In USA (Iowa) here. I bought shares in a "community solar" project, now constructed and producing power. My shares in the solar farm pay me for power sold back to the grid, so when the price goes up, by $$ earned goes up. All this acts like a 9% bond I might have purchased instead. Win-win!
@robertmarmaduke97218 ай бұрын
Then came the tornado and hailstorm and the Community Solar manager skips town because he was pocketing the hazard insurance fund.😂🎉
@danielcarroll33588 ай бұрын
@@robertmarmaduke9721 And the company with the 9% bond goes bankrupt and poof! Life can be like that. Vary thy investments.
@MrPizzaman098 ай бұрын
I'm hoping to make ~20%/year on my panels I install here in the coming months.
@MyKharli8 ай бұрын
@@MrPizzaman09 As long as the savings are not spent on carbon spewing products or why bother ?
@bunnycatch3r8 ай бұрын
I'm in Adair, what county are you in?
@thankyouforyourcompliance73868 ай бұрын
We live in one of the more windier areas in Germany and we see a lot of wind turbines when we look into one direction. It is actually an pretty sight as they rotate in some synchronity. Much better than chimneys with stinking yellow smoke like some decades ago in the Ruhr area.
@KalleStropp458 ай бұрын
For 30 years Germany h s spent zillions to construct a sun and wind Power Electric system. And failed. Today Germany for baseload relies on French nuclear and fossile imported gas and domestic brown coal. Politicians are so arrogant that they believe they can outlaw laws of nature and Electric engineering .
@Withnail19698 ай бұрын
Good luck running steel plants with those. Can't make any more of them without steel.
@emceeboogieboots16088 ай бұрын
@@Withnail1969 Not sure that this person was advocating for the cessation of steel production. Presumably it is not done in this area now, so there is no loss there🤔 I am not a fan of exporting pollution, but perhaps with DRI technology steel production may return if there are remaining iron ore reserves to be exploited
@Withnail19698 ай бұрын
@@emceeboogieboots1608 You need coal (high quality coal suitable for steel making) or its a non starter. Our way of life is built on cheap steel in massive quantities. No more civilisation if we lose it. We can recycle some steel with electric furnaces but guess what you need to build the electrical transformers they need? New (not recycled) steel.
@emceeboogieboots16088 ай бұрын
@@Withnail1969 We are still making steel with coking coal now. I can go and buy it tomorrow. Why is it bad to make electricity with wind turbines? And if there is an excess of generated renewable electricity, industry will produce direct reduced iron and bypass the requirement of mining coal
@WhichDoctor18 ай бұрын
people having ownership over the resources they rely on is soo good. Ordinary people should be the ones profiting from wind farms and solar parks being built around their communities, not some millionaires who've never even looked at the site on a map. My parents bought shares in a Ripple scheme a few years ago and last year they got something like £50 a month off their energy bills. That's vastly more than the best savings rates you can get, even with interest rates as they are right now. Obviously those numbers will go down as wholesale energy prices go down, but so will their bills. This is how we become resilient. Not just nationally in terms of energy independence, but as financially resilient communities too
@undertow21428 ай бұрын
Absolutely couldn’t agree more. Everything shouldn’t be a profit over everything proposition to the benefit of a few investors. Some things should be non profit publicly owned for public benefit. Energy generation absolutely should be in this category. Healthcare is another.
@loopwithers8 ай бұрын
Can you put that into one paragraph..?
@LuisAldamiz8 ай бұрын
That's communism but yes, of course.
@cht21628 ай бұрын
@@LuisAldamiz It isn't communism, it's democratic socialism.
@trevx36808 ай бұрын
@@loopwithers A not-for-profit model or a community owned electricity generation model will be cheaper and allow for greater energy independence.
@michaeljames59368 ай бұрын
There's a 300 MW wind farm a few miles from where I grew up, and I've wondered at times, if there is something wrong with my hearing, because I've visited that farm lots of times, and there was no noise. If you are standing directly below the blade, there is a whummsh noise, but not something you'd hear a hundred metres away.
@TaiViinikka8 ай бұрын
Similar experience. If you describe this, people who are dead set against wind turbines will start talking about subsonic frequencies, or noise from substations, strobing of sunlight, or whatever enters their head. Fortunately most of us can make up our own minds with a quick trip to a nearby wind farm and realize how spread out, quiet, and unobtrusive they actually are. Much corn is grown around them here in Southern Ontario. And the cows don't mind at all.
@rogerphelps99398 ай бұрын
A lot quieter than living next to even a minor road.
@bjb75878 ай бұрын
@@TaiViinikkathose cows keep a low profile, 'cause...y'know.
@jeremycole91588 ай бұрын
It may well be frequency noise but you need a acoustic site survey carried out at you property. AM has elements of turbine noise that has a long wave length . I can easy couple of miles.. If your property is down wind of the wind turbines and you property is also down hill of the wind farm, it may well be this. I sympathise with you on this,
@KalleStropp458 ай бұрын
Do you know what kind of MW it produces ? Is it real or imaginary.
@NigelWickenden8 ай бұрын
I paid £2,004 to buy part of Ripple Energy's Graig Fatha wind turbine. It saved me £1,013 in the last 12 months.
@hrushikeshavachat9008 ай бұрын
Wow. A 2 year payback if you are able to save similar amounts.
@ManuelSalvatori8 ай бұрын
Did you declare it to HMRC? I had a seat booked but when I realised I had to pay taxes on the savings I stopped, not worth it for me, 40% taxes on the savings makes it unworthy. (Personal opinion)
@ManuelSalvatori8 ай бұрын
@@hrushikeshavachat900when the energy price spiked when the war started, they have been able to save a lot. It is lower now, and apparently will decrease further, still worth it, if it wasn't for the taxes you have to pay on the savings.
@hrushikeshavachat9008 ай бұрын
@@ManuelSalvatori Why is it not worth it just because it becomes taxable. Can you please explain this
@EllieMaes-Grandad8 ай бұрын
@@hrushikeshavachat900 It's about return on capital employed.
@stevesmith-sb2df8 ай бұрын
I live in Tx USA where the grid is deregulated. I buy 100% renewable electricity. Theres an interesting tension between wanting a free-market and keeping the fossil fuel generators running. I doubt the state leaders forsaw the day that wind and solar would compete on price with natural gas electricity.
@bengt_axle8 ай бұрын
I believe renewable energy production has now surpassed fossil fueled electricity production in Texas. With electrification of cars, it is likely that the oil industry will see further contraction, especially since solar and wind continue to expand.
@StepDub8 ай бұрын
I live about 1 km away from a small wind farm. It has zero effect on our living conditions. It is just possible to hear a faint swooshing sound depending on which way the wind is blowing.
@WhichDoctor18 ай бұрын
i live close to trees. I can hear swooshing when it's windy, too. People who complain about these things have never actually been near a wind farm
@DeathsGarden-oz9gg8 ай бұрын
I live 5 miles from a wind farm. Red lights everywhere and in day it kills the view we had for years before it went in.
@derradfahrer50298 ай бұрын
@@WhichDoctor1 YES. I have a forest about 100m way, and 3 wind turbines (small ones, 75m-80m tall) 300m away, the other direction. All I hear is the forest.
@harrison2988 ай бұрын
@@DeathsGarden-oz9gg I would love to have a view of a wind farm. To me it's a beautiful symbol of humanity's progress. In the same way that people are proud to have an apartment with a direct view of a famous bridge or skyscraper.
@macmcleod11888 ай бұрын
I'm a fan of wind but there is the possibility of subsonics. You can't hear them but you sure can feel them and they affect your emotions and mood. I'm not saying don't use wind, I'm saying test for subsonics.
@rickemmet11048 ай бұрын
Hello David, I've worked on wind farms up to 3 megawatts in size (that is, 3 mW for each turbine) and I can tell you from personal experience that they do make a sound. You can hear a whoosh sound as each blade passes overhead. But here's the kicker, wind turbines make less noise than trees. Literally, trees make MUCH more noise than turbines - and you don't hear anyone complaining about that.
