Wondering where all the new electricity will come from to power all our new EV cars...

Rooftop solar is still very expensive, no one is approving any new nuke plants that I know of, so it seems as though we will be burning fossil fuels still, no?

Stogie1020 wrote:

Low hanging fruit. All coal can be fazed out for NG which is about half as dirty. Rooftop solar is not expensive over the life of a mortgage (in fact it pays) but up front cost is for most people and can be rented. Solar arrays are where most of the new electricity will come from where there is infrastructure in place or can be added quickly. Wind also but not as much as solar.

New nukes have been designed that are said to be much improved in waste and safety and are in testing now. (Politics)

Since the average car is on the road for about 13 years we are not getting away from gas any time soon but the shift is going to happen at least for cars and light trucks. Shipping, planes and trucking can't run on electricity with current designs. Batteries are too large and heavy currently.

deadeyedick wrote:

There is new wind technology about to come on line from Japan. It will generate 2 to 3 times as much energy. The cost per KW will be less than coal or nuclear. The turbines run down to 1/2 mph wind and the units will be at ground level instead of on towers. Also there is a recent breakthrough in blade design but I have not investigated that enough to have a basic understanding of it.

Speyside wrote:

Totally agree on the low hanging fruit, but my limited understanding is that the newly elected administration is making it really difficult (read: expensive) to frack for new NG, so are we are going from energy independent to importing NG from other countries? In terms of mass solar array sites, I am looking forward to this (it should have been done years ago in our neck of the woods) but the problems with distance-transmission loss and off-peak storage are huge. We will get there eventually, but I feel like to great extent we are putting the cart before the horse. I like electric cars, but IMO they are a novelty and not a serious solution to climate issues yet. Plus, I hate hate hate having to figure out which way to put the AA batteries in the little slots in the car. I always get it backwards.

Stogie1020 wrote:

Two large cups of Joe to get mentally ready for a 9:00 Zoom meeting. Gonna need it for an hour of meaningless babble.

Edit:
Hunk of cow, taters, carrots, packet of dry french onion soup mix, few peperoncinis-is, garlic (generic pot roast recipe) in the crock pot for eatin later.

BuckyB93 wrote:

Wondering where all the new electricity will come from to power all our new EV cars...

Rooftop solar is still very expensive, no one is approving any new nuke plants that I know of, so it seems as though we will be burning fossil fuels still, no?

Stogie1020 wrote:

You have one, one hour Zoom meeting? I average three a day often five. Count your blessings.

8trackdisco wrote: