View Single Post
Old 11-08-2021, 12:48 PM   #427 (permalink)
aerohead
Master EcoModder
 
aerohead's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Sanger,Texas,U.S.A.
Posts: 16,272
Thanks: 24,394
Thanked 7,365 Times in 4,764 Posts
follow load

Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5 View Post
Except that the trick to eliminating fossil fuels for electricity production doesn't just require renewables to deliver cheaper electricity; it has to follow load, something it can't do, which requires all of the traditional generators to remain in operation.

If a technology makes other technology that can't be dispensed with more expensive, it's a lie to say that technology is "cheaper". For a technology to even be considered "alternative", it must at least be capable of all the same tricks of the old technology, at which point the old can be abandoned. We're not there yet, and it isn't clear what the pathway(s) forward will be. There is no single solution for all markets unless some breakthrough like fusion so cheap nothing else can compete is developed.
Solar / wind facilities are already 'smoothing' output and providing ' spinning- reserves' with grid-scale power storage strategies.
If clouds come over, or the wind flags, electronics seamlessly tap into storage. Lights never flicker. And it will only get better, and cheaper.
We already have 'fusion' power. It's called the 'Sun.' Transmitting power, 93,000,000-miles, free of charge, 24-7-365, for maybe 5-billion more years until we're toast.
__________________
Photobucket album: http://s1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/aerohead2/
  Reply With Quote