This video was created in partnership with Bill Gates, inspired by his new book “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.” Find out more here: gatesnot.es/2ZnGCCg
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Credits:
Writer/Narrator: Brian McManus
Editor: Dylan Hennessy
Animator: Mike Ridolfi (www.moboxgraphics.com/)
Sound: Graham Haerther (haerther.net/)
Thumbnail: Simon Buckmaster twitter.com/forgottentowel
References:
[1] www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2020/Apr/IRENA_Energy_subsidies_2020.pdf
[2] www.irena.org/newsroom/pressreleases/2019/Apr/Renewable-Energy-Now-Accounts-for-a-Third-of-Global-Power-Capacity
[3] www.esb.ie/docs/default-source/education-hub/turlough-hill-power-station
[4]smartgriddashboard.eirgrid.com/#all/generation
[5] smartgriddashboard.eirgrid.com/#all/wind
[6] smartgriddashboard.eirgrid.com/#all/generation?scroll=fuel
[7] www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364032114003773
[8] www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261918305270#b0215
[9] www.hydroreview.com/business-finance/ireland-proposes-us-948-million-360-mw-silvermines-pumped-storage-project/#gref
[10] www.waterpowermagazine.com/features/featurejapanese-pumped-storage-embraces-the-ocean-waves/
[11] www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S254243511830583X
Thank you to AP Archive for access to their archival footage.
Music by Epidemic Sound: epidemicsound.com/creator
Thank you to my patreon supporters: Adam Flohr, Henning Basma, Hank Green, William Leu, Tristan Edwards, Ian Dundore, John & Becki Johnston. Nevin Spoljaric, Jason Clark, Thomas Barth, Johnny MacDonald, Stephen Foland, Alfred Holzheu, Abdulrahman Abdulaziz Binghaith, Brent Higgins, Dexter Appleberry, Alex Pavek, Marko Hirsch, Mikkel Johansen, Hibiyi Mori. Viktor Józsa, Ron Hochsprung
Do renewable's pay the same taxes from leasing, drilling, pumping, refining and distribution? I doubt it but am willing to listen.
Texas and Germany has something to say about their wind power failing.
Since it's not immediately obvious from the conversion done in the video: a joule is equivalent to a watt-second.
Was the fossil fuel subsidies in the form of tax breaks and the renewable energies subsidies in the form of grants? Thats important information...
Global Warming is a myth. Coal & Gas has been keeping me warm for 70 years. If it ain't broke then don't fix it. I don't want to hear anything about Computer model. Please quit showing out dated pictures of Steel mills from the 60's.
What is this? It's when an englishman takes a good long look at something. Propa-ganda
Two words Solar minimus
Can "an ungodly rush" be made an official unit for water? Also, that is a beautiful machine.
I’m sure it was already mentioned but that facility, as stated, used the grid to pump and refill the upper reservoir(I’m sure during off peak hours or with use of renewable’s during their peak outputs) so without a consistent and reliable source of grid power you can’t use one of these facilities to “wind up” the other. Or youd need such a number of these that the logistics of it would be untenable.... in short... it’s so impractical you might as well just go nuclear.....
I’m sure it was already mentioned but that facility, as stated, used the grid to pump and refill the upper reservoir(I’m sure during off peak hours or with use of renewable’s during their peak outputs) so without a consistent and reliable source of grid power you can’t use one of these facilities to “wind up” the other. Or youd need such a number of these that the logistics of it would be untenable.... in short... it’s so impractical you might as well just go nuclear.....
enough. Loch Ness holds more water than all the lakes in England added together! It seems unlikely to get planning permission.
