this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2024
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Green power needs significant overcapacity at the moment though right? Because sometimes it's not sunny or not windy, and balancing that across large regions through the grid costs a ton of money.
It's a waste, sure, but it would be wasted anyway and this makes building green power a little more profitable in the system we're forced to live under.
There are myriad ways to deal with reliability, and many more under research. The problem here is that these power plants - which must be maintained, repaired and then substituted wholesale in 25 years - are being used to waste energy. Had this plant been used to power homes or factories, it would be contributing to the re-industrialization of the world, helping us win a little bit more time against the catastrophes ahead of us. This isn't just about climate change, it's about the race of electrify mining, to improve recycling methods, to find news ways to maintain industrial agriculture, and so on. In short, we either outgrow fossil fuels or we collapse wholesale.
So while you might think that, well, at least some money ended up in the pocket of a solar panel factory. The truth is that wasting the life-time of a green energy plant is a double negative. Those panels and wind turbines didn't fall from the heavens. They were made using fossil fuels, built from components mined with fossil fuels, in a society that would not be able to feed itself without fossil fuels. They are not to maintain said society, but to generate a pointless gambling/money laundering asset. It eats into what cost of opportunity we have to build the future.
Ultimately industrial policy is contingent on state power. So it's not like this demand is even relevant in that front either. If state power is not used to drive the green transition, then it won't happen.