Re:After years of doubts, hopes grow that nuclear fusion is ...
by lazide on Monday December 27, 2021 @11:12AM
(#29703652)
Totally agree on fusion power.
The challenge with that assessment for renewables, is as California and Germany both are discovering, there are missing elements of the cost equation being used that aren’t being accounted for, but someone has to pay for it or bad things happen. Notably bad even for politicians, like people freezing to death or dying from heat in the summer.
Both are currently pretending (near as I can tell) to understand what it means, and report numbers that seem pretty rosy.
Cost of energy total, however, in both these places continues to skyrocket.
They may be able to continue to avoid it, if folks take the price signal to heart and find workarounds (like finally improve insulation in the stock of older housing and public spaces, or switching energy consumption pattern to flatten peaks). I can tell you that California so far seems to not get the hint.
In Germany it’s the winter heating load, and figuring out how to actually keep themselves from freezing during outlier (but not that infrequent) events.
In California, it’s the aging transmission infrastructure and shifting peak production vs peak demand without adequate storage leading to brownouts, blackouts, and high surge pricing during summer air conditioner loads.
In California they changed new construction energy codes, but it’s mostly BS. With the rate of new construction being tiny compared to existing (old) stock, it’s not going to make a significant difference for 50+ years. A decent portion of existing homes have either no insulation, or 50 year old insulation with poor or zero maintenance, and are grandfathered in.
Energy prices in both places continue to increase, that may do it. Both places are near world records highs already, and have been for some time.
The challenge with that assessment for renewables, is as California and Germany both are discovering, there are missing elements of the cost equation being used that aren’t being accounted for, but someone has to pay for it or bad things happen. Notably bad even for politicians, like people freezing to death or dying from heat in the summer.
Both are currently pretending (near as I can tell) to understand what it means, and report numbers that seem pretty rosy.
Cost of energy total, however, in both these places continues to skyrocket.
They may be able to continue to avoid it, if folks take the price signal to heart and find workarounds (like finally improve insulation in the stock of older housing and public spaces, or switching energy consumption pattern to flatten peaks). I can tell you that California so far seems to not get the hint.
In Germany it’s the winter heating load, and figuring out how to actually keep themselves from freezing during outlier (but not that infrequent) events.
In California, it’s the aging transmission infrastructure and shifting peak production vs peak demand without adequate storage leading to brownouts, blackouts, and high surge pricing during summer air conditioner loads.
In California they changed new construction energy codes, but it’s mostly BS. With the rate of new construction being tiny compared to existing (old) stock, it’s not going to make a significant difference for 50+ years. A decent portion of existing homes have either no insulation, or 50 year old insulation with poor or zero maintenance, and are grandfathered in.
Energy prices in both places continue to increase, that may do it. Both places are near world records highs already, and have been for some time.