Renewables Still Too Expensive vs Fossil Fuels
The core pain is the ongoing struggle to make renewable energy economically competitive with fossil fuels, hindering widespread adoption and creating societal costs. Complaints highlight price barriers, reliance on fossil fuel infrastructure, and the need for continued technological advancements to drive down costs and ensure a viable transition. There's a sense of urgency and frustration with slow progress and inadequate solutions.
SOURCES (60)
“> The point is that the 1st country to achieve that leap will get to use it to gain advantages in literally every sector.That's still speculative. We have something of a basis for speculation with the way LLMs influenced software engineering, but it's not necessarily…”
“I saw this question was asked a few years ago but, I was wondering if there was any new recommendations especially any reads (books, articles, or videos too) about clean energy/ adapting cleaner energy, or works comparing and contrasting different energy systems in different countries. submitted by /u/kukakat [link] [comments]”
“There's 1000 BILLION tonnes of coal sitting in reserves worldwide. At current rates of consumption, this will last humanity 120 years. Due to decarbonization of electricity and steel industry, this runway will increase to 200 years by 2050. Eventually coal will not be used much at all and billions of tons will be wasted. Now that's a gigantic amount of coal just sitting in the ground. Coal is cheap to mine, it costs about $25/ton. We need to find alternative uses for it instead of just l”
“Hey r/energy , Energy debates often get stuck comparing raw energy densities (MJ/kg or kWh/L) or isolated component efficiencies. But that misses the full picture — how a fuel + its actual conversion system performs together in delivering usable work. I just published a short conceptual whitepaper on Zenodo introducing 1GE (One-Gallon Equivalence): • Defined as ~30 MJ of usable work. • Benchmark: the work you get by electrolyzing one gallon of water into hydrogen, then running it through a reali”
“It would be like Anthropic wanting $500/gal, offering it for $100/gal because the state is subsidizing $400 from your tax money while kimi gives you the whole cow”
“Just FYI, the US is oil independent and is the largest exporter of oil in the world. This is misleading. There are different kinds of oil for different uses. The US produces more oil than it uses, and is a net exporter, but the US doesn't produce the oil it uses, by and large.”
“Anybody made much use of offsetting? Is it just greenwashing? submitted by /u/Still-Improvement-32 [link] [comments]”
“> Nope, because they are irrelevant in the scheme of sources of CO2. Tons emitted is all that matters.So if China split up into 200 countries, they are irrelevant? The US and Europe are ahead in cumulative emissions even today. If "tons emitted is all that matters" then that's who is the most responsible. All the carbon is still in the atmosphere.> If you only build renewable to deal with a shortage of fossil fuels, then you’re not addressing global warming.Why the heck not? Whatever happened t”
“Things won't go back to the ways things were, but they aren't going to stay the same either. When you see energy or physics experts talk on data centers, even ones not in space, they're confident there just isn't the energy available for the scenarios that the tech bros are selling. We also don't know the real costs of tokens because the leaders in this space are still private companies. But we do know they are spending A LOT, and doing a lot of creative accounting to mask ho”
“We live in a rural area on the Chesapeake Bay. Because we can't send our power back to the grid I watch our battery backup and try to use surplus power so we can keep storing what we generate. Yesterday was reasonably sunny but the generation was about 20% of what I'd normally expect. It was sunny yet the generation would be like a very dreary rainy day. Is it possible that the haze from the DC (and of course other areas) fireworks obscured our sun? submitted by /u/Informatio”
“The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. Daniel Yergin He wrote about the history and structure of the fossil fuel industry, focusing on oil and natural gas, up to the then current 1990 and has written two follow up books since that take this up to 2020. Is there any comparable book that focuses on renewable energy? submitted by /u/AgenYT0 [link] [comments]”
“Some large industrial operations do have their own power plants. Are you familiar with the push for SMRs?”
