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Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
The costs are there - look harder.
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Where? I see only references to things like "health care cost savings". It says nothing about the actual number for each type of capacity added. And their land use estimate is off by at least a factor of 10 if they think NY will get 35% from solar PV. The site mentions nothing of storage.
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NY averages 20 GW winter and 33 summer. Onshore wind does about 2W/ meter^2. Solar in the best locations does about 15W/ m. NY would be 6.
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https://www.electricitymap.org/?page...ntryCode=US-NY
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Again. The USA uses .47TW. 11.3TWh/ day. It would take 2,100, 600MW SolarStar equivalent farms in the SouthWest. Or 1000 in the SW and 2,000 more in the NE. Or mix of solar plus wind. whatever. Immense. If we could get wind and solar down to $1/W nameplate installed, we are looking at $2 Trillion. Initial. With no ongoing operational and maintenance costs. And wind only lasts 15 years.
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You are familiar with the Tesla BigF'nBattery (his name, not mine) in South Australia. It takes 10,000 BFB's to store just 24 hours of electricity for the USA. Or pumped hydro (there is not that much left that has not already been developed), whatever. Immense. At the wishfull estimate of $200/ MWh that is $2.25 Trillion. And batteries last how long?
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And electricity is only 1/4 of total consumed energy. Much of which cannot easily be converted to electric.
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Leaving ANY liquid fossil fuel in the ground by 100 years from now is not a question of choice the way the solar trade mags make it seem. It would take a world panic level action to even come close to pulling this off without a major population crash when our fossil fueled, growth based economy, finally runs out of oil. And sends us back to muscle and firewood, having done way too little in finding a new way.