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ExquisiteFacade t1_j5von20 wrote

Reply to comment by Nothingtoseeheremmk in Researchers unveil the least costly carbon capture system to date - down to $39 per metric ton. by PNNL

Poppycosh! We won't do anything until we find the one and only perfect solution that fixes all problems. Doing anything less than perfect is basically worse than doing nothing at all!

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i_am_bromega t1_j5vrs8h wrote

That’s what I hate when people say we shouldn’t invest in the new small modular nuclear reactors, and should rely only on solar/wind + battery storage. We should do both now and decarbonize as much as possible! We have an insane amount of energy production to replace. Let’s attack it from as many angles as we can.

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ukezi t1_j5y0dez wrote

The SMRs are however more costly then solar plus storage. If we build SMRs a lot of capital gets bound there that could have build more solar and storage instead.

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i_am_bromega t1_j5yfbwr wrote

I don’t think the cost of SMRs are settled, but the one thing that I keep hearing is that solar + storage is cheaper than everything. Where are you seeing this because it doesn’t add up. Solar can be cheaper without storage. The battery storage for utility scale systems combined with over building solar to charge the batteries so they are available when the sun doesn’t shine is way more expensive than other sources.

Then you have to look at Lithium mining. Demand is growing and we already will have to produce much more lithium than we do today for the tiny % of EV cars that are produced. Demand is growing and everyone is hoping that new tech will allow us to meet that demand in the coming decades. The problem is that tech is not proven yet. If lithium prices triple due to demand, battery storage is less economical with current tech.

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