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'Unstoppable force' of solar power propels world to 40% clean electricity

(news.sky.com)
177 points belter | 1 comments | 08 Apr 25 10:11 UTC | HN request time: 0.328s | source
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jeffbee ◴[08 Apr 25 16:18 UTC] No.43623461[source]▶
When do the fission cheerleaders capitulate?
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zozbot234 ◴[08 Apr 25 16:23 UTC] No.43623515[source]▶
The point of fission is that it still yields power even when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing. The alternative is to run gas peaker plants, or even dirtier sources like coal. Storage is a non-starter, even the best form of energy storage (pumped hydro) cannot cope with a dip lasting more than a few days or weeks.
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1. myrmidon ◴[08 Apr 25 16:49 UTC] No.43623817[source]▶
Gas peaker plants are not "the alternative" to nuclear power, they are exactly what nuclear power needs, too, because regulating nuclear plants down is not what you wanna do after investing billions into it-- you need those plants running on full tilt for like 90% of the time, and even then its gonna take decades to pay back the investment.

Meanwhile, 1kW of solar with 1kWh of storage can be had for $1k on Amazon, yields 1-2MWh per year and pays for itself within the decade, with costs still trending down. Yes, fully getting rid of fossil gas is an ongoing challenge, but a much easier one than ramping up nuclear reactor build rates by a factor of 1000 or so...