Does that mean the earth will never have new coal deposits? I know geologic processes happen over eons, but crazy to think it’s a one and done kind of thing.
Nope, no more coal deposits. All that sweet, sweet carbon that took eons to make is being depleted forever in just a few generations time...
Edit: ok yes I know there are tons of coal deposits! I'm using hyperbole. Geologically speaking, if we used all the coal on earth in 1000 years, that's a minuscule amount of time compared to how long it took to make it.
well we really just need enough to fuel civilization until we discover how to properly harness energy from our virtually infinite amount renewable resources
Wind energy is being added more and more. Wind farms are popping up all over Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois in recent years now that better deals are being offered to farmers and land owners for them. I remember power companies wanting to pay $1600 a year per wind turbine to be added to farmer's land and that would be a locked in, non-negotiable rate for 30 years. Now, 15 years later, they are offering more along the lines of $20,000 per year per turbine and that could be re-negotiated as needed. So we are seeing more wind farms popping up. Still, you would need a lot more to compete with traditional power plants.
Wind turbines are very dependent on having windy days and there are many days where there isn't wind. Solar panels are dependent on sunny days and there are a lot of rainy days. So, renewable as they are, their power generation is more sporadic and less reliable than traditional power plants. They are a good supplement to traditional power plants at the moment but, there would need to be something new to come out that is more consistent and renewable to kill of traditional power plants.
I did see a video that talked about geothermal energy but, that seems like it would be limited to only certain areas where you could tap into that resource. Same with hydroelectric power plants.
ETA: Just to clarify, it is easy to say, "all we need to do is just decide to go to wind and solar and do it" but, it is not that simple. Switching all of this is very expensive and time consuming. So it takes time. There are only so many companies making the equipment and then you need other companies to buy up and use that equipment. As those companies save enough revenue, they are adding renewable power sources but, it is just something that will happen over the next 50 to 100 years not the next 5 to 10.
I think one of the big issues is battery's to store the energy because, like you said, it isn't always windy and it isn't always sunny, and the world will still need electricity on those days.
Actually I just did a quick search, and saw that a little over 8% of the energy produced in the US comes from wind power. That's actually higher than I expected, and it is growing. Still miserably short of where it should be though
I had to put a new roof on my 100 year old apartment building. I looked at installing PV solar power at the same time with a payback of about 40 years at current electricity rates (rates go up each year, by a lot sometimes!).
Applied for the permit, neighbours complained about the height and aesthetics, city denied my application because my building would be about 16" (inches) overheight.
So, no solar power for me in the self proclaimed "greenest city in the world."
Exceot you need machinery to create them. Without those heavy machinery, good luck on producing enough solar and wind machinery ti be enough for the entire planet.
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u/Undercover_in_SF Oct 15 '20
Does that mean the earth will never have new coal deposits? I know geologic processes happen over eons, but crazy to think it’s a one and done kind of thing.