Solar and Wind renewables are not entirely clean, really no energy source is. Solar requires mining of rare earth metals. Wind turbines are vulnerable to some damages and effect natural migration of birds. Coal, well you know already. Natural Gas, there are two versions to this and that is there are net neutral carbon emission gases and not. Fossil/Oil, not even a question. Biomass generators, literally it’s coal just worst. Dams, pretty good actually, only a few problems that are about downstream effects. Nuclear plants, I hate how people forget that these are actually very clean, the nuclear waste is also usually safely disposed (like very far underground), the only problem is usually the system critical scenario that’s leads to radiation leaks from damage to the reactor from bad design to natural disasters. Nuclear fusion, not yet possible, and really high output of energy, we are talking about trying control the reaction that happens in our star’s heart. Hydrogen, not bad actually, just really hard to trap it and sometimes to costly (I’m not as well versed with it). I can’t think much more really. But don’t think your solar and wind are the saviors, they are not. If we want to fix global warming we do it in one way, plant more damn trees (like millions, it’s the best way to reduce the stupid CO2 already) and stop the process of releasing other Greenhouse gases. Those the major problem, not CO2, it’s those that are harder to fix when they are already out there. Anyway enjoy, sometimes I wish the marvel universe was real. Then Tony’s reactor would do major things for us. But I don’t want Thanos tho. The idea of getting rid of nuclear tho is stupid, it’s one of the best ways to get energy and the curiosity and perseverance rovers use a form nuclear decay (alpha) to power themselves because the solar panels didn’t work too well for the previous ones.
Imagine not having to pump your hydro, but just having it fill lakes in your mountains, then using the head pressure for exactly the same effect. Then imagine the same greenies calling for green power wanting to take out those hydroelectric dams. Welcome to Oregon.
Subsidies aren't a good substitute for actual costs and economic analysis
off sure deep water current generation, plenty of space between ireland and the usa, could be a major supplier to the european grid, portugal also has this potential, hook this up with sahara solar and there is a lot of electricity
Making blanket statements. Over simplifying complex issues.
The strength, precision, and complexity of pumped storage is impressive.. However, in a way, that makes a strong case for battery storage. Compare a battery farm's ease of set-up, lack of moving parts, flexibility of siting, and modular construction allowing gradual expansion and maintenance of parts. If batteries continue to improve and their prices continue to drop, there is no contest.
We all know burning a oil wells need armed military guards to keep people from putting them out and stealing them.
Who paid to make this video?
How about building the upper reservoir on groundlevel and the lower reservoir in underground storage structures? This could- 1. Eliminate the evaporation losses to some extent in the lower reservoir. 2. Can open up plain areas for the contruction of pumped hydro electric plants 3. Could be integrated with solar power plants so that when excess solar power is present, it could be used to pump back the water to above ground level.
Bill Gates STOLE THE OXFORD VACCINE!
War ravaged = BECAUSE WE RAVAGE THEIR COUNTRIES!!
The Oil Industry still receives subsidies, at least in US. I don't see them complaining about it. I am and hope that will end soon.
Nuclear: the best option.
I remember visiting a similar pumped-storage facility in upstate NY for a school field trip. It is called the Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project. The facility provides electricity to New York City during peak demand. Here is the link to the Wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blenheim%E2%80%93Gilboa_Hydroelectric_Power_Station
Battery lakes are awesome to have property on the lake level tends to more steady compared to reservoir lakes.
If you want a big one - look at Strathdearn. This is near to Loch Ness in Scotland but it is not planning to use Loch Ness as the lower reservoir because Loch Ness isn't big enough. Loch Ness holds more water than all the lakes in England added together! It seems unlikely to get planning permission.
I'd like more detail on the fossil fuel subsidies. The last figure I saw included the 5%VAT on home heating as a fossil fuel subsidy!
Overall a great video, but I would like to point out that the subsidies statement is quite misleading, as coal produces a lot more power. If you calculate it as dollars per TWh, for coal you get around $10.19M/TWh, and for wind you get around $89.51M/TWh. (These numbers are based on 2019 numbers from ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-primary-energy for the energy generation, and the subsidies are sourced directly from the video)
Crazy idea: nuclear power. Brainlets aren't ready for that conversation yet.
Dude, stick to what you know. You do not understand what a "subsidy" is. Even better, just talk about science and keep your politics out of it entirely.
