Electricity storage thread

@afneil is being bombarded with every misconception about the energy system out there, as people remonstrate against his simple factual observation that we need something to deliver power when the wind doesn't blow. Pumped hydro doesn't cut it. There are not enough suitable sites. National Grid concluded that we could quintuple capacity. That would represent just a few hours of demand.

So about these alleged subsidies for fossil fuels…

1. Oil and gas companies have to pay the Supplementary Charge on profits, as well as Corporation Tax.
Renewables companies don’t... 🧵 2. Gas, coal and oil-fired power stations have to buy Emissions Trading Permits, and renewables don’t.
3. Renewables get direct subsidies in the shape of the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in-Tariffs and Contracts for Difference. Fossil fuel power stations don’t....

The argument that global warming is a serious problem rests on the output of climate models, vast computer simulations of the atmosphere, the oceans and the biosphere. But are climate models good enough to inform policymakers? This thread argues they are not. Not even close. 🧵 Climate models are *really* big. Millions of lines of code attempting to reproduce the physics of a highly complex system, creating an artificial world, its surface divided into cells of up to 100 km × 100 km in size, multiple layers of atmosphere above, and ocean below.

Yesterday, Lord Deben gave a speech in the Lords about adaptation. While getting going, he said “I look forward to a debate with my noble friend [Lord Frost] when I shall be quoting the science and he will be quoting the prejudices.” 🧵
https://t.co/OaDA8CoEBFhansard.parliament.uk/lords/2023-07-…
I thought it would be amusing to look at the detail of what he had to say, to see how much of it was science, and how much was “science” and prejudice. Take this, for example...

Today, Grant Shapps is saying that everyone is going to need a heat pump by 2050. By coincidence, I've just written a paper on the subject. It shows that Shapps is utterly wrong. Heat pumps are a mistake for most people. 🧵 The economics of heat pumps are mainly driven by:
• the ratio of electricity and gas prices
• the heat pump ‘gain’ – the units of heat energy emitted for each unit of electricity used.
Heat pumps are therefore mostly deployed in countries with cheap electricity.

Hi @ELPinchbeck You said that you were happy to debate windfarm costs on the basis of facts and data, so this is an attempt to do so. (1/12) I suggested you pick a windfarm from 2018, so we could discuss the cost data. As you haven’t suggested one, I’ve picked one myself: Glenchamber Windfarm. Feel free to suggest another.

Take a look at this graph from The Carbon Trust: (1/n)👇 It purports to show the income (CfD) of offshore windfarms and the estimated levelised costs (dark blue band) Now see what it looks like when I add the levelised costs calculated from audited accounts (red dots) and predicted levelised costs using the model of Ioannou et al (which underestimates costs a bit, but is a reasonable starting point).

More photos from Extinction Rebellion activists. This lot are all from the same guy Nice trip1