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PV should enable distributed power generation. I'm not saying grid storage, grid generation, and grid hydro isn't needed, but home solar should be a strong focus of policy.

The cost differentials are basically all down to labor, which is generally locally captured.

The "long supply chain" of batteries isn't true. We don't need cobalt or nickel for grid. Sodium Ion is going into mass production in China, and LFP is topping 200 wh/kg. Hell,you don't need cobalt or nickel for EVs anymore, a 300-400 mile car should be easily doable with the current state of the art LFP, and 200-300 doable with sodium ion.

Hydro storage is very very efficient (thanks to all the engineering that went into hydro dams), I think it's in the 90%+ for efficiency. It definitely should be a major part of our energy plans, but this thread makes it seem like it's the only practical way, and uses pumped hydrogen as a straw man competitor.

We need grid wind, gridsolar, geothermal, keep the nuclear, hydro, home solar, home storage, chemical batteries ... all of it. But the cost profile of wind/solar is already better than natural gas turbine, and I'm hoping wind/solar+batteries will pass everything in 5 years with sodium ion, but I don't have numbers on that.

This two weeks storage is ridiculous. With good home solar buildout, that is not needed.




You say ridiculous, and then Texas gets snowed in...




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