France has had >90% of its electricity generated by "non-Carbon" methods (low CO2 is a much better description) for decades. If the rest of us had followed their example, we wouldn't even be talking about climate change.
"I put solar panels on my house last December. In May they provided virtually all of the 600 kilowatt hours of electricity my home uses every month."
A few questions if I may. How many square ft in panels is that? What is the installed capacity (wondering what capacity factor you are getting)? What about snow in the winter? Thanks!
"10 percent of Germany’s electricity now comes from solar. In the US it is still only 1.13 percent– "
Your numbers are a bit off. From the link you provided: "Solar PV accounted for 19.7 percent of German renewable electricity and 9.7 percent of overall renewable energy supply in 2013. "
Confusing way to put it.
In 2013, 25.3% of german electrical production was renewable. 19.7% of 25.3% is 5% (.197*.253 = 0.05).
(see link to destatis.de)
Why do you use Germany as the "good" example? Their per capita CO2 emission has gone up in the last couple of years due to the increased use of coal (see for example: link to spiegel.de)
France seems like a much better example. Their CO2 emissions per capita (2009-2013) is 5.6 metric tons/ capita while Germany's is 9.1 (link to data.worldbank.org)
"You don’t get it that the past isn’t important. It is the future that is important."
I do get it. The things that you have listed are important. And progress in this direction is a good thing. But "Fracking won't last long" because of solar/wind?
The numbers just are not there as much as I (and you and many others) would like to see it. Wind accounts for only 3% of US power. Hydoelectric is something like 11-12% (US). There aren't very many more rivers to dam. So no need to get snippy 🙂 Even us overeducated doctoral types can be a bit off on occasion.
"Hydrocarbons are doomed in our lifetimes. And if we were smart we’d do multiple Manhattan projects to doom them in a decade."
I would like to see that. But hydrocarbons aren't going away soon. (Prove me wrong world - I dare ya)!
"Portugal gets 45% of its electricity from renewables". True. But that is almost ALL from hydroelectric (815GWh/year vs ~4GWh/year for wind and solar combined). Those of us who point out how far away we are from having a predominately solar & wind based electrical grid are not trolls, we're just good with numbers. 😉
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France has had >90% of its electricity generated by "non-Carbon" methods (low CO2 is a much better description) for decades. If the rest of us had followed their example, we wouldn't even be talking about climate change.
"I put solar panels on my house last December. In May they provided virtually all of the 600 kilowatt hours of electricity my home uses every month."
A few questions if I may. How many square ft in panels is that? What is the installed capacity (wondering what capacity factor you are getting)? What about snow in the winter? Thanks!
And... In 2012 california's CO2 emissions rose by 35%! (Why isn't this a big story on the blogs?) Is anyone taking this seriously?
"10 percent of Germany’s electricity now comes from solar. In the US it is still only 1.13 percent– "
Your numbers are a bit off. From the link you provided: "Solar PV accounted for 19.7 percent of German renewable electricity and 9.7 percent of overall renewable energy supply in 2013. "
Confusing way to put it.
In 2013, 25.3% of german electrical production was renewable. 19.7% of 25.3% is 5% (.197*.253 = 0.05).
(see link to destatis.de)
In the US its closer to 0.3% (link to eia.gov)
Why do you use Germany as the "good" example? Their per capita CO2 emission has gone up in the last couple of years due to the increased use of coal (see for example: link to spiegel.de)
France seems like a much better example. Their CO2 emissions per capita (2009-2013) is 5.6 metric tons/ capita while Germany's is 9.1 (link to data.worldbank.org)
Of course the US is a pathetic 17.6 🙁
It also should be pointed out that they get >50% of their electricity from nuclear energy. (A very clean energy source). Kudos to Ontario!
"You don’t get it that the past isn’t important. It is the future that is important."
I do get it. The things that you have listed are important. And progress in this direction is a good thing. But "Fracking won't last long" because of solar/wind?
The numbers just are not there as much as I (and you and many others) would like to see it. Wind accounts for only 3% of US power. Hydoelectric is something like 11-12% (US). There aren't very many more rivers to dam. So no need to get snippy 🙂 Even us overeducated doctoral types can be a bit off on occasion.
"Hydrocarbons are doomed in our lifetimes. And if we were smart we’d do multiple Manhattan projects to doom them in a decade."
I would like to see that. But hydrocarbons aren't going away soon. (Prove me wrong world - I dare ya)!
"Portugal gets 45% of its electricity from renewables". True. But that is almost ALL from hydroelectric (815GWh/year vs ~4GWh/year for wind and solar combined). Those of us who point out how far away we are from having a predominately solar & wind based electrical grid are not trolls, we're just good with numbers. 😉