Solar and wind _alone_ means no storage (otherwise, it's not _alone_!). This means you need to build at so very many locations as to have consistent power for baseload, and a transmission infrastructure to distribute across that location, that it becomes almost a global problem. Aka, a global grid spanning continents.
Of course, this is actually desirable imho, but yes, both geopolitics as well as cost, stops this from happening.
strictly speaking, sure. But it's a source for all intents and purposes, because in order to achieve the same outcomes using renewables as with fossil fuel powerplants, you'd need to pair it with storage. Or produce so much renewables, and be able to distribute it so widely, that no single location would lack power at any given time.
Over a short timeframe storage can be a sink or a source of energy. The grid needs to be managed both over short and long timeframes - you can't just say "100MWh in = 100MWh out over the last 24h", it also needs to be balanced so that the input and output is constant on a per-millisecond basis.
Nobody has done it. Nobody has put forth a credible theoretical model on how to do it. If you believe otherwise please show how it can be done. With details. Things like frequency regulation, reactive power and all that stuff that makes the grid work. And include the economic calculations. The burden of proof is on you.
> Nobody has put forth a credible theoretical model on how to do it.
HVDC global grid, mentioned loads of times on this forum. 60% antipodal loss with existing components that were optimised for much shorter connections, but even that loss is fine given how cheap optimally placed PV is. Cost about a trillion USD (ok) and a few decades of current global aluminium and copper production (meh), but that’s still absolutely in the realm of the “we could afford it, shame about the politics”.
Lots of people have put forward credible models of how to do it. The key is to include power-to-X to provide dispatchable demand and a buffer for rare prolonged outages of the renewable sources.
> Even former critics must admit that adding e-fuels through PtX makes 100% RE possible at costs similar to fossil fuels. These critics are still questioning whether 100% RE is the cheapest solution but no longer claim it would be unfeasible or prohibitively expensive.
It is, in fact, not. And, you are no reliable judge of it. Your assessment will have exactly zero effect on how the transition to renewables plays out.
Either we transition to renewables fast enough, or global civilization collapses first. Nobody can say which.
