an Asian dependency.

thegreatdivide wrote on Jun 20^th, 2022 at 12:44pm:

Yes. Now explain why they are necessarily a bad thing as opposed to Weather Dependent Renewables.

A subsidy miner who doesn't have any engineering skills.

And how do you make "green steel"? "Green Steel" still has carbon, without carbon it is not steel. Through a loss making structure from start to finish.

Only because of Green Tape.

thegreatdivide wrote on Jun 20^th, 2022 at 3:59pm:


Not in the real world.

So it is a net user not a net provider. 

The 2nd lake is also used for power so that is not available at the end. (There are 4 lakes.)

Any carbon additive added to molten steel will generate CO2. 

And green hydrogen? The stuff that embrittles metals. Leaks because the molecules are so small. Explodes at a wide variety of mixtures.

So it was another lie.

Jeez you just can't stop bullshitting.

A net loss is not excess.

Snowy 2 is actually designed to provide storage.

Carbon burns in molten anything over 450 F. As it burns it  creates CO2. B asic chemistry. Another one of those things you don't know about.

Hydrogen can't add carbon. H2 is not C.

The guradian?
Now you are getting desperate.

So you can't quote anyone else other than the Climate Council and the Garudian and I am supposed to be impressed?

To advance toward collective well-being and security, one must understand political and economic realities.  'Every man for himself'/ dog eat dog/ survival of the fittest' neoliberal markets will only lead to extinction. 

Correct , (though you don't need excess all the time) that's why you need to store the excess, so that you can have sufficient supply all the time.

See above: the wind will always be blowing somewhere in Oz when the sun isn't shining. 

Well then, Snowy 2 will need to be redesigned.

(google)

"Can steel be made without carbon?
Swedish green steel venture HYBRIT said that it had made the world's first customer delivery of steel produced without using coal as it looks to revolutionize an industry that accounts for around 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions".

Yes; sun and wind  - to make hydrogen via electrolysis - are free.

"losses" are  irrelevant; em- brittlement is solved with additives.

You are supposed to be impressed by the fact that virtually every nation is committed to turning  up to the COP meetings.