@rudigereichler41128 ай бұрын
Well, there is a difference between whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh and schhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Do you think ? Animals think so, they leave areals with pulsating shaddows and sounds that are unnormal.
@dunravin8 ай бұрын
And you don't hear about sounds from trees making people ill or driving them to insanity. Woe betide anyone living down wind of a turbine, you don't hear about the problems people have with that because its supressed. The offshore ones are no better, they're wreaking havoc for marine mammals, very "eco" indeed.
@dickwallace79954 ай бұрын
@@rudigereichler4112😊
@redshift38 ай бұрын
I used to work with Simon. He is a very enthusiastic and experienced wind farm developer. Great to see him again.
@julianshepherd20388 ай бұрын
David Cameron did not ban onshore wind in Scotland because it is a devolved power. We have loads. Loads of Loads.
@stickynorth8 ай бұрын
Scotland, FTW!
@tuc-dh4df8 ай бұрын
Dave doesn't let facts get in the way of his politics
@ramblerandy23978 ай бұрын
Well done Scotland. On the flipside, in England we had Liz Truss, who even fairly recently was topping up the Tory programming with "Solar farms are so ugly" codswallop. 🙄
@JustHaveaThink8 ай бұрын
The video was about England, but whatever. ;-)
@bjb75878 ай бұрын
@@tuc-dh4dfHate watching, eh?
@tedbomba66318 ай бұрын
The plan put forth by the Ripple representative certainly makes sense to me. I would gladly become a shareholder of a locally owned power company if it was available in my location.
@markthomasson50778 ай бұрын
And when you can hear the turbine…you feel joy! And a better bill.
@matbowden91568 ай бұрын
It is my understanding, that you'll soon be able to do exactly that. I would humbly suggest you look up 'Ripple Energy' if you have not already done so, and read all about their upcoming and previous projects so that you are both informed and ready to part as necessary
@rogerphelps99398 ай бұрын
@@markthomasson5077 I have stood right next to a wind farm. There are ots in Cornwall so it is easy to do and there wasn't much noise at all.
@randomjasmicisrandom8 ай бұрын
You don’t need to live near a Ripple project to benefit from it. I have invested in their two most recent projects, one is in Devon, the other in Scotland. I live near Leicester.
@broadsword66508 ай бұрын
You don't have to be local to the wind farm or solar farm to be a member of the co-op.
@taffygeek8 ай бұрын
As someone who lives in an ex-mining area, now home to a large wind farm with a turbine visible from my window, I don't object at all to them. However, I do object to the fact that we supplied the energy for the first industrial revolution and now when energy production can be more distributed we are being asked to shoulder the burden again. It's time for all areas of the country to play their part.
@MultiMenvafan8 ай бұрын
I agree, those affected should be adequately and fairly compensated
@gill2222228 ай бұрын
Totally agree everyone uses electricity so everyone should be willing to play their part .
@Lewis_Standing8 ай бұрын
If you're with octopus energy, you can request a local "fan club". When it's windy in your local wind farm you get cheaper leccy. You win win for having beautiful turbines and cheaper leccy for hosting them.
@taffygeek8 ай бұрын
@@Lewis_Standing unfortunately the windfarm isn't operated by octopus. The one by my son is and he gets good discounts from octopus
@zygmuntthecacaokakistocrat65898 ай бұрын
"we"? Are you 200 years old?
@agritech8028 ай бұрын
We're at the early stages of a community solar farm here in Ireland so it was great to hear about the Ripple Energy business model
@JustHaveaThink8 ай бұрын
Good luck with it :-)
@givemeabreak87848 ай бұрын
Solar is a waste of land and solar panels in Ireland. Completely inefficient . Wind is hundreds of times more efficient.
@agritech8028 ай бұрын
@@JustHaveaThink thank you
@norwegianzound8 ай бұрын
@@givemeabreak8784A bit simplistic. Not all land in Ireland is productive.
@linmal22428 ай бұрын
And we in AUS have loads of sun yet burn heaps of coal from all our mines(we have big ones supplying Japan, Korea and China. So why wouldn't we burn it ourselves !
@salibaba8 ай бұрын
I’m in Scotland and feel a sense of pride when I take walks though areas with wind turbines, knowing the power isn’t going that far til it reaches our nearby towns and cities. All that taking place without blighting our air with fumes. Same with travels down the M6, seeing all the wind farms I pass.
@jaaklucas13298 ай бұрын
Well said. Why go through all the fuss of shipping power when you can use your local generation.
@EllieMaes-Grandad8 ай бұрын
Blights your land with unsightly structures. Strange choice.
@StupidityIsOurWeakness0002 ай бұрын
I'm in Denmark and embarrassed that we're focussing so much on wind power when we've got lots of possibilities of exploiting the current ready to be harvested beneath the water bodies that are surrounding us. Every river, stream Ocean, channel, lake and other water body have got moving currents beneath the surfaces just waiting to be harvested.
@davmole8 ай бұрын
Dave makes Sunday’s the best day
@ppetal18 ай бұрын
Cycling through Somerset ten years ago, I came across multiple plastic placards campaigning against windfalls. I conscienciously removed these and disposed of them. A year later the whole area suffered extreme flooding. A coincidence?
@julianshepherd20388 ай бұрын
Dave's head is a solar panel and his ears are wind turbines
@JustHaveaThink8 ай бұрын
@davmole Cheers mate :-)
@scipdiddly8 ай бұрын
@@JustHaveaThink- Happy Monday, from the colony down blunder. Apologies for the embedded emissions in Australian fossil fuel exports that the current ALP government doesn't include in our emissions reduction target (if it's currently 43%, I have no idea what it really is given scope three emissions aren't included etc...). No idea what happened to community solar in NSW either, so thanks for reminding me to look into that. ✌️
@scipdiddly8 ай бұрын
@@JustHaveaThink- not much going on in Australia as of February 2024 (www.dcceew.gov.au/energy/renewable/community-solar-banks). There was a lot of hope in 2017 though, but the big electricity generators have thrown community solar under the bus, along with the duopoly...
@CARambolagen8 ай бұрын
Danke!
@JustHaveaThink4 ай бұрын
Thanks for your support. Much appreciated!
@InYourDreams-Andia8 ай бұрын
Finland, east mid lake district. here (this episode was on Point)! My partner interviewed professionally a few locals about their objections to a proposed WM site. I immediately thought about offering them cheap power if they live near one. I'm not sure that is a thing here, but seeing this confirmed the exact model that should be implemented here, and that's the beauty of it
@thomasreilly63628 ай бұрын
I central Finland they are trying to force wind turbines without consultation with forestry owners and farmers. In general the people are not against turbines they just want to know who will pay for the infrastructure, how long it will last and what compensation will be offered to the owners, access to the turbines and removal of infrastructure once the turbines is removed or replaced.
@InYourDreams-Andia8 ай бұрын
@@thomasreilly6362 ah! So permits aren't a thing in this case? Surely, the Finns are very particular about paperwork, so why not (or how not) here I wonder
@thomasreilly63628 ай бұрын
@@InYourDreams-Andia What do you mean by permits? Most but not all of the land where the turbines are proposed are leased and managed by the forestry company's. It looks like a back room arrangement between the energy companies and the forestry company's regarding any compensation or rent for the turbines. Nor has there been any local consultant regarding the infrastructure and access to the turbines. There has been no timeline regarding how long the turbines will be up and who foots the bill regarding decommissioning them. I know someone involved with it and the owners are being kept in the dark about the details regarding where the turbines being situated. Its very messy and the local print news has barely covered the story. There is a social media group of concerned residents and owners. It's been going on for 2,3 years. Usually there is sufficient documentation and public consultation in Finland but not in this case.
