www.reuters.com/business/energy/germany-solar-power-output-jumps-record-highs-maguire-2024-05-14/?utm_source=reddit.com
Germany solar power output jumps to record highs
Renewable energy now accounts for 30% of global electricity production, marking a significant milestone. Of particular note is China's substantial investment in clean energy. As an example, China has recently installed more solar energy capacity than the United States has throughout their entire history.
30% of electricity, not total energy.
Still good, but not as amazingly good as 30% of all energy would be.
There's a ton of stuff that still needs electrifying (transport, heating, etc...).
You're right. I corrected it. Thank you.
Its important to note that electrifying stuff reduces overall power needs too. A combustion engine releases a huge amount of thermal energy compared to an electric motor.
Indeed. And heat pumps with good isolation is highly efficient.
And we save on shuttling oil/gas around.
There will still be a comment complaining about Germany shutting off nuclear
Great job Germany š©šŖā¤ļø. Show the rest of the EU how to do it right... Less reliance on gas from the dictator is a good thing.
ALWAYS. The nuclear lobby is pretty strong.
It was so unbelievably dumb to leave themselves totally reliant on gas given the unstable geopolitical picture. Massively harmed net zero goals. Complaints are merited.
To be honest I think it's way dumber to ignore any context.
But then no matter how often explained idiots will never be critical with their opinions.
It was so unbelievably dumb to leave themselves totally reliant on gas
Absolutely, especially cheap russian gas.
There are two points here though.
Germany shouldn't have gotten hooked on russian gas & instead built upon renewables.
And Germany should've phased out coal first, and then nuclear.
Ssshhhh the left in germany doesnt want to hear logic and reasoning.
The nuclear lobby invented the concept of windless nights to mess with Germany. They're so spiteful.
User deleted comment
18d
Itās illogical to shut down nuclear and turn on more coal and not having a stable electricity grid.
I fully agree with this. Fortunately though this is not what is happening in Germany. They didn't turn on more coal (because nuclear power has been way more than compensated by renewables) and the electricity grid is stable.
I didn't mean like an actual lobby of professionals but more like the reddit nuclear fan team.Ā
Also i actually like nuclear and agree BUT every time something good happens with wind, solar, battery or any power generating technology we have to hear the fucking nuclear crowd. It is not like this with the others. If something good happens with solar it is not like the wind people come in and bash it.
As it should. I can understanding not building new ones, but can't understand them closing them earlier than necessary
It wasn't earlier than necessary. This shutoff has been decided decades before, and while there has been debate about continuing using them, people like to ignore the fact that they'd have had to go through re-certification & be updated. Which no company was willing or able to do.
The decision was mostly political, not technical now economical.Ā The powerplants should have run until every drop of juice was squeezed, and I don't think they were anywhere there.
The decision was political initially, and then it was left unchanged until it was irreversible.
The powerplants should have run until every drop of juice was squeezed, and I don't think they were anywhere there.
This is where you are mistaken. They ran as long as it was legally & economically possible. If you wanted them to run longer, you'd have had to initiate updates a decade earlier.
They were taken off the net because they were degraded & neither safe nor efficient anymore. And there isn't a single reactor in europe that was decommissioned like that, and reused later on. They ran as long as they could.
Do you have links on that? To my understanding they were allowed to degrade before it's time due to political reasons, and them the economy followed. If maintained as intended, and the cost salary sunk on building, they could ride it out for much longer in a competitive rate
Do you have links on that?
https://www.base.bund.de/DE/themen/kt/ausstieg-atomkraft/ausstieg_node.html
The official declaration here even states that they extended the legal runtime due to emergency measures, but there was no way of legally purchasing new material because of the reactors age & lack of updates.
To my understanding they were allowed to degrade before it's time due to political reasons, and them the economy followed.
Yes that is the same thing that I just said in the previous comments.
If you want that to change, get in a time machine & travel back two decades.
If maintained as intended, and the cost salary sunk on building, they could ride it out for much longer in a competitive rate
Here is the issue with that part of your comment:
Maintenance was done. The problem is that the reactors themselves weren't upgraded to keep up with safety standards & efficiency requirements. Older reactors always need to be upgraded in the long run.
And the updates are new investments. Here is a common misconception people have. Nuclear energy is not cheap. It's some of the most expensive energy out there. Be it new reactor builds, who genuinely explode cost wise, or updating inefficient old ones. Nuclear energy is not competitive from a price perspective, unless you mass produce reactors. Which is a very unique feat currently.
I mean yeah. Even with their massive strides in renewable they are behind what France was at 20 years ago
Except in the summer when the rivers are too hot and Germany supplies France
That was a one time issue because some of their reactors were under maintenance and couldnāt make up the deficit. The vast majority of the time France has a lower carbon footprint.
I am the comment complaining about Germany shutting off nuclear
And I am the comment explaining its inevitability due to politics, power of the people, age of nuclear plants, costs of modern nuclear plants, construction time of modern nuclear plants, european power grid, etc.
And I am the fictional comment that sees the arguments as reasonable and has their mind changed
I am the comment explaining how you are falling for fossil fuel industry propaganda and that nuclear is the most efficient, cleanest, effective source of power we have. Any country that willingly spurs it is either in the pocket of the coal industry or willingly incompetent towards clean energy production
Hi the comment complaining about Germany shutting off nuclear, I'm dad.
Parent of the year š„
Solar farms produced over 60% of Germany's electricity for several hours a day over the past week as bright sunshine combined with new solar generation capacity helped accelerate the country's energy transition away from fossil fuels
Reminder: this subreddit is meant to be a place free of excessive cynicism, negativity and bitterness. Toxic attitudes are not welcome here.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.