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jarnhestur t1_jd8xyte wrote

Reply to comment by Erin-DidYouFindMe in Maine's Energy future by mainething

I don't think holding up China as an example of how the US should further develop our power grid is very smart or even applicable.

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Erin-DidYouFindMe t1_jd8ypls wrote

China, Korea, Japan, and Nordic Countries are all doing this (or nearly identical) systems, many modeled off of the Chinese model you see above. China is - for all intents and purposes - the most prolific solar producer in the world.

Your feelings about the Chinese are blinding you to the solutions that are being created.

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jarnhestur t1_jd99g1q wrote

https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/chinas-energy-crisis-sees-worlds-top-emitter-investing-more-coal#:~:text=China%20is%20in%20the%20midst,coal%20investments%20to%20meet%20demand.&text=Two%20months%20of%20scorching%20heatwaves,into%20an%20energy%20security%20crisis.

https://chinadialogue.net/en/energy/chinas-power-system-needs-to-modernise/#:~:text=Experts%20say%20the%20crisis%20highlights,can%20quickly%20cause%20electricity%20shortages.

China's power grid is an absolute mess. Also, China is one of the worst worst polluters. This isn't a feeling issue - it's a reality issue.

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This isn't about solar power - I'm all for solar power. However, holding the Chinese power grid up as what we should be aiming for is... laughable.

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Erin-DidYouFindMe t1_jd9dwti wrote

> This isn't about solar power

That is the topic and I'm not deviating it to argue about something that no one is disagreeing with...

> Holding the Chinese power grid up

No one is doing this.

Saying China is doing a good job at building up their infrastructure isn't saying they have the best grid ever, its just stating a fact that their renewable energy and infrastructure spending is both modern-oriented and proven efficient towards their goal of creating a robust, green power grid. As proven by several European countries, Japan, the US, South Korea, and even super rural places in Africa. China is just doing a lot more of it - in part because they need to, to get off coal and make their grid more robust.

China is also working on curtailment efficiency (Mongolian parts wasted about 10-12% because the solar panels are producing more than the curtailment can handle) and are doing so, in part, by developing a combination of centralized and decentralized "mesh network" solar panel grid system that's shown to be highly effective. A model the US should be more oriented towards.

Again, for a country that went through their industrial revolution 100 years after us - who are, in effect, 100 years behind us in power grid infrastructure building and development.

By... doing things like what is specifically in that picture and in this post.

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