Public, politicians, media, this channel, everyone is like a baby...our culture has been reduced to the collective intelligence of a baby. It's sad. A few hundred people are literally using this diversion bullshit to crown themselves rulers of the world and give us these imaginary problems that end up destroying the env and emitting more co2 and using blood minerals and so much more for things like lithium ion batteries that need to be replaced in 10 years and don't recycle well. Lovely isn't it that we have made something less efficient than fucking fossil fuels that just hides all its emissions and evil during the manufacturing and disposal processes. Just stop supporting these fucking insane people. Nuclear is the answer to global warming, we will still need fossil fuels in industry, get over it...seriously, people can't think critically anymore and can only see surface level details nor do they look at motives behind why people want them to do things. If you do understand these nuances and see the world for what it is....if you are a guy lets be friends and if you are a girl, let's make some smart bebies! Hmmmm...*thinks like current political climate and imperialist plutocrats*..."bebies are renewable...lets use them for energy! Or, wait, dammit, we'd have to figure out how to break apart their atoms using antimatter or somehow find a way to make energy breaking apart their covalent bonds in their proteins or something...buttttttt, we coulllddd potentially harvest their stem cells. Mmmm, I got an idea for a company for renewable green stem cells, let me do a press release and a few media rounds and raise a few billion to harvest stem cells from babies."
Sorry you drank the man made global warming Kool-Aid. Unsubscribe.
This video has now around 500.000 views. Assuming everyone watches on a laptop that draws 10W (probably more like 15) while watching this used up 10 * 500.000 / 4 Wh (rounding down the video length to 15 min). This makes 1.25 MWh of energy used. This does not include the power consumed by the local wifi router (probably around 15W), the efficiency of the laptop charger (probably 90%), the losses from charging and discharging the laptop battery (lets say 95% efficiency). The again, some people probably watch this on their battlestation, rocking some shiny i7 and a high end graphics card, running at around 100W while in idle. Oh, also 40W for the absolutely necessary 4K Screen. If you are cynical add in a few watts for a usb powered Coffe mug warmer. (Also i did not include the power consumption of the servers and all the communication stations in between youtube and the viewer. Can't have people scared by that, can we? ;) ) Maybe as a thought experiment... how much worse would it be if this video was uploaded in 4K vs 720p and does that even matter?
Diversity is the key!
Wind turbines, ask Texas how that panned out during an arctic blast in February ‘21!
Hmmmm. Anybody told Texas?
this video is b.s.
Would it not take as much power to lift the water as the energy derived form that same volume falling?
How about subsidy/kw produced?
Imagine swimming in the top and getting sucked down
Batteries great huge amount of mining needed and more cheap child labor in Africa needed .. batteries are not getting much better it's just the way it is Elon so proud of his new batteries storage over the old cells .. he failed to point out it's 50% bigger that's why .. wow such a great advancement
Your totally wrong about fossil fuel prices vs clean Nat gas is super cheap and can produce huge amounts of power in a tiny footprint .. the only way solar or wind would compete is with it is the subsidies and the fact we roadblock fossil fuels and make it more expensive now.. and FYI if we could actually swap over to total clean in 20 years which btw will never happen .. the world's climate will still be ruined for humans.. another FYI nuclear is far superior to either but we roadblock that also
When politics and references to charlatans like Gates enter into engineering I will ignore your videos and never subscribe. It seems by virtue of the negative comments and your response to a genuine criticism you really pi$$ed on you shoe with this one.
fossil fuel 4x more subsidy... also much more massive than renewables, for a net subsidy that over-favors renewables. Foreign wars need not occur over fossil fuels when the US has its own supply and doesn't need that foreign shit, nor the things associated with it. That's purely political, just like renewables. Also, the term "renewables" is a bullshit misnomer, because you have to replace them constantly and renew them with sweet subsidies. It's not something for nothing. This video couldn't have come at a better time, as it's revealed just how worthless and shitty solar and wind power are, and reveals how China has been using it as an excuse to landgrab in the US, while not securing electrical power for citizens of the US. I don't see why you have to shill this garbage so hard, but as long as you're getting your pockets lined, right?
