Hacker News Reader

Comment by arcticbull | Hacker News Reader

Check out the Ontario grid. 91% zero-carbon. [1] Quebec at 99%. [2] It's hardly a subsistence lifestyle up there. You've just got to, you know, execute on it. This accounts for 60% of the Canadian population.

[1] ON: https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/data-analysis/energy-markets/pr...

[2] QC: https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/data-analysis/energy-markets/pr...

View on HN

Ontario and Quebec are relatively small populations on the world scale. The per capita usage may be high in those provinces but the overall generation required to meet their needs is still relatively low.

Also, hydroelectric dams are not necessarily viable everywhere.

Ontario + Quebec is about 60% the population of California too, and most of Ontario is powered by three nuclear power plants: Bruce, Pickering and Darlington.

California only has one nuclear plant left.

The question was 'is it possible' and 'is it sustainable' - it sure is. Even if some so-called environmentalists would rather run coal and oil and natural gas plants in lieu of the safest and lowest-carbon energy we have: nuclear. A 'subsistence existence' as parent called it, it is not.

That's all hydroelectricity - that's not a form of renewable energy that can scale to the whole planet (and virtually every suitable river for it has already been exploited).

In Washington State we demolish hydro dams to save the fish.

https://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/elwha-ecosystem-restor...

That’s mostly hydropower iirc. Hydro is almost always the cheapest energy today, if we could get it elsewhere we would.

You and others are missing all the network of hydrocarbon based energy that allows you to survive, farming, mining, transport etc, your electrical grid is only a portion of a world wide system built upon on tap energy. The weather will never ever be an on tap energy source.

Transport and mining can be electrified and will probably in time.

Farming at our scale will probably continue to require oil as an input, and that's just fine. Same with certain kinds of manufacturing, etc. Once we stop setting it on fire we'll have a lot more for these purposes and it should be significantly cheaper.

Wind, solar, hydro and nuclear can absolutely handle our non-farming needs.

It will still contribute to our lives and lifestyles sure, but much less.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com