“I wouldn’t say it’s political nonsense, it’s definitely important if we want to live comfortably. My problem is the whole idea of individual responsibility being pushed harder, as in we’re the ones made to feel bad and we’re being asked to make cutbacks, while as you correctly point out the rich are free to seemingly do as they please. It should be a collective effort, from big businesses to the rich and poor. Everyone just wants to live comfortably. Unfortunately, though, unless individuals com”
“This is the second fossil fuel crisis that Europe has been hit with in the last five years. Right now, the governments are investing, heavily in subsidies to reduce the cost of these fossil fuels which prevents demand destruction and takes away from money that could be better spent on more clean energy investments. Do we think the EU well get serious about investing in more renewables moving forward or will they go back to making a lot of noise, but few investments? submitted by /u/V”
“Seems like the perfect storm for renewable fuels is finally here, bipartisan support, X15N RNG engine adoption, high/sticky diesel prices, the big boys like chevron, BP, Loves, all seem to want in. I like Opal fuels myself they make pretty solid profits and they should continue to grow for the foreseeable future… but I also see so many small renewable fuel producers, is the space oversaturated or are the big boys about to go on a shopping spree? submitted by /u/Fwhometeam [link]  ”
“People keep saying critical minerals are the "new oil," but that analogy feels too simplistic. With oil, the challenge was relatively simple: if you needed supply, you focused on securing supply. (I know with Hormuz atm this isn't as simple as it was, but still, the problem is easy to spot, and you at least know what you need to do to solve it) But critical minerals seem different, and might end up meaning that we look back on Hormuz disruptions with a certain fondness for the pred”
“Source: edenenergy.ai https://preview.redd.it/be9c8k4ju49h1.png?width=981&format=png&auto=webp&s=6b2d4a649f974d3bd88b5fb038edf6f9993c6cae submitted by /u/EveningSpiritual8168 [link] [comments]”
“Some pretty good points of data in the talk. One that got me was that Texas has a Que for data centers that is about 5x the total current peak grid capacity of data centers. Another was the that US automakers shift to battery production for grid storage is part of a manufacturing trend in the US that will have 2026 double the total US grid batteries in operation in 2026 and it will double the 2026 figure by 2028. submitted by /u/flateplane [link] [comments]”
“The AI giants can't get their hands on enough energy.... and yet promise not to boost our energy bills.... For people who have been in the energy space long enough, the short-term outcome here is obvious. There aren't enough electrons to go around, and prices will inevitably be going up 😞 Then again, in the long term, it's good for clean energy development... submitted by /u/EnergyEnthusiast [link] [comments]”
“My career is IT infrastructure, since the 1990s. Early on, power saving technologies appealed to me, the ethical reason then was to save on fossil fuels for future use. Yes, some of us olds were more concerned with running out of energy (also wasting money) eventually than destroying our biome back in those days. (Yes, I was living under a rock.). And maybe just a frugal nature, IDK. Over the decades, I can’t tell you how much server and network hardware I have unplugged and decommissioned. I th”
“Oil vs renewables. Energy security vs climate goals. Economic growth vs sustainability. Increasingly, it feels as if people are not simply disagreeing. They may be operating from entirely different versions of reality. Curious what this community thinks. submitted by /u/OkyEscritora [link] [comments]”
“The meticulous plans have no chance of delivering electrification of heat at the scale they aspire to, because they don't actually address the economics or consumer appeal of it. Hence they're going to fail to address a large wedge of our emissions while fixating on the part of the energy system which is already cleanest, and adding further cost. Also, it's a Reddit thread. What do you want, a PDF with my modelled scenarios? I've been pretty clear about how I think we should repr”
“it mostly comes down to relatively high prices for feedstocks, land use conflicts that prevent it from scaling as plants are not that efficient at converting energy from sunlight to chemical which is then subject to the usual two thirds waste of a thermal power plant and logistics as most plants are village based for a reason. it's imo a good way of dealing with farm waste but most of that potential is already in use and beyond that it's more or less just an expensive greenwashing scheme”
“Uniformed opinion but biofuels in general need a lot of input feedstock so they need good access to a ready supply to make the economics and environmental benefits start to look good. Trucking in lots of materials daily is not a good start.”
“Making hydrogen is step one for switching industry that is currently dependent on natural gas feedstock over to something more sustainable. As energy storage, it's meh.”