thorium nuclear power is the best
Then those assholes will finally stfu ! Thanking you in advance 😎 we can finally stick it right to them 😀 thanks again for all you do ☺
Let's address energy density ? Could you make a video about that ? ie ; what it takes to produce green power generation facilities and what they then produce , how many acres of land it requires , to say what it would take to just burn coal , I hear climate deniers use this argument all the time and I can't find a good answer for them , it drives me nuts as all I get is an I told you so , I know its a big ask but , can you help a brother out ? 🙋
100 corporations are responsible for 70% of greenhouse gas emissions the planet isn't dying it's being killed and the ones killing it have names and addresses
There is no climate crisis.....BULL
I think you read the subsidies stats wrong. You only used the year. You didn't take into account that non renewable are fewer used than all other methods. You did not show the amount per total power or per watt generated. Also the statement that it can generate "more than enough" is bluntly false as we, as we all know this. That title takes nuclear. Seems your religion has no problem replacing green meadows with blue panels and forests with white towers by super charging humanities reach into the animal kingdom. Killing them also, especially the endangered ones. To me it's simple. It's smaller and Thorium nuclear reactors or it's death by forced human depopulation. Agent Smith and Einstein were right. Humanity is like a virus and it's stupidity is infinit. -.-
In addition, instead of quoting gross "subsidy" dollar amounts in absolute terms, how about as a percent of total capital investment each year? Because your "large" subsidy number quoted for fossil fuels is large because the investment is and has been large. Show it on a percent basis. You are twisting facts to push an agenda.
what about denser material ? rock, metal, whatever, on a slope on a railroad ?
Lumping all tax deductions into a single bucket and calling them "Subsidies" mischaracterizes them. MOST of the tax breaks being lumped together and called Subsidies here are tax breaks that are available to ALL companies that invest in capital projects. The tax breaks (that you characterize as Subsidies) that are claimed by fossil fuel companies are ALSO claimed by any manufacturer that builds a plant, builds a building, or makes any other capital investment. A manufacturer gets to depreciate their plant investment, as does a fossil fuel company. Stop characterizing tax breaks available to all companies that invest as a Subsidy. It misrepresents the truth. Subsidies (tax breaks) taken by renewable energy generators are NOT available to other manufacturers and investors. Really are Subsidies.
Shut up and have my babies.
I'd be curious as to the ability to use freshwater lakes as a lower reservoir, and rather than releasing into the lake, releasing to groundwater, which would eventually find its way there, and pumping up from the lake, possibly using an aqueduct. Could open a lot of new areas as you could be, A. further from your lower reservoir, and B get more efficient generation as you could pump up a shorter distance than you release down by leveraging tidal forces. Example from my area, rochester NY, being doing this in Irondequoit bay
Have you already looked into solid storage ways; in Sweden there is a crane structure which can store energy by lifting and lowering concrete blocks. In the usa they do something similar with train cars. I saw a Dutch documentary about it (Tegenlicht). There's also energy storage in iron; burning Iron and renew the rust into iron again. And can you do a video about heat storage; in Germany Siemens create big energy storage facilities by locking heat in volcanic rock. And this can be done in decommissioned coal power plants; using the already existing infrastructure and keeping the people at work. Lowering the decommissioned costs and startup costs.
16:24 Seeing Gates' name, I could just IMAGINE the comments. LMFAO.
Bullshit. Somebody that doesn't know the difference between a direct subsidy payment and a tax break should just shut up about it. That was all that I watched, even though I really wanted to see the pumped hydro section.
The adamant ex-wife univariately thaw because dinosaur sporadically fade an a well-to-do stamp. calm, shallow ex-wife
Tell that bulshit story to the Texans who's windmills froze and froze a dozen people to death
It's not the fault of the turbines. if anything you guys should have winterized the power plants. That's just being short-sighted.
How much is Bill Gates paying you for this farcical video?
Can you please cover the viability of flywheel energy storage in the future?
Subsidies not accounting for just how much more energy is generated by other sources, without the double spend required by renewables which can never stand on their own. The spin as always with this stuff is dishonest, and again, we've proved the whole carbon agenda is nonsense when crashing the entire world with rona yielded an insignificant reduction in carbon.
