The transition from fossil fuels to green energy

[TheVat]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/opin ... e=Homepage



Among the companies pledging bold emissions cuts are those that generate America’s electricity, which emit more than a quarter of the nation’s global-warming pollution. Yet, that same industry is about to make a strategic error that could render meeting its own goals far more expensive, if not impossible.

As they shut down costly and dirty coal-burning power plants, the electrical companies are planning to build 235 gas-fired power stations across the country, according to our analysis of figures compiled from commercial databases by the Sierra Club. The companies claim these are needed to replace the coal plants, and to balance fluctuations in electricity generation from rising levels of wind and solar power. This investment in new gas plants would exceed $100 billion.

If the plants are built, along with the pipelines to support them, they are likely to run for 30 or 40 years — long past the point that emissions from the electrical grid need to approach zero if we are to have a reasonable climate future.

The companies are portraying these new gas plants as a bridge to the future, since they have lower greenhouse gas emissions than coal plants. In fact, they are a bridge to a climate breakdown because their emissions are still significant. The companies ought to know that, but building chimneys is in their blood. They are behaving like smokers who really, truly plan to quit, as soon as they finish that last carton of cigarettes.

Now, it is true that gas plants play a critical role on the electrical grid at the moment because they provide nearly 40 percent the country’s electricity. But a major new report from the University of California, Berkeley, shows that the United States already has enough gas plants to support a transition to a far cleaner grid. To the extent new power is needed, wind and solar plants, coupled with large batteries, are generally cheaper options....

[Serpent]

Why is there so much preoccupation with how to fix "the grid"? It can't be fixed to anyone's satisfaction - perhaps not even the major shareholders'. The grid is the problem. Feeding, sustaining and constantly repairing it is far too expensive, and the maintenance costs will only increase with ever more extreme weather events.
The obvious solution has been staring us in the face for decades, but the big distributors don't want to hear about distributed energy or individual and community self-sufficiency. The only way green energy will ever work is if the systems are designed independently, to suit local conditions and needs.

I tried to find a comprehensive source, but all the top sources seem to be PDF format. Here is one that's available in plain text, but you have to ask. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222669645_Distributed_energy_resources_and_benefits_to_the_environment
Here is the model I'd like every community to adopt. https://indigenouscleanenergy.com/2020-catalysts-program/about-the-program/