Comment by osuairt | Hacker News Reader

Comment by osuairt | Hacker News Reader

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That just isn't the case.

And I am sorry to say but the many countries have made great strides on running their countries on more and more renewable energy sources.

In 2018, Scotland generated 98% their energy from wind alone.

Denmark 72%, Germany 45%, Uruguay 97%, Norway 93%.

It's a whole patchwork of solutions, depending on geography.

Nuclear is not this magic bullet, and just means flipping a switch, it has a major cost, logistical, technological and risk overhead associated with it. If you are France, great, but they have been doing Nuclear since the beginning, it doesn't mean that the world has to do the same, when far simpler, cheaper and safer alternatives are in abundance.

The massive issue I have with these sources is their reliability. Scotland can produce 98% from wind because they can sell the excess or buy when in deficit from their neighbours who modulate their coal/gas plants. If all its neighbours switch to similar methods, I don't see how we can have reliability on a wide scale.

Usual fluctuations (eg. no photovoltaic by night, more wind in the afternoon) can be planned for, but local events such as big clouds or no wind are frequent but have a great impact on

These unusual fluctuations are in fact usual and they can be planned for. https://www.energymeteo.com/products/power_forecasts/wind-so...

Total energy consumption or just electricity? Because electricity is itself only a third of total energy use in, say, Germany. So a third of 45 percent is 15 percent. Good, but doesn't save the day. Also, is that steady throughout the year, or just in the windy months?

It's in the windy month while in the non-windy month solar takes the lead.

Germany is doing Sektorenkopplung, so attempting to switch everything over to electricity.

This is done because electricity is more efficient and we will use less total energy for the same effect. E.g. a heatpump can make available 3-5 times it's consumption of electricity as heat, where a gas stove can only reach 1.

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