WYP
News Guru
Power Grids need to adapt to the changing energy market.
Read more about Germany's negative electricity prices.
Read more about Germany's negative electricity prices.
Power prices go negative in Germany due to an excess of renewable energy sources
- Thread starter WYP
- Start date
ImprovizoR
Well-known member
Solution - a Vega GPU for every German.
Fossil fuels are still very much in demand in India and China and tbh there's more than enough coal to last for decades and decades.
All this was done just to ship heavy industry and manufacturing to third world nations. Thankfully Trump is going back to coal I just hope we in Britain do the same or go for something like fracking to lower our bills and provide jobs to former industrial areas.
All this was done just to ship heavy industry and manufacturing to third world nations. Thankfully Trump is going back to coal I just hope we in Britain do the same or go for something like fracking to lower our bills and provide jobs to former industrial areas.
ImprovizoR
Well-known member
No he isn't. There's a pretty big difference between saying stuff and actually doing it. Especially when it comes to politicians.
Why? Renewable energy is a better alternative for the environment and it's getting cheaper all the time. And in the US, solar industry alone employs more people than the entire fossil fuel industry.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...trump-green-energy-fossil-fuels-a7541971.html
MacLeod
New member
Because it's not as reliable. I don't doubt solar and other renewable energy sources are the future but for right now they're not at a level we can depend on them 24/7. It will happen tho. Technology will figure it out like it always does.
AlienALX
Well-known member
really made me actual LOL.China and India are rapidly moving away from coal, and are some of if not the biggest investors in alternative energy in the world, with both working on converting their traditional coal power stations into pioneering Thorium based power stations(A technology that was invented earlier than Uranium based power generation, and was always known to be superior and safer, but never gained adoption because you can't use Thorium waste to make nukes). Fossil fuel based power generation is not just expensive and damaging to the environment, but also dangerous.
The jobs these industries create are generally low skilled, low paid and high risk, not the kind developed or developing nations should be creating more of.
Until we solve the issues of energy storage that would allow renewables to be feasible, nuclear is our safest option. However, progress in energy storage and smart grid technology is advancing at such a rate that by the time current nuclear plant designs are complete, these could be none-issues. (I work with one of the leading research teams in this area).
The jobs these industries create are generally low skilled, low paid and high risk, not the kind developed or developing nations should be creating more of.
Until we solve the issues of energy storage that would allow renewables to be feasible, nuclear is our safest option. However, progress in energy storage and smart grid technology is advancing at such a rate that by the time current nuclear plant designs are complete, these could be none-issues. (I work with one of the leading research teams in this area).
NeverBackDown
AMD Enthusiast
He is going back to coal and doing it. But no it's not bigger than the solar industry. It won't change overnight. It's not the future but bringing jobs back is what's important. He's trying to stimulate the economy if you couldn't tell since way before elections. US has to pay it's debts somehow.
WYP
News Guru
Not going to get into politics here but know that I am speaking as a trained mechanical engineer who specialised in energy.
On the topic of fracking, the problem is risk-reward, the only reason fracking is viable is that prices are so high, so in reality, fracking will not do much to reduce fuel costs.
Fracking is also really risky as the chemical used can easily contaminate drinking water, which is extremely dangerous.
You also need to remember that places that have invested in renewables have created jobs producing and maintaining renewable energy sources, jobs that are safer than working on a fossil fuel-based power plant.
Renewables are not as reliable as a steady state/baseline power station like a coal or nuclear plant, but a lot of the same problems are present. Coal and Nuclear are not variable enough and renewables are too variable, both of which require the same solution, energy storage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydroelectricity
One solution to this could be future battery technologies or supercapacitors, though one of the solutions being championed today is pumped hydro (linked above).
When too much electricity is produced it needs to be expended somehow, with energy storage being the most viable option. Pumped hydro solution pump water up a mountain to a reservoir, expending excess energy to create a fast/responsive storage solution that can deliver additional energy when required. This solution takes energy in times of plenty and delivers energy when required.
Energy storage facilities are expensive but nonetheless required given how variable today's energy requirements are. A new pumped hydro station is set to be built in the UK next year.
https://www.theengineer.co.uk/first-new-uk-pumped-hydro-scheme-for-30-years-given-go-ahead/
Energy storage is a vital part of a future grid, as it makes renewables much more tenable and reduces the need for expensive and inefficient "peaker" power stations, which are designed to quickly respond to changing loads.
The solution to cheaper energy is storage, which will allow for the integration of cheap renewables sources and/or allow is to rely more on steady-state/"baseline" stations for more of our electricity needs and require less fossil fuel powered "peaker" power stations.
To make a long story short, innovations in electricity storage allows us to focus more on less expensive, more carbon efficient solutions and lessen the need for expensive traditional solutions for providing a variable power grid.
Sorry for the mountain of text, just trying to explain things as well as I can.
The big problem of storage is that it is hard to convince governments to invest in it, as it doesn't produce cheap electricity directly.
There is also the fact that many of today's governments think too much in the short term, investing only into what will get them elected the next time, preventing long-term solutions from getting much thought. (Why invest in something that will make you look bad for spending a lot of money and only make your successor look good (stupid politics)).
ImprovizoR
Well-known member
Coal jobs are never coming back because they are being automated. And Trump was never worried about paying back debts. The dude was literally notorious for refusing to pay what he owed, which is why nobody in the US trusted him enough to give him a loan. If he gave a crap he wouldn't have given a massive tax break to giant corporations and wealthiest Americans. Wake up dude, it's politics as usual.
NeverBackDown
AMD Enthusiast
You are just one of those people who will always assume the worst and won't ever see the good. No point in trying to talk about it. I feel like you didn't even read what I said. It's fine you can have your opinion.
ImprovizoR
Well-known member
It's called being informed.
NeverBackDown
AMD Enthusiast
Yeah we'll call it that.
