• Arkouda@lemmy.ca
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    4 months ago

    Solar/wind + battery storage is cheaper than natural gas and a hell of a lot cleaner. It makes no sense to go for a more expensive, dirtier form of energy.

    How exactly is the production of batteries cleaner and cheaper than the production of natural gas?

    • mriguy@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      You make the batteries once, and the pollution due to production is spread over the 10-15 year lifetime of the battery. During that time gigawatt hours of clean power sloshes in and out of them. This in contrast to having to produce enough gas to make all of those gigawatt hours once, then throw the gas away as co2 and get more, along with the attendant pollution.

      • Arkouda@lemmy.ca
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        4 months ago

        Batteries have infinite energy now? No storage issues due to electrical surges, heat, cold, or anything else that makes batteries sub optimal? While seemingly by magic, mining rare earth minerals spreads its environmental impact over 10-15 years of the lifetime of the battery with 0 negative impact to the area the mine is located?

        Oh wait… None of that is true so I guess you can try again.

        • mriguy@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          I have no idea what you are trying to say. Batteries have an environmental impact, but so does fracking for natural gas. You have the impact up front making a battery, but charging it with renewables does not have continued environmental impact. But if you use gas, you’re going to have to use an awful lot of it over that time period to offset the clean power you’re able to use when you have a battery. And that gas has a very high environmental impact, continually, over that entire time period.

          I didn’t say batteries have NO impact, but they have less impact than continually mining and burning fossil fuels.

          • SeaJ@lemm.eeOP
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            4 months ago

            They are using a strawman and trying to claim victory. They are not arguing in good faith.

          • Arkouda@lemmy.ca
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            4 months ago

            The fact that you believe renewable energy sources have no environmental impact demonstrates to me the need to no longer speak with you. My brain can take only so much ignorance and green washing is my line today.

        • SeaJ@lemm.eeOP
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          4 months ago

          mining rare earth minerals

          Are you under the impression that we use NMC batteries for grid energy storage?? LOL

          • Arkouda@lemmy.ca
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            4 months ago

            Are you under the impression that we use NMC batteries for grid energy storage?? LOL

            Sure is weird how you think you are owning me here while ignoring the fact that all batteries have an environmental impact and Lithium is one of the worst when it comes to battery components that are incredibly costly to the environments where it is mined, which is the main component in batteries used for grid storage.

            “LOL”

    • SeaJ@lemm.eeOP
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      4 months ago

      Mostly because natural gas is a one and done thing when it is used. Batteries can be recycled. Production of natural gas is largely done through racking which destroys the groundwater. While batteries often require mining (excluding mechanical ones), they often can be broken down and reused in new batteries. And of course there is the greenhouse gas emissions from methane that are horrible. Methane is extremely leaky. Methane usage emits about as much greenhouse gas emissions as coal does.

      • Arkouda@lemmy.ca
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        4 months ago

        I enjoy how much effort it takes to ignore how batteries are produced in order to argue for them in a comparison with natural gas.

        • SeaJ@lemm.eeOP
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          4 months ago

          I enjoy that you are making a strawman. Nobody ever said batteries have no negatives. You asked how they were cleaner than natural gas. I answered. Sorry that the answer hurt your feelings.