[wesleyd]

Listened to this yesterday. Super enjoyable. Made the point that electricity in the future will be consumed much closer geographically to where it is generated than today - and so we probably don’t need huge interconnects - but much less close in time (because batteries).

[pfdietz]

This has considerable geopolitical implications. Fossil fuels are very mobile, so one can be flexible in siting energy-intensive industries.

But in a solar world, heavy industry will be at those places with the best solar resource. If you live in a renewable energy armpit, like say the eastern parts of Europe, your heavy industry is out of luck.

[ragebol]

> renewable energy armpit

armpit? What is that supposed to mean exactly? (I consider myself a near native English speaker...) A bad place to be in I suppose, but never heard this phasing.

[__Joker]

I assume least desirable place in this context.

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/armpit

[pfdietz]

That's right. It's one of the worst areas in the world for renewable energy. The solar resource is relatively bad, and away from coasts wind isn't great either.

[TSP00N3]

I think usually it is “X is the armpit of Y”, for example NJ is the armpit of America: https://knowswhy.com/why-is-nj-called-the-armpit-of-america/