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Originally Posted by aerohead
Lomberg spoke of distributing the load.With all renewable sources tied to the same grid,there'd be a likelihood that renewable power would be available from somewhere at all times.
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Yeah, but the grid isn't intertied that way, with the capability to divert power from any 1 region to any other region. Not only that, but sometimes weather events such as an Eastern snowstorm take out half the generating capacity of the country. That means we'd need the other half of the country to have more than double the normal output capacity, which is economically and environmentally wasteful... and that all assumes the other half of the country would somehow have the ideal weather conditions to not only provide power for itself, but also the other non-producing half.
How much overproduction would need to be provisioned and distributed around the country to maintain our current level of grid uptime, and how much would that cost in terms of both money, and land use?
Finally, transporting power long distances involves massive losses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead
F
'... solar energy influx is equivalent to about 7,000 times present global energy consumption.'
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Yes, but that energy isn't produced at a steady average; it's produced with vast swings in output, coupled with vast swings in energy demand. Production and demand must perfectly match, which is why depending on the weather to match demand is economically improbable for now.
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Oil will run out in 2041 page 135
Gas will run out in 2061 ditto
Coal will run out in 2231 ditto
Uranium will run out in 16,001 ditto
India's got a lot of thorium
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We'll never run out of anything. The problem isn't running out; the problem is scarcity of crucial resources causing prices to rise to economically harmful levels.