cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16969151

I wasn’t aware just how good the news is on the green energy front until reading this. We still have a tough road in the short/medium term, but we are more or less irreversibly headed in the right direction.

  • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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    5 months ago

    I don’t know about irreversibly, but the remarkable and consistent gains in solar technology especially are extremely exciting.

    As soon as one of these prototype next-gen batteries hit, that’s it for fossil fuel.

    It’s already not worth it to continue using fossil fuel commercially, but as soon as the next-gen power storage is able to be produced on scale, power plants are changing, phones, computers, cars, everything’s going to change.

    I can’t see that being more than a decade out, but even if nexgen battery tech doesn’t hit, the constant improvement on s***** traditional battery tech now is improving rapidly.

    It is a very exciting time and energy production and storage.

    • Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      Even batteries and wind have seen some pretty serious cost reduction. It’s looking pretty great for renewables.

    • Wanderer@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      I’m getting a little more optimistic about liquid air storage.

      Fundamentally energy storage doesn’t have to be great if energy is so cheap. If you would lose x amount of energy otherwise only saving 80% or 50% or even 10% isn’t really a problem if the cost is so low.

      Right now energy is getting so cheap that these systems are now making more financial sense.

    • pujamas@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Yeah, at this point we need a big push on energy storage and transportation. It’s exciting to see headlines that some country just generated 200% of their electrical needs for a week from renewables, but unless you can actually store that energy and move it where it’s needed, it mostly goes to waste

      • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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        4 months ago

        Oh it’s happening.

        And with new vehicles like the delfast and aptera and efficiency beingb maximize, it’s such a cool future for EVs.

        • Gadg8eer@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          Here in Canada, I sure hope so. I, however, subscribe to the idea that - at present - they are unreliable in a Canadian winter. That means you either drive, or you start asking for better transit. Considering how rural we are I doubt my province will be able to build bus routes that can serve most car owners better than a car. It’s not an all-year thing, but yes, this part of Canada gets brutal winters with ridiculous snowfall.

          I do approve of the high speed rail project between Edmonton/Red Deer/Calgary and the company with the orange rentable electric scooters. I just know it’s not as simple as “drive an electric car” or “don’t drive unless you have to” here, which admittedly is not the case for the US, China or India who are all subtropical/temperate and dense and produce tons of CO² emissions but also are the biggest drivers of advancing renewables energy. Sadly Canada does not have the advantage of density or technological focus to reduce our own sizable emissions.

          If anyone you know has died/dies of climate crisis events like floods, you have my condolences and apology, not stereotypically but genuinely. This really was partly our fault, the numbers say we produced as much as the US in carbon emissions with a tenth of the population, and among changes like Bill C-11 and corruption in the immigration process that are failing to protect people in danger, I cannot claim I have a likeable, benevolent home country. We try, but… Yeah. Life isn’t made of tropes and problems have arisen here. Hopefully we can at least rejuvenate our energy grid with all this, I’m cautiously optimistic.