Why we need "Net zero"

[SteamyTea]

8 hours ago, Crofter said:

Today's XKCD seems relevant.

And true to a lot of people.

[Beelbeebub]

"bUt rENeWabLes arE maKiNg elEcTrIcitY mOrE ExPeNsIvE!!...."

[LnP]

On 29/03/2026 at 14:03, -rick- said:

 

This and long term this is where hydrogen can be useful. Use excess solar during the summer to make hydrogen, store it for peaker use in winter. All done in one site, no need to pipe it anywhere.

 

Other note is that batteries can fill all the short term responsive capacity that peaker/stored hyrdo used to do. The only thing batteries can't really do is longer duration peaker load. ie, those 1-2week super cold winter periods.

The problem with using curtailed renewable energy to generate hydrogen (or ammonia) is that the kit is expensive. The capital cost has to be amortised over the small amount of MWh it will produce, so the cost of that electricity will be high.

That's especially hard to justify if the generation has been curtailed due to grid capacity, in which case the money would have been better spent debottlenecking the grid to reduce the curtailment.

There are those who would say that any plan involving hydrogen as an energy vector is doomed to failure due to poor economics. And this will never be fixed by new or improved technology. It's inherent in the thermodynamics.

... Hope my comment makes sense. I jumped in on this thread and haven't read all 24 pages 😀.