Environment & Energy

...use was owing to so called "renewable energy." Everytime I read of a coal plant closing, the reason given was thus.

The reality was that gas was the real reason. In the period between 2022 and 2023, the use of coal grew by 5 Exajoules, solar and wind by 2 Exajoules according to the IEA.

Because after a coal plant goes off line because wind and solar are temporarily available, as almost all are Rankine plants, coal has to be burned without generating power until the steam comes up. The intermittently thus makes things worse for the use of coal to maintain reliability.

It's long past time to stop kidding ourselves about the viability of wind and solar without fossil fuels. Germany is the poster boy for the case.