1:11 Ever notice that when you see images of daunting soldiers, you can often tell by the complete lack of shoulders that hidden under all the gear and weaponry is just a frightened kid.
Much of this is not at all true, wind and solar have only a 18% rate of energy when taken at 24/7and at 365 days of the year. The total mix is needed. Climate change is constantly with us and is evidenced in texts, tree rings, ice cores and isotope evidence. Our climate flickers and always has, often much more steeply than we can see in a lifetime. Gates, Gore, Obama and big tech want to stampede you into a flurry of spending so that they can hugely profit.
thought he was saying our land...
here's an idea to consider. let's get the government out of it and let the market sort it out. as long as renewables are "preferred" by the governments I'm not buying argument that it's better in any way. good ideas don't require force
what a load crap
You lost me as soon as you crawled up gates arse!!!
How so you balance it with the ecology of an area?
If they used the electricity to break the water down into hydrogen and oxygen, then stored it unmixed underground, or in "balloons" underwater it could be reburned in modified coal/gas power plants to generate power in off times.
If your serious about climate change you would throw thin the garbage and build nuclear plants like France
What about Texas ??? It's all crap !!!
There’s a proposed pumped scheme being looked at in New Zealand at the moment. The Lake Onslow Hydro Scheme which , if the estimates are near correct, will be in the region of 5,000 Gigawatts of storage capacity. Power and line companies are crapping themselves because it would upset there price gouging on spot pricing by smoothing out supply. Ballpark figure for this development, again a guestimate, would be about NZ$ four billion. Bound to blow out to at least double that.
I am sorry but this is _hugely_ political so a necessary thumbsdown has to be given. "The Truth" in title, yea fsck no! Then proceed the start of the video with full-on propaganda. fsck no! Stick to engineering, you know that, stay out of politics and propaganda.
I really enjoyed your discussion of the pros and cons. Thanks for your interesting videos of timely topics.
8:40 Hahaha, the kettle peak! Them tea-drinkers :-D
The answer is nuclear power. Solar, wind, and the like are a bandaid on a free flowing wound. You need constant pressure or a tourniquet, and nuclear is that answer to this hemorrhaging wound.
Or just build more nuclear plants
Bill, KMA!
So, what's the cost of the renewable energy solutions when you also factor in the energy storage solutions required for them to maintain grid stability?
You wont get a monetarily fiscal reason or a mentally sane one either.
Also the environmental impact of making massive constantly level changing lakes.
9:41 (@ left) Ireland's new domestic waste incinerator also generates electricity :)
Partnered with Bill Gates and you started using more fear in this video...😕. You have other videos that talk about nuclear, and how solar and wind cost an insane amount when you have to get rid of them or replace them (at least I think you did) I love your stuff and I will follow and like your content. But your tone in this video is different then your others...and it makes me skeptical knowing that he sponsored this video and he just made a massive push talking about global warming and the needs to change the world the way he sees it and the fact that you've covered renewables in a more even light before. Just one man's observation in the sea of youtube. Keep up the great work.
8:40 Hahaha, the kettle peak! Them tea-drinkers :-D
Ha, class!
Should have mentioned the island of El Hierro, in the Canary Islands, Spain. The island has a complex with 5 wind turbines and a higher and lower reservoir. The 5 wind turbines are used to power the island and when there is excess energy, it is used to pump water up to the higher reservoir. When there is not enough wind to power the island, the water is dropped from the top reservoir to the bottom reservoir through pipes, where 3 water turbines convert the water's kinetic energy into electricity. This way, the island has managed to power itself without fossil fuels for even days in a row, and maybe for even longer but I cannot confirm that. There is also a back-up fossil fuel plant that also generates electricity when needed.
Good stuff. But you're in cahoots with the wrong people, man.
What about sending the excess energy from solar or wind to pump back part of the water as storage in hydroelectric generating dams?
This is an engineering video site. Quit using the misnomer of "fossil fuel" to refer to oil and natural gas. No fossils are involved in this energy source. Whatever the justification, stop using this term. Be better.