@Petch858 ай бұрын
In Denmark a cooperative of I think ~2800 are right now installing one of the world's largest onshore wind turbines. Vestas 15 MW V236 There are pictures on the internet, but I don't think they have installed the blades yet. It is located in Thyborøn right beside some of the old record holders for most produced wind energy by any turbine ever. The cooperative is called Thyborøn Sydhavns Møllelaug II I/S.
@frequentlycynical6428 ай бұрын
I hate to tell you, I'm living the 100% renewable dream right here next door to Austin, Texas. And I don't own one solar panel or windmill. Texas has its own grid except for the very far north and west. No national interconnection. That allowed it to set up a market driven retail sales some years ago. The state oversees the running of this. Every vendor has its sales pitches. Most have to do with pricing, of course. I've lived here for 8 years and am on my third 100% renewable provider. I pay 8.1 cents per kw/hr for the electricity, and another 7.8 cents for the delivery and grid. Just under 15 cents kw/hr total. Some of the cheapest electricity in the US. Texas has two huge windfarm areas, the northern plains around Sweetwater, and out in the far west deserts of west Texas. Mile after mile of windmills driving along. Such a lovely sight. I don't know that the UK issue is with famers not be able to farm around wind towers. The leasing of land for wind towers has kept many family ranches out of bankruptcy here. Texas is also growing solar by leaps and bounds. We have had not rolling brownouts in three years due to so much solar coming online just when its needed, late summer days. Despite being home to America's O&G industry, and the politicians still very beholden to them, Texas has become America's renewable powerhouse.
@davestagner8 ай бұрын
Texas is absolute proof that market forces are on the side of renewables. The most deregulated grid in the US by far, and it also has more renewables than the super-activist California grid. That, to me, is proof that renewable energy is cheaper and easier than fossil fuels or nuclear.
@ycplum70628 ай бұрын
The UK is not Texas. Texas is near ideal for solar and wind. While the UK has a lot of offshore wind, they suck for solar. They are marginal solar due to their latitude (fyi, Texas is closer to the equator), but teh UK is know for thier cloudy rainy weather. I think solar in the UK is net carbon footprint negative. Basically, the carbon footprint savings from using solar does not equal teh carbon footprint in the soalr panel production.
@davestagner8 ай бұрын
@@ycplum7062 “the carbon footprint savings from using solar does not equal the carbon footprint in the solar panel production”. You should run the math on that before just repeating misinformation that is incredibly wrong. It takes about 200kWh of energy to produce a 100 watt solar panel (feel free to do your own research on that). A typical solar panel installation gets about 20% capacity factor (the amount of energy it produces over longer time periods, relative to max output), due to nighttime, clouds, angle, seasonal variations, etc. Let’s say a lifespan of 20 years, although that is very conservative. 20 years is around 175,000 hours. 100 watts * 175k * 20% = 3,504,000 watt/hours (or 3500 kWh). 3500kWh is about 17.5 times the 200kWh required to manufacture the panel. If the UK is awful for solar, let’s say it gets 10% rather than 20% capacity factor (Wikipedia says 9.8-11.4% solar capacity factor in the UK). So that’s 1750kWh in 20 years for a 100 watt panel in the UK - about 9x the amount of power required to make the panel. I hope this makes clear that solar in the UK is absolutely NOT net carbon negative.
@frequentlycynical6428 ай бұрын
@@ycplum7062 Did I say anything about different locations? No, I did not. I talked about me, here.
@fjalics8 ай бұрын
I don't live near wind turbines, because it's not that windy, but I like seeing them, and would be happy to have them next door.
@jmr8 ай бұрын
This is not a new concept. My grandma was part of a co-op that owned the local energy supply. All of the customers were owners. She even got a check about once per year when they balanced the books. The "profits" went right back into the hands of the customers but more importantly the stake holders got reliable cheap energy.
@christianvanderstap62578 ай бұрын
And the Thatcher happened? Or did the co-ops / unions start disappearing earlier?
@jmr8 ай бұрын
@@christianvanderstap6257 The co-op was still going strong last I knew. My father got a check from them not so long ago since he essentially inherited her share. We are in the US.
@bjb75878 ай бұрын
Got some electric coops in US. I get my power from one, tho mine doesn't generate the power.
@jmr8 ай бұрын
@@bjb7587 That interesting. Do they just mange the lines for distribution then?
@ReidRankinRealEstate8 ай бұрын
I used to live in Palo Alto, California and they have a power coop. My power bills were significantly lower than when I lived in SF and had to pay PG&E
@joewentworth78568 ай бұрын
Just purchased my share of ripples latest wind farm.
@KiteTurbine8 ай бұрын
You need to make a HUGE distinction here between UK England and UK Scotland Plenty wind turbines erected here. Written in Shetland - (not locally owned enough) but 103x 4MW just installed, cool. Comissioning starts soon. More projects coming too. Personally love them And love driving with the clean electric Starting travelling to Madrid for an Airborne Wind Energy tomorrow conference
@coastofkonkan8 ай бұрын
I like this channel more than Undecided or Two Bit. More mature & less speculative & to the point
@Sean720H8 ай бұрын
Sometimes I feel they side far more on the naive optimism scale and don't really discuss the challenges that these new technologies face to become useful tools in the green energy transition. This channel is a great blend of here's how it works and optimism in the great work people do while also discussing why it didn't already exist and what challenges are yet to be overcome to make it fully feasible.
@JustHaveaThink8 ай бұрын
Thank you. I am older than Ricky and Matt, so I guess that's how it should be :-)
@ambassadorfromreality11258 ай бұрын
Thank heaven for all three and more like Simon clark, climate town. All slightly different but you can rely on them, you can learn from them, you can trust them. They give me a lot of confidence on the occasion that I am obliged to put a few records straight. Dont forget the important like button
@frequentlycynical6428 ай бұрын
They all have value as great, objective sources of informaton.
@marsupialdungbucket8 ай бұрын
Another first for this channel! I normally hate ads and intrusive sponsor segments, but the section about Ripple Energy was very welcome news to me - I'll definitely be looking into them further. Thanks for the good work, as always.
@JustHaveaThink8 ай бұрын
Thank you :-)
@donmcleod83076 ай бұрын
There's one town in Australia that has started to generate their own solar power, because supply from a local company was becoming too expensive
@davidwatson81184 ай бұрын
And over 3 million homes in Australia now have solar PV and growing rapidly.😊
@calamityjean15258 ай бұрын
In my area of the USA we have something called "community solar" which allows people to get shares of a solar park credited to their electric bill. The scheme described in this video sounds like it could be called "community wind". A good idea!
@MichaelGustavsonArchitect8 ай бұрын
Soooooo Sooooo Good to hear some good news every once in awhile.
@brianmckeever52808 ай бұрын
Good luck GB! That sounds like a terrific possibility. Imagine, lifting all boats and not just a few?!
@richardcorewin8 ай бұрын
There are so many new kinds of vertical axis wind generators that are less obtrusive than the large bladed ones and could be added to existing solar farms to use the existing infrastructure.
@jaaklucas13298 ай бұрын
Alot of brainpower is going into wind nowadays looking for options to the giant bladed operations.
@randomjasmicisrandom8 ай бұрын
I invested in the Ripple Energy Derill Water solar farm in Devon, and a few days ago invested in the next Ripple Energy project, a wind farm in Scotland. Once these are both live they will mean reduced electricity bills every single month for about 30 years.
@echelonrank39278 ай бұрын
as more renewable energy projects are coming online , there has been no such thing as reduced power bills
@robinwhitebeam43868 ай бұрын
@@echelonrank3927 If someone invests in a wind Farm , they will have lower electricity bills.
@randomjasmicisrandom8 ай бұрын
@@echelonrank3927 all the members of the previous Ripple projects are proof that your statement is demonstrably false. They get a reduction of their energy bills in the form of a generation credit. All of the people (like me) on the Octopus Agile tariff are also proof that your statement is false. When the wind is good, the daily price of electricity goes down. My current average rate for electricity is 5 p/kWh. What are you paying for your electricity? The standard variable tariffs are around 28 p/kWh.
