Because renewables, while cheaper, have their share of problems, the first one is that you cannot (yet and completely) store what they produce. Oil in more something like “on demand” in some aspects, people generally expect that when they want hot water they have it, not that they need to plan when to use it.
Another big problem, actually, is that renewables tends to not be available when you need them the most (this derive from the fact that for now we have limited storing capacity): wind turbines have speed limits to not break and solar panels need at least a certain exposure to produce for example.
Other sources could not be available everywhere or be economically justified.
Nobody really like to pay more, it is simply that for now oil and gas are seen as more reliable than renewables, and this offset the fact that they are more expensive.
This will change in the future, no doubts, but the solution is a lot more complex than simply saying “renewable are cheaper”.
Another big problem, actually, is that renewables tends to not be available when you need them the most
Not true: Wind turbines generate more energy in Western European winter - when we need to power electric heat pumps - and solar in Southern European summer - when we need to power A/C units.
Plus it does not matter if 2% of the time we need to fire up fossil backup generation.
Plus it is easily possible to build seasonal heat storage for multi-family houing units. Basically big tank with water and lots of insulation.
Not true: Wind turbines generate more energy in Western European winter - when we need to power electric heat pumps - and solar in Southern European summer - when we need to power A/C units.
Plus it does not matter if 2% of the time we need to fire up fossil backup generation.
The problem is not when everything works as intended, the problem is when nothing works as intended, like during emergencies when the wind is too strong (so the turbines shut off to avoid damages) or during winter in the southern Europe where the panels are covered by snow or it rain for some consecutive days.
I understand that we cannot plan only around emergencies but we need to consider them.
Plus it is easily possible to build seasonal heat storage for multi-family houing units. Basically big tank with water and lots of insulation.
LOL. Listen, here (Italy) it is already impossible to build big tanks in the middle of nowhere (basically unused fields) to avoid that rivers and streams overflow when it rains just a little more than usual causing millions of Euro of damages (last time, in September 2025 in my small city only it was 48 millions) and you want to build big tanks near houses ? Good luck with that.
I am tired of that disinformation.
The only disinformation is thinking that renewables are ready to be a drop in substitute for oil and gas. They are usefull, no doubt, but we need to solve the problem
of storing all the surplus they generated. And as for now there is not really a solution that work on a large scale, which is what we need.
The only disinformation is thinking that renewables are ready to be a drop in substitute for oil and gas.
That’ll be why nobody is saying that then. They’re a useful replacement, not a substitute.
They are usefull, no doubt, but we need to solve the problem of storing all the surplus they generated.
All of it? Really? And we don’t need to solve this before deploying lots more to replace the burning fossils. We didn’t wait to solve all the problems with burning fossils before deploying them. We’ve never solved many of the pollution problems, which is part of the reason we have so many problems now!
Because renewables, while cheaper, have their share of problems, the first one is that you cannot (yet and completely) store what they produce. Oil in more something like “on demand” in some aspects, people generally expect that when they want hot water they have it, not that they need to plan when to use it.
Another big problem, actually, is that renewables tends to not be available when you need them the most (this derive from the fact that for now we have limited storing capacity): wind turbines have speed limits to not break and solar panels need at least a certain exposure to produce for example.
Other sources could not be available everywhere or be economically justified.
Nobody really like to pay more, it is simply that for now oil and gas are seen as more reliable than renewables, and this offset the fact that they are more expensive.
This will change in the future, no doubts, but the solution is a lot more complex than simply saying “renewable are cheaper”.
Not true: Wind turbines generate more energy in Western European winter - when we need to power electric heat pumps - and solar in Southern European summer - when we need to power A/C units.
Plus it does not matter if 2% of the time we need to fire up fossil backup generation.
Plus it is easily possible to build seasonal heat storage for multi-family houing units. Basically big tank with water and lots of insulation.
I am tired of that disinformation.
The problem is not when everything works as intended, the problem is when nothing works as intended, like during emergencies when the wind is too strong (so the turbines shut off to avoid damages) or during winter in the southern Europe where the panels are covered by snow or it rain for some consecutive days.
I understand that we cannot plan only around emergencies but we need to consider them.
LOL. Listen, here (Italy) it is already impossible to build big tanks in the middle of nowhere (basically unused fields) to avoid that rivers and streams overflow when it rains just a little more than usual causing millions of Euro of damages (last time, in September 2025 in my small city only it was 48 millions) and you want to build big tanks near houses ? Good luck with that.
The only disinformation is thinking that renewables are ready to be a drop in substitute for oil and gas. They are usefull, no doubt, but we need to solve the problem of storing all the surplus they generated. And as for now there is not really a solution that work on a large scale, which is what we need.
Hot sand storage.
Drops mic
That’ll be why nobody is saying that then. They’re a useful replacement, not a substitute.
All of it? Really? And we don’t need to solve this before deploying lots more to replace the burning fossils. We didn’t wait to solve all the problems with burning fossils before deploying them. We’ve never solved many of the pollution problems, which is part of the reason we have so many problems now!
And your entire argument is laid moot with battery storage. Australia has been showing they can do it at scale and still cheaper than fossil fuels.