Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
Why then is wind and solar are growing so quickly? Texas and Iowa are leading the way in wind power for a reason. Solar pays for itself in about 10 years - without incentives.
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It's easy to be swept up by the enthusiasm. Solar and wind can help. But just looking at your electric bill of a very thrifty home only shows a fraction of the energy that each person is using. Each of us relies on schools, hospitals, police forces, governments, infrastructure such as roads water and sewer. ect, ect, ect. Our energy consumption is immense. Look it up. We have huge megalopolises. We must be pragmatic. Solar and wind with baseload level storage will not be dense enough, soon enough. We have 150 years to quadruple the current world energy output. At least. And then add in multipliers for the transitioning of all agriculture and heavy transportation in that time frame when the crude oil is gone. And 100 years thereafter to transition all heat when the last of the gas is sucked dry. Good luck without using our second primordial gift of nuclear fuel. Anyone that really thinks the starving hoards of the future will leave this resource untapped is fooling themselves. If we drag our feet too long it will be too late and we will be caught in an energy trap where we don't have the resources to pull of any further transition. It has already been way too long. These plants that we are still using were designed by guys with pencils and slide rules. We can do much better now.