yeah, it's not completely there yet. I've long said we absolutely need nuclear for a couple/three decades to bridge the gap until renewable and storage catch up.

Another thing to considers is we may not have/need/want a few massive plants, but 10x as many smaller ones. These can be sited much closer to populations, won't need as much transmission build out etc.

Lots of unknowns, but i think also, lots of possibilities.

Flow Battery - 100MW linky 200k homes - I'll assume somewhat fewer US homes given how much we use. The same facility is planned to scale to 200MW. Flow batteries are semi limitless in size. To add capacity you just hook up additional tanks to the existing system. Flow Batteries were invented decades ago, proven tech that didn't compete cost wise with subsidized fossil fuels at the time. Another article describes that as well as one installed in...1986 that was 200kW/800kWh linky

Iron Oxygen or Rust - newer tech. https://formenergy.com/about/#... is one of the leading providers. Multiple sites in construction now, with 2025 and 2026 in service dates. 100 hour batteries. 1MW for 100 hours, 100MWh.

As for general scale, Australia installed 2.5 GW of batteries in just 2023 alone. 1.4 GW of grid scale sizing. linky. I'm sure a fair amount of this was lithium ion based, but it's still a *significant* amount of storage installed.

Grid scale storage is coming. It's coming very very fast.

A good explanation, thanks!

One problem is that that price stabilization will be higher. All cars are becoming wildly more expensive to repair, and more importantly, re-certify the dozens of safety systems. A small bumper fix might require $1000s in certification costs, since active sensory safety systems are now housed there.

EVs just have both 'new thing' costs but also 'lets install every damned gizmo we can'-itis. Making the base value higher by default.

If you don't like paying the companies "making a profit" off their service, you can (in most US states anyway) post a bond for self-insurance with enough funds in it to cover the required minimums for personal injury and property damage liability and then self-fund your vehicle replacement portion.

In Virginia, that 'minimum' bond is literally just $500 linky

utter insanity

Yeah, it sounds perfect on paper. When you start realizing the long term costs and effects of hydro, it's decidedly less than perfect.

The unexpected GHG releases from the reservoirs is probably it's Achilles heel for being a climate change solution.

Not enough and can't scale. Hydro has *very* limited install locations. Where it's feasible, it's mostly already been done.

We have ~100,000 MW of hydro currently. The current grid is 10x that. If you know where we can deploy 1000% more hydro, do tell.

oh and they release more GHG than thought

And of course the Southwest dams are almost to the point of shutting off due to lack of, wait for it, water.

'right now'. All of those articles are 'can' 'could' 'will', and decidedly not 'right now'.

I'll add in another issue renewables absolutely require and that's transmission. Something that again, we don't have 'right now'.

Hand waving away the building of such infrastructure, which will take easily over a decade as an argument against "Nuclear will need to be in place for a couple decades" is an amazing way to admit you're wrong about "It exists 'right now'".

The amount of wind and solar isn't the issue. Could easily cover gross usage with enough installation. It can't time shift enough to be grid scale viable yet. Storage is the remaining leg of the stool needed for full on renewable base load.

I think wind has hit 100% coverage in the UK at points of some days in the last few years. Itself a big achievement, but that's not base load ability by a long stretch

Everything has CO2 emissions for infrastructure build. The main problem is CO2 release per kwh like from fossil fuels.

Doesn't make nuclear a 'good' option, but it is a currently deployed method of base load power without that ongoing CO2 release for usage. We don't have anything else for that 'right now'.

for now. in 20 years? not likely.

Storage is growing at significant rates. With enough storage and solar/wind can more than cover the entire globes energy usage in gross volume. Edge case solutions will be needed in a few places.

Batteries made out of iron or salt.
Heat batteries that store energy for literally *months* that are made of garbage quality sand.
Flow batteries in the GW scale.

Oh and those EV batteries themselves will dwarf the batteries needed for the grid.

Existing nuclear is definitely needed right now for CO2 reasons. The over/under is whether there's enough already installed to get to the renewable coverage capability.

Yeah, the private company angle is the issue. What we need is for 'possession' of citizen data to be prohibited and expressly stipulated the exemptions when it may be possessed. Any prohibition on surveillance is useless when they can simply buy the data and or compel it's production.

Separately, regs on private companies activities are needed as well, but harder. Drawing a line between, it's legal to take your picture in public and taking a picture of you in public every 30 seconds thus providing a full surveillance scope, needs to be figured out.

the issue is the tendrils in the battery. they form and you can't stop them, if they short circuit, you get a bonfire.

Whether just sitting parked or driving.

Full gas tanks generally don't generally combust without external inputs.

Fortunately newer battery compositions don't have the problem.

1/2 of teslas already use a different form of battery, Lithium Iron Phosphate that doesn't have the spontaneous combustion problem.

Battery composition is changing rapidly.

given humanities track record, it's a valid concern. But it exists now and not dealing with it is creating 2 cans, one of which is kicked down the road.

Unless you're suggesting culling a few billion people...we have this problem now and need to solve it.

As with every industrial process, the waste is considered useless and or unimportant until it isn't.

But industry isn't likely to do anything that costs them extra so we need regulation to force such changes far ahead of their short term bottom line.