2w ago

New research suggests renewables+storage could economically replace all fossil fuels by 2031 by producing carbon-neutral synthetic alternatives.

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Renewables’ intermittency—sometimes too much energy, sometimes too little—could be an advantage. Use excess solar/wind to produce synthetic oil, gas, and coal, enabling a 99% renewable grid and cutting fossil fuels in industry and transport.

The fossil fuel industry may resist, but economics and geopolitics favor this shift. Renewables+storage keep getting cheaper, and nations like China—leading the tech—gain energy independence.

To Conquer the Primary Energy Consumption Layer of Our Entire Civilization

2 comments

Meaning we don't need new nuclear construction, and we certainly don't need new fossil construction. The trump administration is pushing for those because of crony capitalism, not because there is a gap.
Its make so much sense to switch to renewables. When you extract oil and burn it you lose the oil and it's basically unrecoverable. When a solar panel or battery reaches it's end of life all of it's components are still there and can be fully re-manufactured. So the more oil you extract and burn the more expensive it becomes because you have to pump from more deep/remote places. It doesn't scale well over time. The more solar panels and batteries you make you get to keep all the materials used to make them. So they get cheaper as time goes on because there is more supply.