@alicequayle46256 ай бұрын
@@echelonrank3927 ripple members get reduced bills. Maybe watch the video again.
@jeremygoodman8 ай бұрын
Thanks
@JustHaveaThink4 ай бұрын
Thanks for your support. Much appreciated!
@mattesla8 ай бұрын
Have a share of 3 ripple energy projects so far have covered 84% of my power needs 🎉
@timothydevries3838 ай бұрын
A 100% solar and wind power system grid is not possible. About 40% is the limit. The closest thing is South Australia, which still requires interconnects to Victoria and NSW with large gas & coal supplies.
@jcgoedkoop8 ай бұрын
Beautifully organized talk, Dave. I hope you government sees it.
@JustHaveaThink8 ай бұрын
Thank you. I hope so too :-)
@12theotherandrew8 ай бұрын
The government might see it, but unless it Stops The Boats, they will ignore it. No votes, no progress.
@sfgoddard8 ай бұрын
Another superb video. Comprehensive excellent broad view, but with a brilliant dive-down into Ripple as a great example of how we can progress - now! . Inspirational. Thanks.
@massoud9998 ай бұрын
If only we had something like that here. Thanks for sharing.
@timothyclemson8 ай бұрын
Ripple are great. Very excited for our power to soon be coming from a wind farm we helped fund.
@mere_cat8 ай бұрын
Interesting. In the US, off shore wind is nearly impossible to site due to opposition and out of date legislation like the Hatch Act. There is opposition to on shore wind too, but it hasn’t stopped us from siting wind on vast expanses of available land.
@glike28 ай бұрын
I heard the Hatch Act needed updating already for shipping, but for off shore wind power was new to me. thanks
@dalekrenegade25968 ай бұрын
Yeah I noticed an anti-windmill slogan on some motel sign when I was in New Jersey months ago and it's apparently part of a bigger movement.
@100c0c8 ай бұрын
How are wind power and Hatch Act related?
@rogerphelps99398 ай бұрын
In the US you have almost limitless land suitab;e for wind turbines.
@dalekrenegade25968 ай бұрын
@@rogerphelps9939 Yep, New Jersey maybe under a grifter's spell but the Northeast is not devoid of windmills. Saw some pretty big ones in the Poconos, it was a sight to see.😊
@shawnr7718 ай бұрын
Thank you for the commentary and the intwrview.
@leroyharder44918 ай бұрын
I'm a big fan of cooperative and community owned wind turbines. We have had failures in Canada letting big corporations build wind and getting outrageous prices for the electricity. Not only do consumers have to deal with the turbines, but are also getting gouged on their bills. Community ownership spreads the benefits and brings buy in. I'm looking for a small scale wind project suitable for our small property, but perhaps cooperative bigger scale ventures make much more sense.
@5353Jumper8 ай бұрын
A lot of the wind/solar in Canada (mostly Alberta) is not actually connected to the grid, instead powering petroleum facilities. Oil companies get the cheap electricity and greenwashing. While taking all the grants, tax breaks, talent and materials away from more genuine projects. Citizens get to pay for expensive natural gas generated electricity.
@theairstig91648 ай бұрын
Community solar farms in Australia put feed in tariffs directly on to peoples power bills. That is to say id you buy in to community solar, you get paid by a deduction on your electricity bill
@sailRichard8 ай бұрын
Germany’s Renewable Ownership Society - the Green Middle Class "Want to know why Fox News and the Tea Party congress hates green energy? The most important reason is that renewable energy properly deployed is profoundly democratizing, devolves power and control away from the Exxon-Mobils and Koch Brothers of the world, and into the hands of states, counties, cities, communities, local businesses, and individuals. For the most part, Germany’s new energy producers are home owners, small and medium-sided businesses, and farmers, many of the latter who faced ruin only a decade ago. At the heart of Germany’s alternative energy bonanza is the country’s reputed Mittelstand: the nation’s well-situated, educated, conservative, entrepreneurial-minded middle class, which is the backbone of its economy. Germany’s environment ministry has compiled a fascinating graph that shows exactly who has invested in the country’s renewable energy production: Nearly three quarters of the investment came from small private investors." climatecrocks.com/2012/10/16/germanys-renewable-ownership-society-the-green-middle-class/
@aliottoman14518 ай бұрын
Here in Turkey, it seems large projects are encouraged rather then home solar. You can only sell back to the grid as much as you have consumed. It's all about 'big' projects, which are growing in number. Large wind projects are quite common....
@maxvaessen8 ай бұрын
Thanks for all you do Dave. It’s great you’re giving people like the guy from Ripple a platform to speak. His drive is inspiring. I loved the idea of hedging my power bill with a generator share.
@JustHaveaThink8 ай бұрын
Cheers Max :-)
@benlamprecht64148 ай бұрын
You have produced very many wonderful videos in the past. The Policy section from minute 12.30 onward is in my opinion, by far the best of all. Please continue with many more of these, including case studies. Thanks very much
@mcspaddencw8 ай бұрын
Thank you as always for what you do.
@JustHaveaThink8 ай бұрын
My pleasure!
@flagmichael8 ай бұрын
I have no problem with solar or wind power, but they each have a vulnerability that I was surprised to not hear mentioned here. In the bulk electric power industry (I recently retired after 34 years in the field with a Fortune 100 electric company) the primary differentiation is between dispatchable (available on demand) and non-dispatchable sources. For all their drawbacks, coal, gas, and oil generation is dispatchable; among renewable sources only geothermal is dispatchable. Even hydro is not dispatchable because the availability is dependent on precipitation on the headlands. It may have been available for the last 50 years, but the prospect of being without the power for a few months at any point disqualifies it. The answer to the question: Can we overcome [the bumps in the road] in time? is "No, not if we fail to address the critical problem of dispatchability." That said, energy storage helps in practical terms. It can transform a system that can only produce 2000 MW to one that can produce 3000 MW for peak load as night falls. Nuclear is a satisfactory dispatchable source, even though it takes so much time to ramp up that the sharp demands of nightfall in metropolitan areas is a bit of a strain, and those same storage facilities are mighty attractive. What it can't do is guarantee its customers will always have power when the switch is turned on. The short form from my perspective based on a third of a century in bulk electric power: the generation sources are not as much an issue as the storage. Now, Iceland has it best of all; geothermal everywhere and a modest and stable population.
@jaaklucas13298 ай бұрын
The great thing about all this renewable revolution is that it has the every day person and town,city thinking why import power when we can make it ourselves.
@stadsimkerijhengeloe.o.43008 ай бұрын
In the Netherlands we have the same problems with stories told by the "public" against windturbines. But we have more in common... Shell. They invented the word horizoen vervuiling. It means that they are against green energie, this was for years. When we had still natural gas. But knowadays shell is a big builder of offshore windfarms. Offshore because you need a 50million ship to be at the northsea. But they have the goal to be the dealer for hundreds of years and they will not allow normal markets. They want market dominance. And activily throwing sand in our eyes that we don't provide our self with solar.
@johnbeeck25408 ай бұрын
Great fact sharing! Appreciate the lack of ads too!
@veden33838 ай бұрын
good talk
@JustHaveaThink8 ай бұрын
Thank you :-)
@harveytheparaglidingchaser70398 ай бұрын
Great shout out for Ripple. Anybody can now own a piece of renewable energy. Looking forward for Derril water to come online.
@ricklines87558 ай бұрын
I love the co-op model!
@chairmakerPete8 ай бұрын
Buy shares in BP or shell. Simple.
