Greg Barton
@gregorybarton.bsky.social
Mod of reddit’s r/nuclear and r/SaturatedFat. Interest in AI, martial arts, human biochemistry, nutrition, nuclear power.
Rarely mentioned fact: all of that battery capacity actually costs a lot of energy. www.caiso.com/todays-outlo... Look at the very negative "daily production" values.
November 15, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Rarely mentioned fact: all of that battery capacity actually costs a lot of energy. www.caiso.com/todays-outlo... Look at the very negative "daily production" values.
You don't say...
September 29, 2025 at 5:32 AM
You don't say...
And not unlike California I'm sure those batteries cost a lot of electricity to run. www.caiso.com/todays-outlo... (Just to compare, the graphic shows batteries in CA needing the full output of a nuclear plant for 12 hours just to shift power for the day. Quite inefficient.) That won't scale.
September 10, 2025 at 2:55 AM
And not unlike California I'm sure those batteries cost a lot of electricity to run. www.caiso.com/todays-outlo... (Just to compare, the graphic shows batteries in CA needing the full output of a nuclear plant for 12 hours just to shift power for the day. Quite inefficient.) That won't scale.
Uruguay has a lot of hydro capacity. It balances out the wind and solar intermittancy. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/UY/72h/... But what if you don't have those hydro resources?
September 9, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Uruguay has a lot of hydro capacity. It balances out the wind and solar intermittancy. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/UY/72h/... But what if you don't have those hydro resources?
France has a good solution. They have a mix of wind, solar, nuclear, and hydro. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/FR/72h/... Appears to be working well.
September 2, 2025 at 11:54 PM
France has a good solution. They have a mix of wind, solar, nuclear, and hydro. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/FR/72h/... Appears to be working well.
"Unreliable" is measurable. "Bad" is a value judgement.
All countries you mention also have 100% fossil backup.
France has a good mix of zero carbon sources. Look at all of France's neighbors. They're generating far more carbon per unit of energy generated. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/FR/72h/...
All countries you mention also have 100% fossil backup.
France has a good mix of zero carbon sources. Look at all of France's neighbors. They're generating far more carbon per unit of energy generated. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/FR/72h/...
September 2, 2025 at 9:32 PM
"Unreliable" is measurable. "Bad" is a value judgement.
All countries you mention also have 100% fossil backup.
France has a good mix of zero carbon sources. Look at all of France's neighbors. They're generating far more carbon per unit of energy generated. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/FR/72h/...
All countries you mention also have 100% fossil backup.
France has a good mix of zero carbon sources. Look at all of France's neighbors. They're generating far more carbon per unit of energy generated. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/FR/72h/...
Some countries will have to. Germany, for example, does not have the hydro resources that Norway has. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/DE/72h/... So their backup to wind and solar is coal and gas.
September 2, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Some countries will have to. Germany, for example, does not have the hydro resources that Norway has. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/DE/72h/... So their backup to wind and solar is coal and gas.
Not with batteries.
Norway isn't really storing. It's ramping hydro up and down. And their hydro generation absolutely dwarfs wind. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/NO/72h/...
Norway isn't really storing. It's ramping hydro up and down. And their hydro generation absolutely dwarfs wind. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/NO/72h/...
September 2, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Not with batteries.
Norway isn't really storing. It's ramping hydro up and down. And their hydro generation absolutely dwarfs wind. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/NO/72h/...
Norway isn't really storing. It's ramping hydro up and down. And their hydro generation absolutely dwarfs wind. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/NO/72h/...
Norway has lots of hydro. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/NO/72h/...
September 2, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Norway has lots of hydro. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/NO/72h/...
Here's wind for all of Europe. Notice the periods in winter where it disappears. (One highlighted.)
September 2, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Here's wind for all of Europe. Notice the periods in winter where it disappears. (One highlighted.)
The sun available reduces drastically in the winter. And the wind can stop blowing for a week or more. This has been observed for many years. Here's the solar production for all of Europe for the last year. What's happening in winter?
September 2, 2025 at 4:01 PM
The sun available reduces drastically in the winter. And the wind can stop blowing for a week or more. This has been observed for many years. Here's the solar production for all of Europe for the last year. What's happening in winter?
California, again a mix of zero carbon sources. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/US-CAL-...
September 2, 2025 at 2:50 PM
California, again a mix of zero carbon sources. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/US-CAL-...
Spain is certainly better. They have a good mix of zero carbon sources.
September 2, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Spain is certainly better. They have a good mix of zero carbon sources.
Mongolia is primarily coal powered. THat's an odd example to use. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/MN/72h/...
September 2, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Mongolia is primarily coal powered. THat's an odd example to use. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/MN/72h/...
Contributing is not the same as being a reliable source. You want to talk about Arizona? app.electricitymaps.com/zone/US-SW-A...
September 2, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Contributing is not the same as being a reliable source. You want to talk about Arizona? app.electricitymaps.com/zone/US-SW-A...
This has been tried, and it's been a failure for a decade so far. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/ES-CN-H...
August 27, 2025 at 10:33 PM
This has been tried, and it's been a failure for a decade so far. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/ES-CN-H...
www.iaea.org/newscenter/p... They've been in cold shutdown for over a year, fuel being actively cooled. Meltdown is not possible anymore.
July 19, 2025 at 12:23 AM
www.iaea.org/newscenter/p... They've been in cold shutdown for over a year, fuel being actively cooled. Meltdown is not possible anymore.
We've had these kinds of claims for years for other islands, like El Hierro, Spain. Some days it's great. Other days....no... app.electricitymaps.com/zone/ES-CN-H... They claim it's "100% renewables" because some days it doesn't use fossil fuels. :)
July 18, 2025 at 4:49 PM
We've had these kinds of claims for years for other islands, like El Hierro, Spain. Some days it's great. Other days....no... app.electricitymaps.com/zone/ES-CN-H... They claim it's "100% renewables" because some days it doesn't use fossil fuels. :)
Their next door neighbor that shut down their nuclear plants? Not so much... app.electricitymaps.com/zone/DE/72h/...
July 18, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Their next door neighbor that shut down their nuclear plants? Not so much... app.electricitymaps.com/zone/DE/72h/...
Fine by me. France is a great model, not just of nuclear, but of a grid with mixed low carbon sources working great together. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/FR/72h/...
July 18, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Fine by me. France is a great model, not just of nuclear, but of a grid with mixed low carbon sources working great together. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/FR/72h/...
All of Europe. High demand, low wind generation. Good times.
July 13, 2025 at 2:21 AM
All of Europe. High demand, low wind generation. Good times.
Until it isn't. :) (Germany last year.)
July 13, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Until it isn't. :) (Germany last year.)
And they have fairly regular dunkelflaute. explore.openelectricity.org.au/energy/sa1/?...
July 13, 2025 at 2:05 AM
And they have fairly regular dunkelflaute. explore.openelectricity.org.au/energy/sa1/?...
Emissions in South Australia are going up. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/AU-SA/a...
July 13, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Emissions in South Australia are going up. app.electricitymaps.com/zone/AU-SA/a...