A Saturday Short
Energy Storage - Mission Impossible
In a research paper published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation, retired Manhattan lawyer and author, Francis Menton performs the mathematics necessary to develop battery storage facilities should the world, or any part of it, decide to transform energies to renewable. Because renewable energies are intermittent and sporadic, battery storage is essential and mandatory. In the paper, Menton calculates a cost that is not only absolutely catastrophic, but essentially economically absurd or determinedly unfeasible.
As the GWPF writes, “In one of Mr Menton’s estimates, the cost of providing lithium ion batteries for a grid could be more than ten times GDP. Moreover, because the batteries wear out, the expenditure would need to be repeated every few years. Despite this, policymakers are plowing ahead with deployment of wind and solar, hoping that scientists will come up with something to save the day. The skyrocketing prices in UK electricity markets in recent days are a warning. Without economic forms of electricity storage, a drive for renewables is going to end very badly for consumers.”
In the end Menton concludes, “It is abundantly clear that no jurisdiction can get anywhere near Net Zero on the current path of just building more wind and solar generators and paying little to no attention to the problem of energy storage.”
Essentially Menton deduces that the entire GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of a country may not be enough to pay for battery storage, never mind the wind turbines, solar panels and other renewable energies.
The research paper is linked here.