On 24/08/2018 14:07, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Chris Hogg wrote:
But also by then the myth that we can rely solely on renewables will
have long since been exposed.

Has anyone sensible ever claimed that for the UK?

The likes of Turnip keep on saying it seems to be some sort of only option.

What is wrong with having a variety of ways of generating power? Ie, eggs
in one basket.

As we already do with 'conventional generation' A mixture of coal, gas,
nuclear, hydro. So why not add in wind and solar etc too?

It's very odd Brexiteers seem to be able to predict the future as regards
that - but have no concept about developments in wind, tide solar and
storage that *will* come. Just look at how far mobile phone batteries and
life have improved in a relatively short time.


Oh renewables have their place. Windmills on the Shetlands make perfect
sense when your only other source is a diesel generator. Hydro has been
the cheapest source since generation started and we will always use this
to the limit. Similarly pumped storage, as long as there is a decent
head and storage volume. But the energy densities in other renewables
are low compared to "conventional" sources like fossil and nuclear.
There are some special cases, for example Las Vegas has max demand for
aircon which coincides exactly with the available solar, and it is
surrounded by desert.