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by anonengineerer 2020 days ago
Aren't wind and solar marginally the least expensive power and outpacing the growth of things like coal?

I think the technology to solve climate change exists, deployment is the issue and many companies are working on it actively (e.g. SunPower), installing GW of renewable power and/or storage. Even if scale isn't where it needs to be, that's all the more reason to work in the sector because marginal effort will return actual GHG emission reductions since it's not just research anymore.
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giantg2 2020 days ago
Yeah, renewables can bid the lowest to the grid. They are gaining traction, but it will still take decades to replace the existing infrastructure. Even then, it won't fix the issue. We'd have to make similar changes to other infrastructure like vehicles and capture existing carbon. Then there's a bunch of other contributors, such as landfills, asphalt surfaces, even things like heat pumps and refrigerators when looking at local issues cities. So it will keep the issue from getting worse, but it won't fix it.
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anonengineerer 2020 days ago
I agree there's a lot of work to be done! What do you suggest folks who are interested in helping to solve the problem do if not researching solutions or trying to economically scale existing ones by working at the companies which are doing that?
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giantg2 2020 days ago
I'm just saying that there aren't any companies that I know of that currently can meaningfully affect the issue. Working for companies that are researching future tech is probably the next best thing.
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anonengineerer 2020 days ago
Ah got it. I guess I disagree, I think there are probably over a thousand companies actively working on the issue with the potential to massively reduce GHG emissions. Lots of examples in this thread. General categories are:

- EV manufacturers (eg Tesla) - Solar OEMs (eg SunPower) - Battery makers (eg Avalon) - Battery operators (eg Geli, AMS) - Wind providers (eg Vestas) - Large utilities which are focused on renewables (eg Enel) - Distributed generation companies (eg Sunrun)

The list goes on! GTM is a good news site with the pulse on each industry (https://www.greentechmedia.com)

I also agree that fundamental research (either towards an energy storage breakthrough or a next-gen nuclear breakthrough) are necessary. I think this is a "yes and" situation.

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