Comment on When you want to be Meta, but you just a Beta
iamtanmay@wolfballs.com 2 years agoIf things are going so great with wind capacity, why is the govt "trialling" electricity rationing to prevent "blackouts" ? Renewables already passed 50% of peak energy usage a few years back. On paper, Britain is a leading renewables producer. Yet, 1 of 10 Britons got disconnected for being unable to pay. In February, they got yet another giant price shock. What gives ?
Answer: Most of the price paid by the consumer is tax, not cost of energy. Green levies.
Secondly, govt decided on Net Zero. No more fossil fuels. But even with 100,000% increase in Wind capacity, you will have blackouts. Why ? Because wind doesn't always blow, nor the sun always shine. Yet people need electricity during those hours also. Battery capacity cannot store national needs. Hence blackouts.
None of this is News. Other progressive states that tried this stupidity faced similar results. California invested huge in renewables and shut off old plants - blackouts every year. Germany played the same game, has highest electricity price continentally, yet produces even more greenhouse gases. Why ? They had to burn coal to make up for renewable's missing generation hours. And they have the dirtiest coal on the planet to boot.
And politicians continue to swindle the public. Thanks to XR and co.
goldenballs@wolfballs.com 2 years ago
Fuck me, talk about wind power. They should plug you into the grid.
iamtanmay@wolfballs.com 2 years ago
Wind power can't fix storage buddy. Decarbonization is murdering the poor. Its really not that hard to compute, is it ?
goldenballs@wolfballs.com 2 years ago
Well no, but you need a mix of things. I mean, i work offshore and i see first hand how many jobs there are in renewables, inclufing for thr UK, Denmark, Germany,in exports, and how many projects there are. I also know that you need oil to run ships, and you need gas storage, which Labour removed, and some Nuclear, which the Germans removed. To say decarbonisation is murdering the poor is obviously bollocks, but it is also misconceived and mismanaged to transition so abruptly and completely to renewables and electric, which has its own limitations and pollution problems. The future is hybridisation of everything. It can't be an either or, just more efficient ways of using a mix of sources. The causes of blackouts or brownouts won't be one simple thing in one area only, it will be more complex, which makes for boring headlines. It doesn't mean i disagree with everything you say, just that stopping everything is as useless as going all in. Most leaders in the UK have no science or engineering background, and there are often perverse incentives for decisions.
iamtanmay@wolfballs.com 2 years ago
I agree with your first point, but not the second or third. I am not anti-renewable. I am anti-communist planning and dumping taxpayer cash into the newest fad to curry favor with environmentalists.
For my bachelor thesis I was working with Solar companies to change panel material mix to cheaper substitutes. I think wind/tidal/hydro are far far far cleaner than Solar due to the huge amount of toxic chemicals needed for Solar fabrication. Definitely, I am 100% in favor of Wind.
But, politicians have screwed the transition. Decarbonisation IS murdering the poor. When your bills are 3x and you get disconnected, what's next in life for you ? A stroke or a heart attack from stress ? Not getting treatment for other diseases because you have no $ left ? Green levies don't just reduce standard of living for middle class, for those working paycheck to paycheck it will shave years off their life.
My solution: Govt should cut the Green subsidies out of the energy price so the poor can still afford it. Don't shut down existing fossil fuels like natural gas or petrol cars. Richer customers prefer green/electric and will migrate first and bring down the prices for poorer naturally.