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John Hansen's avatar

Excellent article by @Michael Liebreich on #AI #DataCenters and #Energy by Michael Liebreich. If you're more of a #CleanEnergy, #Renewables and #EnergyMarket wonk, push through to the midway point. If AI-focused, the front end is for you. Either way, we're all better informed for his rigorous efforts. Thanks, Michael! Here’s your cupcake recipie… https://butternutbakeryblog.com/gingerbread-cupcakes/

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David Thielen's avatar

I disagree with one point you made - using wind with gas backup. I dove into the trade offs expecting to have a strong argument for wind. I ended up finding a CCGT is more efficient and emits less CO2 than wind+SCGT. I’ve run this past a number of people that know all this much better than me. One person find a mistake in my math that I corrected. Otherwise, no issues.

It’s here if you’re interested - https://liberalandlovingit.substack.com/p/the-math-wind-energy-is-a-false-solution

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Michael Liebreich's avatar

Nice calculation. But I'm taking about hybridizing wind, solar and batteries - perhaps also some nuclear and geothermal - you can reduce the use of gas backup to a few percent of the year.

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David Thielen's avatar

If you get a big enough battery - yes. But price out that battery - it’s a ridiculous amount of money.

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