• DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    arrow-down
    14
    ·
    edit-2
    7 months ago

    I am pretty sure this is terribly taken out of context. The issue is solar is unreliable. By being cheap, it is pushing reliable sources out of business. And if you want to know how bad the consequences can be, just look at how many people died due to the relatively small blackout in Texas.

    So the issue is not capitalism disliking solar. The issue is capitalism liking solar too much. Endangering people by choosing cheap over reliable.

    • AlternatePersonMan@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      18
      ·
      7 months ago

      The 2020 incident? Texas failed because they didn’t properly winterize their infrastructure. Not because they were using green energy. It was almost entirely gas that failed.

      Also there are a number of ways to store and transfer energy.

      The real issue in Texas was unregulated capitalism. Energy prices skyrocketed like 6000% at the time, because they could get away with it.

      I live in Minnesota and those idiots are charging me for their lack of preparation.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      7 months ago

      It doesn’t have to be that way. With volatility comes high peak prices, so speaker plants should be doing ok. We should be approaching a stage where fossil fuel plants are evolving into peaker plants, and peaked plants will still have decades of use to generate a profit, as we continue to build out renewables and try to get a handle on storage

    • steeznson@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      7 months ago

      The issue is the storage costs. We can’t generate excess electricity from solar and then ‘bank’ it somewhere. It needs to be used within a relatively short amount of time.

      If we could figure out a way to store it for longer or allow the grid to deal with more volatile fluctuations then there would not be an issue with it.

      • DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        7 months ago

        Well, yes. But I don’t think wishing for what we don’t have is productive. That is why I am still convinced nuclear is the best source of green energy we currently have.

        • steeznson@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          7 months ago

          Agree that nuclear should be the focus if we are serious about clean energy. The main problem with it is that the plants take so long to setup that we need to start them now to see benefits which could help the planet in the medium term.