Knox posted a thread about Bill Gates saying the math just doesn't work for solar, wind, and batteries and you never commented on it. I asked you about it in the Texas utilities thread you started and you ignored it. So I'm asking again, with some quotes from the article Knox posted;
America consumes energy equivalent to 15 oil supertankers per day;
When the world’s 4 billion poor people increase energy use to just 15% of the per capita level of developed economies, global energy use will rise by the equivalent of adding 15 more supertankers (an America’s worth) per day."
- "All of the annual output from what will become the world’s biggest battery factory—the $5 billion Tesla gigafactory under construction in Nevada—can store just five minutes worth of annual U.S. electric demand.
- It would require 40 years worth of production from 100 gigafactories in order to build a battery ‘tank’ farm capable of storing enough electricity to match the energy held in the oil tank farm at Cushing, OK, (one of many oil depots in the U.S).
to match grid-scale availability, photovoltaics would still be about 400% more expensive than conventional grid power because of the extra production equipment and storage needed to ensure availability at any time.
- Solar, wind and battery technologies have improved 150 to 250% in the past half-decade, in terms of energy produced per dollar of capital. Shale technology, measured the same way over the same time, has improved over 400%.
- Shale technology has added 100 times more energy supply to America in the past decade than has solar."
"Google launched an Apollo-like project called “ RE<C“ to develop renewable energy that would be cheaper than coal. After Google cancelled the project in 2011, Google’s lead engineers reached essentially the same conclusion as Bill Gates."
So, what say you?
America consumes energy equivalent to 15 oil supertankers per day;
When the world’s 4 billion poor people increase energy use to just 15% of the per capita level of developed economies, global energy use will rise by the equivalent of adding 15 more supertankers (an America’s worth) per day."
- "All of the annual output from what will become the world’s biggest battery factory—the $5 billion Tesla gigafactory under construction in Nevada—can store just five minutes worth of annual U.S. electric demand.
- It would require 40 years worth of production from 100 gigafactories in order to build a battery ‘tank’ farm capable of storing enough electricity to match the energy held in the oil tank farm at Cushing, OK, (one of many oil depots in the U.S).
to match grid-scale availability, photovoltaics would still be about 400% more expensive than conventional grid power because of the extra production equipment and storage needed to ensure availability at any time.
- Solar, wind and battery technologies have improved 150 to 250% in the past half-decade, in terms of energy produced per dollar of capital. Shale technology, measured the same way over the same time, has improved over 400%.
- Shale technology has added 100 times more energy supply to America in the past decade than has solar."
"Google launched an Apollo-like project called “ RE<C“ to develop renewable energy that would be cheaper than coal. After Google cancelled the project in 2011, Google’s lead engineers reached essentially the same conclusion as Bill Gates."
So, what say you?
There is nothing posted above from story on Bill Gates. The story you linked to is an "interpretation" of an interview with Gates in the Atlantic. The author pulls quotes out from Gates and then adds his own "perspective". I think the entire article is a pretty bad hatchet job.
Here is my suggestion: Instead of having Mark Mills tell you what he thinks Bill Gates thinks, why not just read the original interview with Bill Gates. I don't think you will find the same point of view.
Here is the link to the Gates interview -
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/11/we-need-an-energy-miracle/407881/
A few small differences I noticed:
Mark Mills
Bill Gates Is Right on Energy: "Bringing Math Skills to the Problem"
Remember the "Bill Gates is right on energy" part as you read below, lol.
Bill Gates interview in the Atlantic
Those who study energy patterns say we are in a gradual transition from oil and coal to natural gas, a fuel that emits far less carbon but still contributes to global warming. Gates thinks that we can’t accept this outcome, and that our best chance to vault over natural gas to a globally applicable, carbon-free source of energy is to drive innovation “at an unnaturally high pace.”
When I sat down to hear his case a few weeks ago, he didn’t evince much patience for the argument that American politicians couldn’t agree even on whether climate change is real, much less on how to combat it. “If you’re not bringing math skills to the problem,” he said with a sort of amused asperity, “then representative democracy is a problem.”
What a difference context make doesn't it! The math skills quote is in relation to climate denier politicians. Gates wants to transition to carbon free source of energy and do at an unnaturally high pace. Kinda sounds like he is pushing for the elimination of fossil fuel companies doesn't it? That's definitely not how Mark Mills "interpreted" his interview was it?
Let's play again!
Mark Mills
“[W]e need innovation that gives us energy that’s cheaper than today’s hydrocarbon energy, that has zero CO2 emissions, and that’s as reliable as today’s overall energy system.
And when you put all those requirements together, we need an energy miracle.”
Bill Gates interview in the Atlantic
That’s why we really need to solve that dilemma, we need innovation that gives us energy that’s cheaper than today’s hydrocarbon energy, that has zero CO2 emissions, and that’s as reliable as today’s overall energy system.
And when you put all those requirements together, we need an energy miracle. That may make it seem too daunting to people, but in science, miracles are happening all the time.
Some quotes from Gates that I'm sure you will find agreeable.
I’m a big believer in foreign aid, but the climate problem has to be solved in the rich countries. China and the U.S. and Europe have to solve CO2 emissions, and when they do, hopefully they’ll make it cheap enough for everyone else. But the big numbers are all in the developed economies, where China’s defined into that term.
Yikes! He is proposing not waiting for other countries to go first! Oh no!
When I first got into this I thought, How well does the Department of Energy spend its R&D budget? And I was worried: Gosh, if I’m going to be saying it should double its budget, if it turns out it’s not very well spent, how am I going to feel about that? But as I’ve really dug into it, the DARPA money is very well spent, and the basic-science money is very well spent. The government has these “Centers of Excellence.” They should have twice as many of those things, and those things should get about four times as much money as they do.
What! Government spending is good! He is out of his mind! Quadruple funding! He must of been the one that designed the windows 8 interface!
Yes, the government will be some-what inept—but the private sector is in general inept. How many companies do venture capitalists invest in that go poorly? By far most of them. And it’s just that every once in a while a Google or a Microsoft comes out, and some medium-scale successes too, and so the overall return is there, and so people keep giving them money.
Speechless.......