Artificial Stupidity @AncientGood@qoto.org

Reuters quotes an EU document warning about increasing dependence of EU #renewables market on #China. Dependence very similar in its character to EU’s previous dependence on #Russia gas and oil:

By 2030, the European Union could become as dependent on lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells from China as it was on Russian energy supplies before the war against Ukraine, Reuters reported on Sept. 18, citing an obtained EU document.

In both cases the dependence was entirely self-inflicted by political decisions:

Due to the irregular nature of renewable energy sources like solar or wind, Europe will need instruments to store energy to achieve its goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050, said the document prepared for EU leaders’ meeting on economic security.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with renewables - it’s just a technology. But the technology comes bundled with specific physical constraints which you cannot just ignore:

“This will skyrocket our demand for lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells and electrolysers, which is expected to multiply between 10 and 30 times in the coming years,” the paper explained, as cited by Reuters.

Source: https://kyivindependent.com/reuters-eu-risks-depending-on-china-for-batteries-after-dropping-russian-energy/

And this is fine - if EU citizens really want to bet on renewables, it’s their choice. But this comes bundled with a chain of consequences: logically you also need to ensure sufficient battery storage because otherwise you won’t have 24/7 electricity supply. But if you wants to bet on battery storage, you also need to ensure supply of millions of tons of rare earth metals used to manufacture them (and also PV and wind turbines). And you have to manufacture them and then install in the ground.

It’s not an optional step, you can’t just skip it on good will, just you like you can’t make a pork sausage without first obtaining tissue from an animal farmed for that purpose.

But here’s the tragicomic paradox: in EU nobody wants any mining or industry, because it’s “dirty” and when done clean, it’s expensive! And this is not some silly ideas from proverbial “Brusells”, it’s what most of the EU citizens rather childishly belive: in general they like PV, wind and battery storage… except when someone actually wants to build them within their horizon, because yes, all of these are huge steel and concrete installations that essentially turn hills and meadows into an industrial landscape.

Here come environmentalists and blame “NIMBYism”, but the opposition of residents of France, Bavaria, Sweden or Norway is entirely justified: protection of environment and landscape has been the whole point of environmentalism for the whole last century!

I do blame the modern “environmentalists”: did you ever hear a Greenpeace or WWF representative honestly explaining to people “and yes, we want to replace this 1 MW #nuclear power plant but this will require 300 or 3000 wind turbines and yes, they occupy plenty of space”? Of course not: in the “100% renewable” fables all these huge industrial devices appear out of thin air and are apparently made of pranic energy rather than from steel and concrete.

So what do professional politicians do when they face angry voters with contradictory postulates? They deliver. They deliver a solution that is usually the dumbest and environmentally most harmful of all, but at least it’s not divisive.

You want PV and wind, but don’t want any mines in EU? It’s OK, we’ll buy 90% of the resources from China, where they will of course result in huge CO2 emissions and other pollution, but at least our voters aren’t bothered.

So, if you are an EU voter, just remember that all of your choices do have consequences. In physics you can’t have a cookie and eat a cookie. In politics it’s possible for only a while, and then physics hits you right back.

Lime :
ты случайно стихи не пишешь?

Серёга :
писал раньше.Сейчас нет уже. Давно не пишу

Lime :
=) а ...почитать тебя где-нибудь можно?

Серёга :
можешь почитать меня где угодно. Мне приятно,когда меня почитают...)))))))