Comment on U.S. solar will pass wind in 2025 and leave coal in the dust soon after

aBundleOfFerrets@sh.itjust.works ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

• FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

  It’s not actually cheap though, that’s the problem.

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• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  That’s been the joke of Solar for a while. Engineers could have told you all the way back in the 1970s (really, the 1910s) that it costs less money to leave a big plate out in the bright sun than to drill a giant hole and hope there’s enough spicy rocks at the bottom of it to justify the expense.

  We should have crested this hill a lot sooner, but the heavy emphasis on subsidized fossil fuels during the 80s, 90s, and 00s kept these fuels artificially cheap. Meanwhile, fossil fuel firms actually did invest in Green Energy R&D but only for the purpose of erecting “patent thickets” that would hinder competitive growth of these alternatives.

  This has lead to big surges in the development and deployment of Green Energy grids outside of the countries doing most of the cutting edge research. Americans are only now catching up.

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  • shalafi@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    You’re really discounting that fossil fuels have hella bang for the buck, loads of power per gallon. tl;dr: Energy dense

    I can run my little generator at camp all night long if there’s as little as 3 gallons in there. Space heater or AC unit, lights, all that. I’d have to have many panels and batteries to compare to that output. My best battery is a huge LIPO4, trolling motor can’t kill it, not even close. But leaving the LED lights on for a little over a day drained it dry.

    We need way more solar infrastructure to get where we’re going, and I’m all about it. But since since the GOP has decided to go back in time, China is going to smoke America, both in renewables and the associated economic benefits.

    Did not know about the patent thing! Know any examples?

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    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      You’re really discounting that fossil fuels have hella bang for the buck, loads of power per gallon. tl;dr: Energy dense

      Coal is generally the worst of the lot. Oil and gas burn cleaner and have more combustible by weight. Coal is energy dense but also heavy af and dirty as hell. It’s also very common place and compatibly safe to transport and simple to use.

      Fine enough to warm your home or grill some meat. But you’re not putting a rocket into orbit with coal.

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      • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

        But you’re not putting a rocket into orbit with coal

        And you’re definitely not with wind and solar lol.

        Coal is cheap, abundant in supply, and easy.

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  • whereyaaat@lemmings.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    This is why I have no problem [CENSORED] members of the ruling class.

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