Bought Bill Gate's book on your recommendation and it's excellent
>Trusting a hypocrite like Bill Gates and pushing his slock.. > My Subscription. Pick one
@Real Engineering When politics and references to charlatans like Gates enter into engineering I will ignore your videos and never subscribe. It seems by virtue of the negative comments and your response to a genuine criticism you really pi$$ed on you shoe with this one.
You support a guy who is set to manipulate any statistics he wants to push his agenda.. Are you aware that he bought out Canadian National Railways? That he's the largest farmland owner in the world? He can run the trains in such a way as to affect the emissions count of a State or province.. Imagine my un-surprise when in maybe a year, there will be a Gates Sponsored powerplant in let's say Saskatchewan, but he runs his trains in nothing but Alberta and BC? Well, just like how Helmets "caused" more injuries during Trench Warfare.. I'm sure his statistics will show that any other method of power production is "Harmful" But trust Known Liars, whatever. I said my piece
Whatever the opposite of picking your subscription is. I don't need subscriptions from people who think they can dictate what I support. BYE BYE.
I grew up in Wicklow and learned about Turlough Hill in school. Great to see it here.
Except for when theres no wind, sun, or when theres rain,clouds, snow, freeze, too muxh heat.... etc. Fossil fuels should never be let below 50%of our energy needs. Green energy will let us down... there is no climate crisis, theyve been pushing that conspiracy for more than 30 years now
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TWO MILLION EV CARS COME ON LINE?
@Massimo O'Kissed Your talking about in the future. I'm talking about 2021 when one million cars are delivered to customers, 2022 will be two million, 2023 four million deliveries. Tesla has no equipment on board to give external power, except Cybertruck. Today EV factories can't keep batteries from catching on fire in your garage.
All those batteries could actually work as extra grid load balancing. Effectively like a pumped hydro in every home.
Hahahaha the primary factory holding back solar panels, forget EVERYTHING ELSE. SOLAR SOLAR SOLAR, and then you get introduced to carbon credits hahahahah
In the US we have immense natural gas reserves. The first natural gas power plant with zero CO2 emissions has been built. Turbine driven generators are vital for providing the inertia to keep the frequency necessary for the power grid. Battery storage for solar comes at a huge environmental cost and it has to be replaced relatively often. Think of all the manufacturing and mining required to produce them. Also wind and solar are dreadful eyesores ruining once beautiful landscapes. They are also terribly harmful to wildlife especially our beautiful raptors which keep the rodent species population in check. Solar plants literally set birds in flight on fire and we know what wind turbines do. I call it renewable blight. I am a member of an Electric Co-op which uses hydro and geothermal. This makes more sense.
Renewables require batteries. Batteries are made out of mined minerals. If less things use fossil fuel, more things will use batteries. Less use of fossil fuel and more use of batteries means less oil drilling, but much much more mining. You ever see a lithium mine? Back to the drawing board boys.
Your lifecycle comment on the Stored hydro facility are real nice but now, do some research and tell us about the lifecycle of windmills. Presently you get only 20 to 30 years and those are terrible low numbers. To rebuild or build new windmills every 20 to 30 years is counter productive as it takes a lot of steel ,copper and recycling issues.
Cold storage of nitrogen makes more sense. A similar concept of chemically storing energy but doesn't need the height.
You Sir, are a corporate puppet. You do nothing but babble on about how big and complex your corporate system would be to produce electricity. I live in a standard suburban house on a standard suburban block of land. But I have gathered a lot of free water tanks, pipe lines, rigged generators and using second hand materials built pressure pumps that keep pumping, at no cost, the water into the highest tank, which is also fed from the rain gutters on the house. This miniature hydroelectric system cost nothing for the materials to construct it, it never stops producing electricity for our house, it doesn't need batteries nor does it need environmentally disastrous windmills or, even worse, solar panels that are short lived and if damaged become carcinogenic. So stop being a corrupt corporate shill and tell people how to make their own power and leave your God Cursed Fascist Corporations out of it.
Bingo. Insert "Globalist," too.
why are irish people so smart