Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

dontpet t1_j7vtzhd wrote

Reply to comment by goodsam2 in Renewables are on track to satiate the world's appetite for electricity by ForHidingSquirrels

I look forward to the time when we are confronting the question of what to do about the last 10%.

I suspect we will have much better answers by then than nuclear power.

4

goodsam2 t1_j7vx1ov wrote

Me too.

Yeah I mean some niche places are getting close to the upper end but renewables can get us rather far.

Yeah we have clear answers about what to add on the marginal short to medium term for decarbonization. Something like 60% renewable on average is the estimated floor I've seen and by the time we get closer to that we'll know what to do for the next part or at least yeah a better idea.

I think geothermal is a clear winner with improved drilling techniques. Leading to less obvious geothermal being added. IDK how far that goes but lots of places could add some.

3

stevey_frac t1_j7ysvcs wrote

They are demonstrating geothermal boreholes with plasma drills now. The plan is to do a 20km deep borehole, in just 100 days, next year.

If that is actually achievable, we can drill a borehole next to every single coal plant in the world, and run the turbine off of super critical geothermal steam... Basically forever.

2