General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Scotland temporarily ran entirely on wind power as turbines generated over 200 percent of national electricity demand. [View all]hunter
(40,742 posts)My own neighborhood has so much solar we export electricity on sunny days.
At night everyone's power is dirty. You can watch the ins and outs of California's electric grid here:
https://www.caiso.com/todays-outlook/supply
The shutdown of solar occurs nightly. We've got huge battery plants and everything. (Sometimes the batteries catch on fire... )
What say you of the chart I posted previously? I'll post it again here:
https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/FR/12mo/monthly
Nuclear France is solidly green. It exports electricity to the United Kingdom. The price of electricity is low compared to non-nuclear power grids.
It's no coincidence that places with the most aggressive "renewable" energy programs have some of the most expensive electricity in the developed world. Much of that burden falls upon the people least able to afford it.
Renewable energy is just as much a "cash cow" as any other energy resource. People in my neighborhood who don't have solar systems are frequently harassed by people selling solar power systems. It's not cheap either. Sunshine and wind may be "free" but the cost of integrating this energy into a reliable electric grid is high.
I used to be a radical anti-nuclear activist. Now I'm not. I've written about it some here on DU.