• thanks_shakey_snake@lemmy.ca
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    29 days ago

    Lol yes you walked right into that one… Well let me try to meet you half way with some open-ended questions:

    1. What does “stabilize” mean in this context, and are the challenges there different than the challenges with non-renewables like fossil fuels?

    2. What are the biggest bottlenecks for stabilizing renewables, and how surmountable are they? For example, I’ve heard lots of talk about how large-scale battery networks(…?) are important to smooth out capacity for swingy energy sources like solar and wind (i.e. you gotta make sure the power doesn’t go out at night!), but the materials for batteries (e.g. extractable lithium?) are scarce… Or similar concerns about photovoltaic cells. Is there any merit to those concerns? Or are the bottlenecks elsewhere? Or is there no bottleneck at all but Big Oil is conspiring to keep us on hydrocarbons?