“This happens a lot. The us has also had large spikes to catch expiring subsidy schemes, followed by a dip in installation.”
“Yep Texas’s electrical grid was built to resist being swayed by ideological reasons. Little did they know it’s resisting swaying by the right because of it”
“It's the same definition used by fusion bros for a century or anyone talking about a perpetual motion machine. It's also getting close to being literally true. In some cases a solar panel is cheaper than other things that you could use to fill a 2d space like a carport or a fence and cheaper than a wire to a centralised generator or a meter. If it costs you less than the equipment for receiving other kinds of energy or less than a fence, then it is at least as good as free. It's also”
“Capturing methane from landfill gas (or other methane producing pieces process) is great. It reduces methane emissions, and powers the infrastructure we already have. Downside is that there's not enough stray methane to power our entire civilization, so it needs to be supplemented with extracted fossil fuels.”
“They're working on clean coal powered cars. And clean coal home heating. I can barely contain my excitement. I kept my grandpa's coal shovel in anticipation”
“If "digging myself deeper" is suggesting that maybe the EIA knows more about this than you, a random Internet guy, than I will gladly continue”
“Batteries are getting cheaper all the time. Solar + batteries = cheaper than LNG”
“That’s a shame. I had a thought about that huge plume of biomass waste that comes down through the US being siphoned off and used. Not Africa though is it. We clearly need loads of all fuels somehow. Can the ammonia production be done locally instead of transporting the hydrogen?”
“It's interesting though for future projections considering battery chemistry technology developments. There's talk of aircraft and ships being able to be run by batteries that are theoretical or prototypes at this stage but it certainly seems very possible and very economically incentivised that these types of vehicles could be run for far cheaper off of a power source that is far more stable. I think fossil fuels are facing a slow decline. Some sectors will be faster than others to repl”
“There is a major difference between being reliant on fossil fuels imports and electricity imports: when your source gets cut, in the former case you have several months to react and adapt, in the latter you merely have seconds.”
“We live in a dumb world where logic fails contact with reality. You'd think they wouldn't vote against their interests yet they do.”
“You get the future you invest in. The EU is already dependent on energy supplies from the Middle East and North Africa. Tossing €5 billion in seed money amortized over several years at renewable projects in Africa is just a fraction of the EU's current yearly energy bill from MENA countries. It is a drop in the bucket compared to the hundreds of €billions in EU funded renewables investments within Europe. But, as for the future of MENA energy production + export, which do you prefer: fossil”
“This Data is from 2023. Electricity and heat production is responsible for 15.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. Transportation 7.52 bil t, Agriculture 6.15 bt (that's all agriculture animal husbandry). Total was 50.3 billion t. Meat industry definitely contributes to GHG emissions. Data shows that 66% of the agricultural land is devoted for growing livestock feed and only 8% is for direct human consumption. However, this mostly doesn't account for allocation in LCA”
“Transportation, food and housing (mostly heating/AC) are the 3 big emitters as an individual. The people that told you it doesn't change much, did they explain to you why? I've never heard it. And making it a public policy has an even bigger impact than an individual chosing to stop/reduce meat.”
“Electrify America says they buy renewable energy for their EV chargers. We take road trips and try to use them as much as possible.”
“https://oilprice-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Quiet-Peak-of-the-Internal-Combustion-Engine.amp.html?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQGsAEggAID#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17810043364839&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Foilprice.com%2FEnergy%2FEnergy-General%2FThe-Quiet-Peak-of-the-Internal-Combustion-Engine.html submitted by /u/MotorwayNomad [link] [comments]”
“Hydrocarbon fuels are currently more expensive due to a war imposed scarcity. Oil reserves remain stable despite banks defunding exploration for profit. Electricity generation has become less stable due to subsidised intermittent generation from solar and wind. Storage is non existent and cannot scale. You have not written one true thing here.”
“As long as every country makes the right policies. Some of them are heavily lobbied by the petro industry”
“Seems like entite World is moving towards using EV cars instead of ICE type. All except backwards moving USA, maybe it takes edge off slightly, wait till August to see full effects”