@SisGuitarGAS8 ай бұрын
Thanks Dave - brilliant content as always. Motivated me to buy the shares in the next ripple project. We’ve just got to crack on with this
@MatthiasKrijgsman8 ай бұрын
On the topic of involving consumers, here in the Netherlands we have a company that sells home batteries for grid balancing. They offer a battery (10-20kw) and basically pay you to automatically charge during sunny hours and discharge during greater demand. The return on investment is in the range of 4-5 years, after which you could use it for your own PV. I think this is an interesting development in decentralising the grid
@simhedgesrex70978 ай бұрын
Yes. The same is available in the UK (but it would take longer than that to pay off the cost of the battery).
@frequentlycynical6428 ай бұрын
In the state of Vermont, the electric company realized that it was cheaper to install batteries in homes to meet peak demands than build a new power plant. We need more creative thinking like that.
@MatthiasKrijgsman8 ай бұрын
@@frequentlycynical642 Exactly! It also saves on new grid infrastructure/capacity, since releasing electricity from home batteries it often doesn't need to travel far. I believe decentralizing the energy grid this way could have many benefits
@jaaklucas13298 ай бұрын
@@frequentlycynical642 Exactly, this is the beauty of renewable.
@cooperandy38 ай бұрын
Fascinating, well communicated
@2011ppower8 ай бұрын
Just added another slice of Ripple to my renewable pie😀Now have invested in Derrile water Solar and the latest wind farm at Whitelaw Brae👍 everylittle helps!
@simhedgesrex70978 ай бұрын
I bought into Whitelaw Brae yesterday, and Derril and Kirk Hill a while back. I was too late for Craig Fatha unfortunately. I wish I'd bought into Kirk Hill less, as that would have allowed me to buy more on the others (given that they limit you to 120% of your normal annual consumption).
@aut-couture8 ай бұрын
great news.... another well presented episode
@njanderson43428 ай бұрын
Thank you
@marcgalle35298 ай бұрын
As a rough estimate, 1 GW of power is often cited as being sufficient to power around 750,000 average American homes.
@larslrs72348 ай бұрын
Yes, I also think the UK can do it. Great video.
@JustHaveaThink8 ай бұрын
Thank you :-)
@OldScientist8 ай бұрын
What happens if we get 56 days of "dunkelflaute" like the UK got in 2018? Projecting out to 2050 with increased demand from electrification of transport and heating etc, we would need to find something like 28TWh of missing electricity generated from wind power (but the wind won't be blowing!). Britain currently has 39.3 GWh of pumped storage. There are 4 pumped storage stations in Britain. No storage capacity has been added to the grid since the 1980s, and there is no other large scale energy storage in the country. To cover a cold dark still winter you would need to increase pumped storage capacity by a factor of about 1000 (taking into account pumped storage is about 75% efficient). So we would need to find 4000 suitable locations where a 300 to 400m dam can be built to hold back 10 million cubic metres of water, with a fall to the turbines below of about 400 metres. Then we would have to build 160 of these every year, year after year, for 25 years. The scale, and the massive cost of storage, by whatever method (pumped storage is one of the cheapest by the way), make it an impossible mission.
@TheWorldRealist8 ай бұрын
I have Solaredge pv panels and system. Solaredge seem not interested in integrating a wind turbine. Wyoming where we live is never short of wind. We have a 10kwh battery and it makes sense to have say a 1kw turbine to keep the battery topped off. Especially in the winter when the days are short and the wind blows every day.
@Richard4828 ай бұрын
A wind turbine sounds good, but I wouldn't have it attached to the house.
@TheWorldRealist8 ай бұрын
@@Richard482 we have 3 acres. I have a wind speed monitor on a pole.
@Richard4828 ай бұрын
@@TheWorldRealist Cool
@aaronvallejo82208 ай бұрын
I support we rapidly build up to 100% renewables everywhere to power everything. Every town and city needs a wind farm and solar PV farm.
@rogerphelps99398 ай бұрын
Solar PV can go on roofs practically anywhere. Wind is only useful if the wind speed is high enough and there are economies of scale so that big wind turbines are much better than small ones.
@aliendroneservices66218 ай бұрын
No proof-of-concept.
@OldScientist8 ай бұрын
What happens if we get 56 days of "dunkelflaute" like the UK got in 2018? Projecting out to 2050 with increased demand from electrification of transport and heating etc, we would need to find something like 28TWh of missing electricity generated from wind power (but the wind won't be blowing!). Britain currently has 39.3 GWh of pumped storage. There are 4 pumped storage stations in Britain. No storage capacity has been added to the grid since the 1980s, and there is no other large scale energy storage in the country. To cover a cold dark still winter you would need to increase pumped storage capacity by a factor of about 1000 (taking into account pumped storage is about 75% efficient). So we would need to find 4000 suitable locations where a 300 to 400m dam can be built to hold back 10 million cubic metres of water, with a fall to the turbines below of about 400 metres. Then we would have to build 160 of these every year, year after year, for 25 years. The scale, and the massive cost of storage, by whatever method (pumped storage is one of the cheapest by the way), make it an impossible mission.
@jaaklucas13298 ай бұрын
The beauty of renewable is its local, doesn't have to be shipped via transmission lines long distances.
@zotter25428 ай бұрын
Great video
@nicevideomancanada8 ай бұрын
From Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This year The Alberta Government Cancelled $33 Billion in Wind & Solar Farms. Look into it please. I'm British and have lived here since 1980
@jaaklucas13298 ай бұрын
Disappointing.All the sun there for sure for solar definitely. Ive lived in Alberta before and there a lot of people there who are not forward thinking.
@bengt_axle8 ай бұрын
Danielle Smith calls it a "pause" and says that it is a moratorium. I think she is concerned about the renewable energy sources cutting into oil industry profits. Oil is still an important revenue generator for the province and prior to becoming Premier, she worked as an oil industry lobbyist.
@CionnFE8 ай бұрын
Something I don’t understand and which is a big lost opportunity, is why the UK, or others, does not mandate the installation of solar panels on all new build houses, and more especially on all warehouse, factory and retail park buildings. These have massive areas of flat roofed space which is completely wasted, and would seem ideal and ready made for green energy production…. Anyone know why this isn’t done? Or is it?
@EdSurridge8 ай бұрын
Excellent show again. Informative interview and thr earleir presentation of important scripts
@JustHaveaThink8 ай бұрын
Thank you :-)
@veritea93748 ай бұрын
Very inspiring bringing community into ownership of renewable power generation to address climate change. The urgency demands we move onshore and obligate government to connect upon construction. Here in the U.S. over 80% of new power generation is in solar and battery.
@cookingonthego94228 ай бұрын
Every wind turbine and solar panel is money that stays in your country. Stays and stays and stays as you dont buy oil, gas.. it is so valuable it is insane. People just dont think about it.
@robertmarmaduke97218 ай бұрын
Wind turbines are made in Germany and wind towers are made in India and maintenance is so insanely expensive these can only be funded by Government taxation, then more taxation to pay for the power rebates. Ivan Boeski. Google 'bustout'. When the farm goes down your share is negative value to pay for dismantling it.
@aliendroneservices66218 ай бұрын
Wind and solar absolutely rely on fossil-fuels. No fossil-fuels = no wind and solar.
@timothykeith13678 ай бұрын
Solar panels come from China
@OldScientist8 ай бұрын
What happens if we get 56 days of "dunkelflaute" like the UK got in 2018? Projecting out to 2050 with increased demand from electrification of transport and heating etc, we would need to find something like 28TWh of missing electricity generated from wind power (but the wind won't be blowing!). Britain currently has 39.3 GWh of pumped storage. There are 4 pumped storage stations in Britain. No storage capacity has been added to the grid since the 1980s, and there is no other large scale energy storage in the country. To cover a cold dark still winter you would need to increase pumped storage capacity by a factor of about 1000 (taking into account pumped storage is about 75% efficient). So we would need to find 4000 suitable locations where a 300 to 400m dam can be built to hold back 10 million cubic metres of water, with a fall to the turbines below of about 400 metres. Then we would have to build 160 of these every year, year after year, for 25 years. The scale, and the massive cost of storage, by whatever method (pumped storage is one of the cheapest by the way), make it an impossible mission.
