IIUC, it’s variable D/C which must be regulated and/or inverted to A/C involving more hardware, conversion, and waste.

Actually, I had a discussion about this with someone who really knows this stuff recently, and we figured that the inversion process isn’t actually that inefficient. The efficiencies achieved are often >95%, so there isn’t actually a lot of loss.

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yes, and more importantly, normal Hydro plants could be updated to release water at selected times, to create “on-demand power”. The energy is stored in the water behind the dam. So conventional, already-existing hydro dams can perform a two-sided function: Storing water, and to release it on-demand. Like a battery that is refilled by nature.

My idea is that most Hydro-Power plants can be used as reservoirs with little modification.

And biomass can be burned at whatever moment you like (provided you have the plants to do so), so it is “on-demand power” in some sense.

• non-urgent computing (AI training)
• non-urgent transports (i.e. construction material)
• steel, aluminum production

The thing I heard is that geothermal energy is actually only renewable on geological timescales, i.e. not really “renewable”. It’s just that there are very large reserves, so it’s not immediately obvious. But I can’t find a link rn.

It’s a conundrum, because while biofuels are expensive, there are ways to make them significantly cheaper, for example refining organic garbage and waste into fuels.

actually, that’s not true. I built a hobby-grade hydrolysis machine in my garage for a total of $3. I can’t imagine hydrolysis machines to be significantly expensive in general.

The reason why they’re expensive today is because they’re completely over-engineered. But that’s not physics’ fault. It’s just someone seeking the “highest-quality product” instead of one that makes economic sense.

Just informing you: You can see the power output of PV panels by looking at the Watt number. It says something like 400 Wp (Watt peak - i.e. Watt under direct sunlight). Voltage is more or less irrelevant.

solar energy is the cheapest form of energy at this point. capitalism will drive the green energy revolution forward from now on.