Can Electricity Storage Bail Out Renewable Energy?
While we are converting increasing shares of electricity generation to new renewables (solar and wind, as opposed to the long-established hydroelectricity) and putting more electric cars on the roads, decarbonizing trucking, flying, and shipping will be a much greater challenge, as will the production of key materials without relying on fossil fuel
... See moreVaclav Smil • How the World Really Works
Electric lighting, for example, did not simply replace candles and oil lamps on a 1-to-1 basis, but instead opened up entirely new residential, commercial, industrial, artistic, and scientific applications. Refrigeration did not just replace ice boxes on a 1-to-1 basis, but instead found new applications ranging from air conditioning and dehumidifi... See more
Version One • Zero Marginal Cost Energy
Either we need to store excess electricity in batteries (which, I’ll argue in a moment, is prohibitively expensive), or we need to add other energy sources that use fossil fuels, such as natural gas plants that run only when you need them. Either way, the economics won’t work in our favor. As we
Bill Gates • How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
As an example, using the map above as an illustration of, say, the future of alternative energy, you might see threads similar to the following: Thread 1: New laws and tax regulations incentivize consumers to adopt more carbon-neutral energy sourcing, like wind and solar, to power homes both directly and indirectly. Thread 2: Building on innovation
... See moreScott Smith • How to Future
In this instance, it’ll involve a mix of ingenuity around supply chains (like using blockchain to improve traceability) and materials science (like using alternatives such as niobium from Canada or Brazil).