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https://www.positive.news/society/its-a-virtuous-spiral-and-its-just-beginning-electric-vehicles-as-mini-power-plants/>
"We’ve all heard it. That phrase trotted out with deadening familiarity by
green sceptics: “Solar and wind are all very well, but what happens when the
breeze doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine? Have you thought of that, eh?”
For anyone who believes in the renewable energy revolution, it’s a frustrating
comment, but it contains more than a grain of truth. Because, while
increasingly cheap and efficient, wind and solar are undeniably intermittent.
They don’t provide so-called ‘baseload’ electricity – always on, 24/7 – in the
same way that conventional power plants can.
That’s a problem, as electricity is notoriously hard to store: ideally, you
balance supply and demand. Hence the appeal of ‘baseload’ gas, coal or nuclear
plants, which can be brought into play to match demand. Hence, also, the need
to pay wind generators to turn off their turbines when excess supply is being
produced: around £180,000 spent per hour in the UK alone. Large battery banks
are coming onstream, but they’re expensive and have limited capacity.
As renewables’ share of electricity generation soars – wind and solar together
account for 28% of European production – so does the challenge of balancing
that intermittency with the demands of the grid.
All this, too, at a time when there’s growing pressure to decarbonise power
supplies in order to hit climate targets. For Europe in particular, that means
shifting away from using gas or oil to heat our buildings, and petrol or diesel
to drive our cars. Instead, we need to electrify our transport and heating,
which will massively increase electricity consumption. Some estimates predict
that the share of energy produced by electricity could double or more by 2050.
And climate targets necessitate that all this electricity be produced in as
green a way as possible. That includes hydro and (some would say) nuclear, but
crucially, more wind and solar.
Electric vehicles are a key driver of that demand surge. Despite talk of a
backlash against them, sales continue to grow. Across Europe, EV sales are up
34% in the 12 months to January 2025, even as the overall car market shrinks.
In the UK, more than a quarter of cars sold are now electric, and surveys show
that more than half of British drivers say their next car will be an EV.
That at least sounds like wonderful news for the climate: here we are, well on
our way to decarbonising motor transport. Except for the inconvenient fact that
all those EVs need charging, putting more demand on a stressed-out grid. One of
the most popular times for charging is early evening, which happens to coincide
with peak demand for electricity across the board.
Put like that, the rapid growth of EVs suddenly looks less like a feature of a
greener power system, and more like a bug. This could put electric cars on a
collision course with climate aspirations – except for one much more convenient
fact: electricity that goes into an EV battery can be exported out of it
again."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
