>there is no technological reason why it cannot work
There is, however, a big thermodynamics reason: EROEI
There is, however, a big thermodynamics reason: EROEI
It comes down to economics. Electricity is less valuable than a combustible fuel in several contexts.
And that overproduced solar is made using... petroleum.
The argument is very simple: we're basically just burning up oil with extra steps, then pretending the intermediate products can somehow undo the damage caused by burning up that oil (and now claiming that we're getting fuel back!) aka "extend and pretend"
We need to stop putting that carbon into the atmosphere, because the reality is that the process isn't reversible on human timescales. The only answer seems to be degrowth, but asking for negative GDP is basically heresy.
Not my math. Industry's math. And it's bonkers because "green products" have to sell, electric cars have to sell, etc. The economy has to keep growing. Big Line has to keep going up.
What doesn't sell, but might actually help us get out of this mess? Mass transit, dense subsidized housing, remote work, degrowth (negative GDP). None of this stuff sells, especially the last one.
>they can
I'm not arguing hypotheticals here
https://environmentalprogress.org/big-news/2023/7/3/solar-pa...
In fact ROI is more important to focus on, given solar panels last 20 years and the cost of installation is covered in 10 years, it will create profit for 10 (oversimplifying). Then the methane can be converted to LNG and transported by ship to Europe/US or somewhere else
Spreadsheets do not reflect the actual reality of our rapidly-heating planet and dying biosphere, though.
Alternatively some sort of world government or dictatorship would work too, but in democratic/capitalist society the problem wont get solved unless someone can make the moneys
Same energy as "yeah we got addicted to heroin, and the best way of getting out of this mess is to subsidize heroin so we can keep buying"
How about not putting that carbon into the atmosphere in the first place? Oops, that upsets The Big Line.
>democratic/capitalist
The fact that you put these words together with that symbol clearly demonstrates that you Just Don't Get It.
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." — Upton Sinclair, probably