| This article covers major issues: Limits to Green Energy Are Becoming Much Clearer:
https://ourfiniteworld.com/2022/02/09/limits-to-green-energy... [1] It is becoming clear that intermittent wind and solar cannot be counted on to provide adequate electricity supply when the electrical distribution system needs them. 2] Adequate storage for electricity is not feasible in any reasonable timeframe. This means that if cold countries are not to “freeze in the dark” during winter, fossil fuel backup is likely to be needed for many years in the future. 3) After many years of subsidies and mandates, today’s green electricity is only a tiny fraction of what is needed to keep our current economy operating. [4] Even as a percentage of electricity, rather than total energy, renewables still comprised a relatively small share in 2020. 5] Most modelers have not understood that reserve to production ratios greatly overstate the amount of fossil fuels and other minerals that the economy will be able to extract. 6] The world economy seems already to be reaching limits on the extraction of coal and natural gas to be used for balancing electricity provided by intermittent renewables. 7] Conclusion. Modelers and leaders everywhere have had a basic misunderstanding of how the economy operates and what limits we are up against. This misunderstanding has allowed scientists to put together models that are far from the situation we are actually facing. |
Offshore wind especially in the north sea is barely tapped and powerful all year round. There are many other constant green energy options such as hydro, waves, currents, geothermal, etc. The value is in including a wide variety of all and over a large enough territory so surplus in one area can compensate a shortfall in another.
Grid energy storage includes MANY creative and easy to implement ideas. Tesla style batteries are the most mundane. The cost and setup of grid scale storage is much lower than the alternative.