@cookingonthego94228 ай бұрын
@@OldScientist there are emergency power plants. They are conservated. Now they exist for national security as power is traded from abroad. They ae inaficient as a rule and takes one to two weaks to start up. P.s. big things are made in smal steps.
@RonTodd-gb1eo8 ай бұрын
We have an electricity on demand model. Generation is varied to match demand. With renewables we would have to go to matching use to supply. Who is likely to get cut off first? Middle class areas full of people who wanted renewables or the rest of us?
@theproffessional98 ай бұрын
I would definitely not be against golf courses being shut down for more renewable energy installations 😂
@johnseberg69898 ай бұрын
Why would they need to be shut down? Every golf course I've ever been has that windmill hole. 😄
@adus1238 ай бұрын
it would just make the golf more interesting Avoiding all them turbines haha
@gavloft8 ай бұрын
And house building; rather than building on nature.
@texanplayer76518 ай бұрын
@@johnseberg6989That's minigolf, smart guy
@willm58148 ай бұрын
Lol! Absolutely! Although, if I wasn’t such a shitty golfer I might have a different point of view!
@petersloan49678 ай бұрын
Very informative!!! Co-operation within the community is key bring back those values…. We’ll all benefit!!! On all the issues in this green and pleasant land
@ramblerandy23978 ай бұрын
I'd heard through Friends of the Earth earlier about their report, and so was aware of the "surprise" you were going to come up with, regarding the small percentage of acceptable land required and also that golf courses take up more space. Incidentally, golf courses aren't environentally fantastic, before anyone says how nice they are. Also, the output of two and a half times the electricity requirements gets close to Tony Seba's Re-ThinkX recommendation that if grids are built to provide for the depths of winter we end up with 4 times the electricity needs overall, which leads to Re-ThinkX's Super Power or super abundance, super cheap of electricity. Of course, if we pop solar panels on every domestic and industrial rooftop where suitable, we get to that 4X fairly easily. It's just infrastructure in the end, with present day technology. Bit of a no-brainer really, isn't it.
@factnotfiction59158 ай бұрын
> Bit of a no-brainer really, isn't it. Yes it is. Building 4x the needed physical assets up front, carrying that finance load while dropping the price on the product, and expecting demand to rise, so we can make it up on volume, on a well known inelastic demand curve is complete insanity. Only an _original_ investor in the Iridium satellite network would think this is a great idea. The vendors made money, and once the company was reorganized with a bankruptcy, the next set of investors can make a truly modest return. Wow!
@mosfet5008 ай бұрын
Thanks Dave, great info as usual!
@chrisspanswick73128 ай бұрын
I live in Alberta, Canada. The provincial government is putting a lot of obstacles in the way of expanding solar and wind. Many of us feel we know why!
@gavinmcinally84428 ай бұрын
Is it because you can't recycle the blades or the solar panels?
@chrisspanswick73128 ай бұрын
@@gavinmcinally8442 Sadly you can't recycle oil and gas. There are companies that now recycle blades and solar panels and I guess that will increase over time.
@ethanlamoureux53068 ай бұрын
@@chrisspanswick7312You don't have to recycle oil & gas because they are fully combustible. And the "recycling" of wind & solar products is a joke!
@chrisspanswick73128 ай бұрын
@@ethanlamoureux5306 That is the whole point. Full combustion of fossil fuels has lead us into the climate crisis. Recycling of solar and wind products is no joke. Check it out for yourself. There is a company inTexas doing just that for solar panels, also companies elsewhere are doing the same for wind turbine blades. Sadly, non of this is a joke but very serious.
@emceeboogieboots16088 ай бұрын
Here in Australia we make 12 million tonnes of coal ash per year, and that is just piled up as waste. That's around 47% of the energy mix Wind is around 11% generating up to 4000 tonnes of blade composite waste per year by 2034. Even if it is all buried it is significantly less per MWh Solar,1.67 kg per MWh Wind, 0.16 kg per MWh Coal, 84 kg per MWh Very little time is spent talking about coal ash waste, so why is the solid waste of these renewables such a big concern? Especially as it is much more benign And as the wind farms of today are replaced in 20 to 30 years, we will likely see a market for the waste develop as the amount increases. As for the Alberta tar sands, the best data I could get on the proven reserves is 5 billion tonnes of petcoke waste
@showme3608 ай бұрын
One of the concerns I have about off shore wind farms, is there security. Its very difficult to protect cables running along the sea bed. So to have wind farms on shore is in my view a nessecity. I am also understood that inline water turbines at sea can cover up to 20% of this countries base load. Orbital marine have just anouced that their latested round of alocation Round 5 (AR5) in the UK Government's Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme last year. The awarding of 2 CfDs for a total of 7.2MW to Orbital allows us to expand our development of projects in Orkney. This adds to last year's allocation (AR4) of 7.2MW, meaning the construction of 6 turbines is now covered by the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme.
@TheKlink8 ай бұрын
add wave to that for extra redundancy. really hope companies like gravitricity are successful too.
@SeanAltamurasalt8 ай бұрын
Dear Just have a think Here in Italy solar is expanding greatly. One of the bottlenecks for companies that install PVs is that they don't have enough trained workmen to take on market requests. Many installers offer contracts that pay for themselves through savings on electricity bills, just like you pointed out, only for large industrial appliancations or public buildings. Sean from Naples
@heronimousbrapson8638 ай бұрын
I live in Alberta, Canada the province most conducive to wind power in the country. We are also the prime fossil fuel producer in the nation. Our ultra right wing provincial government just lifted a six month moratorium on wind and solar development, but has put so many restrictions on the development of renewables (arguing that wind turbines are ugly, etc.) that the future of the industry is in doubt.
@rogerphelps99398 ай бұрын
How on earth can they argue that wind and solar are ugly when you have huge areas being mined for tar sands and extremely dirty massively polluting refineries doing goodness what to the groundwater?
@heronimousbrapson8638 ай бұрын
@@rogerphelps9939 Exactly.
@rogerphelps99398 ай бұрын
@@heronimousbrapson863 Indeed, but I am not advocating that we cling on to gas and oil heating, just that we have to properly plan for the green transition.
@s.m.70187 ай бұрын
The greatest impact our local wind farm has had was the reduction in the cost of electricity. I wish it had happened sooner.
@TheSometimeAfter8 ай бұрын
BP, Shell, Exxon will no doubt lobby against this until they can profit from it. I'd imagine they are a strong component in the delayed uptake of renewables. Obviously Cameron, Johnson, Sunak are figureheads of these companies and those alike.
@pin653718 ай бұрын
Exxon will be one of the largest producers of lithium within the next few years. They have been investing in it for a while now. One of the resources they have is worth half a trillion at current market prices.
@squallloire8 ай бұрын
BP and Shell are both pretty heavily invested in renewables at this point. That's not to say they're not still taking measures to protect their oil businesses, but they've already covered their bases when it comes to solar & wind.
@johndoh51828 ай бұрын
@@pin65371 Right but Exxon would also want power generation from oil, that way they're running power plants AND that electricity is running BEV, so they're making money all around. And I'm sure they're also pushing Hydrogen for which I cannot fathom how in the WORLD that's green energy, considering it's made from fossil fuels and just the act of continually searching for more deposits, drilling, and for offshore oil running large tankers to get that oil to shore, and then the cost of refining, then conversion costs and a HORRIBLE infrastructure to deal with it. And all CRAZY money expensive.
@dalekrenegade25968 ай бұрын
@@squallloire Really, anywhere I can confirm this?
@squallloire8 ай бұрын
@@dalekrenegade2596 Honestly you can just plug "BP renewable energy" or "Shell renewable energy" into google and will get a slew of results, both from the companies themselves and reputable news outlets like Reuters. BP are definitely more "in it" than Shell, but both have made moves to ensure they stay in business as the world shifts to relying more on renewables.
