8.5 was the scenario for what happens if humans keep accelerating their rate of petroleum extraction consistent with what we've done over the past century.
The IPCC is now saying it's "implausible" because that would create a situation where petroleum was significantly more expensive than renewables, and who would want to extract petroleum to create a power plant that was more expensive than a solar plant?
Grad-scale batteries (Li-ion, LFP, etc.) has changed that. Check out the Edwards & Sanborn solar/battery installation that's partially on Edwards Airforce base land.
Australia is another example where grid-scale storage plus renewables plus traditional energy sources have all been built out together to provide greater grid stability and cheaper costs.
It's not a green issue (solar panels, the batteries, rare earths, etc., are not exactly green!), but a cost and efficiency issue.
I installed solar panels on my house a bit shy of 10 years ago. I've seen roughly 80-90% of my electrical usage covered purely by my solar, and I've replaced several appliances with pure electric. I broke even around year 6-7. At some point I am planning to get a large Li-ion battery installed so I can flip a switch and go off grid if needed.
There are four scenarios: 2.6, 4.5, 6.0, and 8.5.
8.5 was the scenario for what happens if humans keep accelerating their rate of petroleum extraction consistent with what we've done over the past century.
The IPCC is now saying it's "implausible" because that would create a situation where petroleum was significantly more expensive than renewables, and who would want to extract petroleum to create a power plant that was more expensive than a solar plant?
Someone who needed electricity during Winter or at night?
Grad-scale batteries (Li-ion, LFP, etc.) has changed that. Check out the Edwards & Sanborn solar/battery installation that's partially on Edwards Airforce base land.
Australia is another example where grid-scale storage plus renewables plus traditional energy sources have all been built out together to provide greater grid stability and cheaper costs.
It's not a green issue (solar panels, the batteries, rare earths, etc., are not exactly green!), but a cost and efficiency issue.
I installed solar panels on my house a bit shy of 10 years ago. I've seen roughly 80-90% of my electrical usage covered purely by my solar, and I've replaced several appliances with pure electric. I broke even around year 6-7. At some point I am planning to get a large Li-ion battery installed so I can flip a switch and go off grid if needed.
I agree Solarpanels make amazing sense for Australia (most electricity is used for AC)
But If you moved all the batteries from Australia to a Northern Hemisphere country like Ireland- it would power their grid for only a few hours.
Ireland can go many weeks without sunlight during winter…
I've spoken to several neighbours (Canada) and the break even point here is about 20 years.
And that's only because the government pays a massively inflated price for the power fed back to the grid.