If you have ADHD – it comes with a free depression.

The number gives you a ballpark of what natural gas is used for in the US, which is not just for generation. As the fossils are going away right now (look at fossil energy cost of energy going up exponentially), we need to substitute everything by electrification, stat. This means mostly photovoltaics, since it’s the only source that can scale. Due to night, clouds and snow cover the capacity factor of solar is some 10% of nameplate over the year, where I sit. So for full natgas substitution you need to multiply the natgas consumption by 10 to obtain the necessary photovoltaics nameplate. Apart from night which gives you zero you’d be generating a massive surplus during the summer and very little during the winter. So for seasonal buffering you need a lot, several months to half a year of nameplate capacity. Which is why many talk about hydrogen here, not batteries.

These are still bogglingly large numbers, but we shouldn’t forget substituting for coal and oil, and also nuke. Plus added demand for all the additional renewable infrastructure construction, while we’re running out of mineral resources.

What I meant to show that the numbers show you that it’s impossible at scale. Nevermind that all but biofuel harvesting infra can’t be build without fossil energy and chemical equivalents.

So the scale will self-adjust nolens volens. With all the nasty consequences for the human primate, and the rest of the poor ecosystem.

US annual natgas use is some 9 PWh. Grid scale storage in the US cost 219 USD/kWh. 1 PWh = 10^12 kWh. So some 2000 trillion USD, if my math is right. And that’s just one country, just natgas.

Hardly an exception, here are a few examples from energy-intensive industries, which rely on 24/7 processes

Chemicals: Involves continuous chemical reactions and processing.

Steel: Requires constant operation for refining and production.

Aluminum: Needs ongoing processes for smelting and fabrication.

Cement: Operates continuously to ensure consistent quality and output.

Paper: Relies on uninterrupted processes for pulping and manufacturing.

Not to forget med and pharma, semiconductor production, and so on.

Many industrial processes are 24/7. Aluminium plant losing power for a few hours destroys it.

So it’s not domestic, apparently https://bartoszsroka.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/mSzyfr_vs_ElementX_Same_Platform_Report.html

So just a Polish version of Max. Got it.

Eventually, right now there are gas turbine peaker plants, which could run on renewable hydrogen-natgas blends, once there is enough surplus rebewable capacity.

Except dunkelflaute can last up to 6 weeks.

It is trivial to safely short out a high voltage line.

So they want get rid of coal and gas peakers? While critically depending on imports from neighbors when the renewables don’t deliver?

I would love to drive an EV, but the price premium for it buys a lot of gas. I also detest cloud-depending computers on wheels, and the charging infrastructure is a bit thin.

Yet they keep trying, while pissing off large fraction of the population. Is this being just pigheaded, or treasonous?

They better be ready buying lots of Huawei gear, then.

There are internets, but there is only one Internet.

But it is politics which has made it a fiction. The science and technology is straightforward enough, though 1 usd/kg target is a red herring.

In new installs, with – everything else being equal – price/TCO is the only buying signal. The dirty trick, of course, is that not all Joules and Watts are created equal.

If renewables were indeed cheaper, nobody would use fossil fuels, at all.

Germany is not investing into hydrogen generation, so that just leaves you with mandatory 100% heat pumps. If you don’t see a problem with that, think again.

Depends on when the AI bubble pops.