Re:Why did renewables become so cheap so fast?
by adrianN on Thursday December 03, 2020 @01:33AM
(#25286117)
Land area used for renewables always sounds like a lot, but it's not that much if you compare it to agriculture. For example, in Germany we use 2.4 million hectares for "energy crops". Just replacing those monocultures with solar panels would cover most of Germany's energy demand and leave some room for biodiversity under the panels.
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Re:Why did renewables become so cheap so fast?
by plater on Thursday December 03, 2020 @05:05AM
(#25287430)
In addition, solar panels can be put on top of existing infrastructure like houses so it takes no additional land.
Re:Why did renewables become so cheap so fast?
by wazoox on Thursday December 03, 2020 @09:12AM
(#25288947)
... provided that you can store a sizeable amount of energy (what do you do when there's no sun for a whole week, which is absolutely not uncommon in Germany?). There isn't any technology up to snuff, unless maybe flooding a very large Alpine valley to build a STEP.
Re:Why did renewables become so cheap so fast?
by adrianN on Thursday December 03, 2020 @09:18AM
(#25289005)
Batteries for overnight storage, Hydrogen or Methane for seasonal variations, various types of heat storage for heating and cooling. And demand shaping of course. It's mostly a matter of cost as far as I know.
Of course you'd want to rely on wind power more than just going all in for solar in Germany. It's not a particularly sunny country.