@brendanpells9128 ай бұрын
Just have a think about the high pressure anticyclones that regularly settle over the British Isles for days on end, bringing clear skies, bitterly cold frosts and negligible wind during winter months. Then factor in short days and low sun elevation. For example, for the 5-day period 17-22 December 2022, wind and solar met 4.4% of grid demand. Even if we increased capacity by x5, that would still only meet 22% of today's demand, never mind that grid demand is projected to rise. The shortfall will have to be met by gas for the foreseeable future. As for selling energy to other countries, those countries around the North Sea basin are doing the same. If we have surplus energy to sell, they'll probably have a surplus of their own to get rid of.
@HenkBronkhorst-c8c8 ай бұрын
yep just have a think it is not a 24/7 energy product all the time.
@jgreen93618 ай бұрын
Why not? The 24 part is a problem with fairly easy solutions. There are uses for energy that are not time critical. Instead of homes using expensive gas to heat hot water and storing it in a tank, cheap nighttime electricity to heat your water tank on a timer. Charging of Electric vehicles on cheap night tariffs is already with us. The 7 days a week is more challenging, but a broader range of renewables, pump storage schemes, hydrogen storage and other schemes are not too far away.
@MultiMenvafan8 ай бұрын
Yeah now we just need some sort of future magical technology that let's us charge and buffer energy for later use...
@garysmith50258 ай бұрын
Even if we had no way of storing energy, isn't it better to be fully renewable for say 98% of the time and use a bit of gas when we really, really need it? If nothing else it would make electricity much cheaper as the price is currently set by the cost of using gas turbines.
@HenkBronkhorst-c8c8 ай бұрын
@@jgreen9361 the trut is nothing is expensive, but it is made expensive.. the basic is from earth.
@HenkBronkhorst-c8c8 ай бұрын
@@MultiMenvafan you say it magic is a elusion a real thing but you dont see it. if you know what you call magic it is not magic anny more it will be a fact, for some stealing a solar licht and tro it a way later just because inside there home the magic is not working any more.
@LuisAldamiz8 ай бұрын
Turbines are not noisy anymore. They used to be but that has changed. The main problem is "aesthetic" or also good choice of location (sometimes archaeological sites are destroyed, for example) and also of concentration in certain areas that can become overexploited also with green energies (in Spain for example Galicia has been a major target of overexploitation by wind farms).
@jeremycole91588 ай бұрын
I would to correct you on that matter. I have just experienced a repowered wind farm. They were noise before and the repowered wind farm remains noisy with Enercon E53's. The wave length of the repowered win farm is longer and impacts properties that were previous unaffected. The noise penetrates properties and you can hear them n the right conditions for weeks at a time, 24 hours a day in our bedroom and outside in all areas of my property. Iam not against wind farm as they do have a role to play in the energy mix of the UK but there are occasions when their impact can be nothing less than catastrophic on a property. No free energy can compensate for this.
@LuisAldamiz8 ай бұрын
@@jeremycole9158 - I'm unsure about the details in Britain but there is also similar conflicts in Spain and nobody anymore mentions noise, while the pro-windmills publicity repeatedly shows peaceful herds of sheep ruminating under the white giants. This is AFAIK a real thing, unbiased sources also document that and opposition does not report noise anymore since at least a decade ago. The main anti-windmills arguments here are: overexplotation of some areas (notably windy Galicia), damage to archaeological sites occasionally and uglying of the landscape. There's a similar trend re. large solar panel "farms", which arguably destroy olive and other agricultural land in Andalusia, etc. (but otherwise cause no particular problem).
@stevehewitt11518 ай бұрын
Land clearance, huge bird and bat mortality, ugly monstrous pylons that can be seen from many miles away, incredibly low energy density, short life span, inability to recycle resulting in gigantic volumes of waste going into landfill and leaching highly toxic chemicals into the groundwater. Unreliables are an absolute abomination and will collapse in a heap as soon as the subsidies dry up. Apart from that they are wonderful!
@LuisAldamiz8 ай бұрын
@@stevehewitt1151 - Surely your points are valid, I presume, however what's the alternative? I strongly prefer solar + green hydrogen, not a great fan of wind turbines myself (more so when solar is generally more efficient nowadays) but what is definitely not an option is to continue with the fossil fuels, which we barely produce in Europe at all and which are destroying our climate stability as we speak.
@niclasevaldsson14678 ай бұрын
A positive development is the build out of electric cables between the UK and the Nordic countries. That storms and other weather patterns often travel west to east. So that wind power is often produced the most during different times in those regions. Norway and Sweden also have a lot of hydropower that can help to balance the grid.
@martincotterill8238 ай бұрын
Great video, Dave!
@JustHaveaThink8 ай бұрын
Cheers Martin. Glad you enjoyed it
@EileenDranchak8 ай бұрын
A few years ago I watched a video on how Switzerland had developed flexible solar sheets that can be adhered to anything and are 100% more effective than the existing solar panels at the time. We could increase the production of energy produced by wind turbines if we wall papered them with the flexible solar sheets. That would be two energy sources in one.
@EllieMaes-Grandad8 ай бұрын
Are they expensive, or cheap as chips? It makes a difference.
@kennethkaminski34388 ай бұрын
100% RE is a pipe dream. You either need tons of STORAGE, or a 100% backup by natural gas. Why is it difficult to comprehend that intermittent, unreliable electricity sources are not able to provide electricity 24/7? Just have a think about Germany, the most RE and the highest prices.
@simhedgesrex70978 ай бұрын
You don't need a 100% backup even now (renewable provision in the UK never drops to zero). But you do, still, need a lot of backup - however, the more RE installations you have, the gas you burn. Long term storage will come along in the next few years, enabling gas backup plant to start being phased out.
@philipwright66178 ай бұрын
Spot on. People forget that a blocking high pressure zone over the UK in Winter would cause wind power to virtually stop ,and as soon as gets dark solar vanishes as well -just in time for everyone to come home from work and put the heating/cooker on. Widespread blackouts could well become common in mid -Winter.
@EllieMaes-Grandad8 ай бұрын
@@philipwright6617 UK had them in the early 1970s - not good for homes or factories.
@matthewhuszarik41738 ай бұрын
You don’t need ton of storage you just need the proper mix of sources and some storage. You will always need peaking capacity. You have always needed peaking capacity. That peaking capacity can be any type of generation. Economics and pollution goals are the only constraints. Here in California during the day our electricity is frequently 100% renewable while also pumping up pumped storage and batteries. Right now most of our peaking capacity is Natural gas. But more wind turbines are planned to give more generation in the evening and winter. Like I said you just need the proper mix of power sources and storage. We are steadily moving in that direction. You might have heard here in California we are keeping a nuclear plant open another five or so years to ensure adequate supplies.
@kennethkaminski34388 ай бұрын
@@matthewhuszarik4173 so what do you do at night when the wind dies down? Of course you need a ton of storage, if you don’t have Solar and wind available, which happens every night. California has a ton of solar, that works well during midday, but when the sun goes down, the gas plants fire up to provide the required energy. Natural gas still provides over 30% of California’s electricity supply. I don’t think you understand the big picture of how the grid works. If you don’t think you’re gonna need tons of storage with 100% RE. And you’re gonna need that nuclear plant longer than five more years.
@CanicusMotors8 ай бұрын
Price of first gen turbines, second generation (replacement of the first generation ones) will be much much cheaper once the foundations and grid already is there. Meaning wind gets vastly cheaper second round.
@benmcreynolds85818 ай бұрын
Serious question: it's 2024, we are very aware of the effort we must put in to achieve any kind of minute effect on our climate. So why isn't Nuclear energy right up there included with these mass projects focused on renewable energy? There is nothing more climate friendly, energy efficient & reliable resources than the advances we've made with modern nuclear energy options.. Yet these advancements aren't being utilized anywhere.. It's one of those things that once it is installed, we will be so grateful to have it incorporated in our grid.
