This video from brilliant.org is a little confusing but does graphically highlight a growing awareness of the difficulties of achieving California’s aspirational goal of 100% renewable energy based electricity generation. Its basic point is that the scale of batteries required to replace natural gas is enormously expensive even at low battery prices projected for the future. It also makes the fairly obvious point that batteries are impractical to use for seasonal storage.(apparently this is not so obvious to some).
As a solution to these problems with batteries it focuses on using a more diverse pool of generation which includes large hydro and nuclear( both of which California is currently trying to eliminate). As I have discussed previously California’s closure of nuclear and unwillingness to upgrade its large hydro have totally cancelled the CO2 emissions gains from wind and solar and kept California’s CO2 emissions from electricity generation about where they were twenty years ago.
By Edmund Kelly
As a solution to these problems with batteries it focuses on using a more diverse pool of generation which includes large hydro and nuclear( both of which California is currently trying to eliminate). As I have discussed previously California’s closure of nuclear and unwillingness to upgrade its large hydro have totally cancelled the CO2 emissions gains from wind and solar and kept California’s CO2 emissions from electricity generation about where they were twenty years ago.
By Edmund Kelly
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