#1 February 9th, 2013 12:23 AM

blissed

Member

Yay!!

Hopefully we've finally arrived at a tipping point for renewable energy. Time for some timidly cautious high fives http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-0 … -bnef-says

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Last edited by blissed (February 9th, 2013 12:24 AM)

artemesia

Member

Re: Yay!!

Yay!

Head

Administrator

Re: Yay!!

Two problems - (1) Wind can't provide baseload power, you need a steady source for that and the only options there are still fossil or nuclear; (2) Whatever coal Australia may not have to burn due to increased takeup of alternatives it will only export to developing countries.

blissed

Member

Re: Yay!!

Basic load power is created by using intermittent renewable energy to pump water uphill to a reservoir and then let it back down again to a turbine. It happens in Scotland somewhere with the reservoir inside a mountain and I can never find the article on it now. Any energy transfer and storage will do, there are lots of options.

I expect the unused coal will go to developing countries, but as they develop, they want what we've got if it's good, and as time goes by and the technology develops, if we're capturing freely provided energy, the very cheapest it can be is free, where as coal will always command a commodity price.

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Last edited by blissed (February 9th, 2013 01:41 PM)