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[–]Musky 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

Ok, I think this will be a better use of chat-GPT than asking it to directly create refutations. I asked it how many batteries it would take to store enough energy to satisfy the world's energy consumption for one day. The article isn't lying about storage being a major issue. And keep in mind batteries have a lifespan, they'll need to be replaced every ten years or so.


According to the International Energy Agency, global energy consumption in 2020 was approximately 168,000 terawatt-hours (TWh). To store this amount of energy in a battery, we would need to multiply it by the number of hours in a day, which is 24. This gives us a total energy storage requirement of approximately 4,032,000 TWh.

Assuming an average battery efficiency of 90%, we would need a battery with a capacity of approximately 4,480,000 TWh to store the energy needed for one day of global energy consumption.

To put this in perspective, the world's largest battery currently in operation is the Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia, which has a capacity of 150 megawatt-hours (MWh). To store 4,480,000 TWh of energy, we would need approximately 29,866,666,667 of these batteries, which is an enormous number.

Keep in mind that this is a rough estimate and does not take into account many other factors, such as the type of battery technology used, the cost and availability of materials, and the feasibility of building and maintaining such a massive energy storage system.


That just isn't practical, even if we only needed a fraction of those assuming it's continually recharging. Green energy means going to a lower standard of living.

[–]dicknipples 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Rather than get a computer's opinion on the present situation, search:

expected improvements to batteries for renewable energy

and search:

global renewable energy storage projections

and search:

expected developments in solar panels

Look primarily at the reports for investors (Bloomberg, Financial Times, The Economist &c)

Here is an example:

https://about.bnef.com/blog/global-energy-storage-market-to-grow-15-fold-by-2030/

Oil resources will dry up in a few decades.

Nuclear options are being reconsidered.

The answer for the future is obviously: solar, wind, sea/wave, improved batteries (non-lithium), nuclear, oil, gas (somewhat in that order). The question is not about one source or another, but about how to improve the renewable options. And they will improve. Don't trust BigOil and BigNuclear shills regarding a retired teacher's £10k one-page comment on the current storage of wind energy. It's not helping anyone.

[–]Musky 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

The required improvement to batteries would have to be enormous for this to be practical. 15 fold isn't nearly enough.

Oil resources will dry up in a few decades.

Run out of proven reserves you mean.

Don't trust BigOil and BigNuclear shills regarding a retired teacher's £10k one-page comment on the current storage of wind energy. It's not helping anyone.

I'm fact checking just one of the points made, and they're right. It's an enormous issue. Even with multiple ways to generate energy, we can't store much. So unless it's energy on demand, which a lot of green energies aren't, we are looking at going backwards to a lower standard of living.

[–]ActuallyNot 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Running out of reserves isn't the first problem. The first problem is the climate impacts of burning the fossil fuels.

[–]Musky 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

So we're going back to pastoral village life? We can't do everything with batteries.

[–]ActuallyNot 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

So we're going back to pastoral village life?

If only there were any other source of energy than fossil fuels.

We can't do everything with batteries.

You can do a lot more than operate a Jethro Tull seed drill and plough. You can operate a modern household including my modern employment: computers, TVs, sound systems, stove, oven, fridge, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, hot water system, electric lights and security cameras. You can also have a modern car with a lot more acceleration than a ICE one.

It's difficult to fly with batteries. But with a bit of spare electricity, you can make aviation fuel out of seawater. The Navy's been doing it for a while.