@cameronf33438 ай бұрын
Beyond excited for the impact that iron nitride permanent magnets in generators and perovskites solar will make to the energy game.
@jfolz8 ай бұрын
Re: "Why am I being told wind turbines are loud"? I very much wonder that as well. If they were so terribly loud, you'd imagine the internet being full of examples, but there's hardly any, mostly from people living essentially next to the turbines. What you do find a lot of is people spreading FUD about the noise.
@LuisAldamiz8 ай бұрын
Because they used to be one or two decades ago. Not anymore.
@TaiViinikka8 ай бұрын
@@LuisAldamiz Even in 2004, 20 years ago, a local example was quiet. Maybe the difference is scale? Small wind turbines have always tended to be noisy/buzzy, which is fine since they aren't usually installed where anyone except the owner is within earshot. ( Vestas model V80-1.8MW wind turbine in this case. )
@jfolz8 ай бұрын
@@TaiViinikka wind turbines did get massive awfully fast, so there may be something to it. Onshore models more than tripled in diameter within 20 years, but advanced flow simulations only became possible/commonplace recently. Could be an interesting topic for a video.
@LuisAldamiz8 ай бұрын
@@TaiViinikka - I made a course on renewable energies in 2022 and that's what we learned: that old turbines were noisy but that nowadays that problem has been solved for good. I don't remember the exact dates.
@itekani8 ай бұрын
Is there possibly any issue with subsonic sound waves with newer, bigger turbines?
@stuartwoodburn26538 ай бұрын
I live in Holland and have shares in on shore wind turbines and we have a very low energy bill. When the energy crisis happened we had no increase in our bill. We went all electric some years ago, so why is the UK so behind? It crazy keep up the good work.
@thewyj8 ай бұрын
It's amazing to think that 100 years from now, when crops are failing and catastrophic weather is displacing and killing millions, our grandchildren will have to explain to their children: "We had the technology, but it was the planning regulations you see."
@Jeremy-WC8 ай бұрын
100 years is rather optimistic catastrophic weather is killing 10000s already and I imagine crop failure will take out billions before 2050.
@jfolz8 ай бұрын
When people complain about the cost of going net-zero, it's because they don't understand the future cost of delaying it.
@Quazee1378 ай бұрын
Here in California I would like to see where home owners and renters can buy into solar/wind farms so no matter where the live they help and see the benefits. Also adding whole house batteries to offset time of day demand and outages. Something like the town/city has its own power company.
@vonries8 ай бұрын
It is the same problem as with the war in Ukraine. The very vocal minority stopped things in the US Congress even though the majority supported the war. I love the idea of including renters as owners. That has got to be the best idea I've heard in forever. Thanks. Glory to Ukraine. God Bless Ukraine and her people. 🇺🇦🇺🇸
@mpart_woodlathe-stuff8 ай бұрын
Yes, yes, yes to all your points !! ... and слава Україні ! героям слава ! 🇺🇸🤝🇺🇦
@100c0c8 ай бұрын
Pathetic
@ericmartin24708 ай бұрын
Germany tried going down the "Wind and Solar" road and now people are finding out how "great" EVs are. Now i'd like to talk about a bridge in Brooklyn i have for sale and some beachfront property in Arizona.
@jesan7338 ай бұрын
Sure wind and solar has been a great disappointment, but the EV slowdown is vastly overhyped. EVs will continue growing in sales to complete market dominance.
@ericmartin24708 ай бұрын
@@jesan733 EVs in their current form are garbage and horrible for the environment. EV batteries only last about 7 to 10 years at most and to replace the battery pack cost $20k and up. the Rare Earth materials, such as the permanent magnets in the electric motors, are energy intensive to mine, refine and manufacture. Insurance companies often write off the car even for relativity minor damage because repair costs are astronomical. the EV market is drying up as consumers are finding out the massive disadvantages of ownership. unless we see a big breakthrough in battery technology (such as super capacitors) and in electric motors - the market for EVs will crash in the next 5 years or less.
@jesan7338 ай бұрын
@@ericmartin2470 why do you think EV batteries will last that short? I have a 2019 Nissan Leaf with 85,000 km and I see zero battery degradation so far. It seems to me that lifetime cost of driving an EV is lower than for a gasoline car. Since cost can be assumed to be proportional to environmental impact, I think the gas car is worse for the environment. Furthermore, EV metals can be recycled, unlike gasoline. Repair costs are high, but ordinary maintenance costs are low. The EV market is growing worldwide, probably by 20-30% CAGR until far closer to saturation than we are today. Typical S-curve that will go to very close to 100% market share before 2040. EV customers are incredibly happy and almost all first-time EV buyers I've talked to say "this is the best car I've ever owned".
@OldScientist8 ай бұрын
What happens if we get 56 days of "dunkelflaute" like the UK got in 2018? Projecting out to 2050 with increased demand from electrification of transport and heating etc, we would need to find something like 28TWh of missing electricity generated from wind power (but the wind won't be blowing!). Britain currently has 39.3 GWh of pumped storage. There are 4 pumped storage stations in Britain. No storage capacity has been added to the grid since the 1980s, and there is no other large scale energy storage in the country. To cover a cold dark still winter you would need to increase pumped storage capacity by a factor of about 1000 (taking into account pumped storage is about 75% efficient). So we would need to find 4000 suitable locations where a 300 to 400m dam can be built to hold back 10 million cubic metres of water, with a fall to the turbines below of about 400 metres. Then we would have to build 160 of these every year, year after year, for 25 years. The scale, and the massive cost of storage, by whatever method (pumped storage is one of the cheapest by the way), make it an impossible mission.
@jacka96128 ай бұрын
That's where the 100% predictable and plannable tidal power generated by Minesto 12m small, 28 tonnes light, 1,2MW (!) tidal kite turbines makes an entry. Deployed now in Faroe Islands and soon in Wales Holyhead deep.
@-_James_-8 ай бұрын
Norwegian research recently showed that you can reduce bird deaths from wind turbines by (I forget what it is) simply by painting one blade a different, contrasting colour to the rest.
@rob196328 ай бұрын
So the cost has declined by 70% and we pretty much have the most expensive electricity ever.
@LiamE698 ай бұрын
The maths ain't mathing.
@garysmith50258 ай бұрын
Gas fuelled electricity generation sets the price, that will change when the renewable build out reaches the point of the gas power stations no longer being viable businesses. At that point they'll be nationalised and used as our back-up, National Grid stated last year that it would add 0.75p/kWhr to maintain such a capability, seems like a bargain.
@fudhater85928 ай бұрын
Who's "we"?
@devonbikefilms8 ай бұрын
@@fudhater8592 United Kingdom. “We” have a mad pricing law where gas prices set the overall electricity price. If we had actual competition, the gas stations would be priced out of the market and renewables would move in at a fast rate.
@fudhater85928 ай бұрын
@@devonbikefilms Fair enough. Here in the U.S. states with a lot of renewable energy tend to have lower prices
@petesplaneta93408 ай бұрын
Brilliantly informative
@TheCraterGames8 ай бұрын
My question is... If the solar, wind and others eco friendly net zero power generators are geting cheaper and cheaper, why is cost of electricity in houses getting more expensive every year...
@IronmanV58 ай бұрын
Because a good portion of current generation is from natural gas. Thanks to Putin, natural gas prices have gone up.
@MultiMenvafan8 ай бұрын
Exactly. Petrolpopulists have a hard time keeping two thoughts in their head at the same time.
@JohnR314158 ай бұрын
@@IronmanV5and because of archaic pricing policies the price of electricity is tied to gas
@mostevil10828 ай бұрын
It's still quite a bit more expensive than the alternatives, which have been getting more expensive.
@adblocker2768 ай бұрын
No, that’s because of the archaic system of pricing energy in the U.K. the price you pay for electricity is based on the cost of the most expensive source.