this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2025
6 points (100.0% liked)

Collapse

704 readers
161 users here now

This is the place for discussing the potential collapse of modern civilization and the environment.


Collapse, in this context, refers to the significant loss of an established level or complexity towards a much simpler state. It can occur differently within many areas, orderly or chaotically, and be willing or unwilling. It does not necessarily imply human extinction or a singular, global event. Although, the longer the duration, the more it resembles a ‘decline’ instead of collapse.


RULES

1 - Remember the human

2 - Link posts should come from a reputable source

3 - All opinions are allowed but discussion must be in good faith.

4 - No low effort, high volume and low relevance posts.


Related lemmys:

founded 10 months ago
MODERATORS
top 1 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] eris@lemm.ee 2 points 4 weeks ago

Good summary on the topic. Concise, but technical enough to give it gravitas. And it starts with a great ELI5:

Daniel Yergin argues this isn’t a transition but an energy addition—renewables are stacking on top of still-growing fossil fuel use. Net zero isn’t happening.

While theoretically industry demands can eventually be met with a mostly electrified grid, it is a very long way out. The article only touched on it but in many places all of the transmission lines would need to be upgraded. And then each industry would need revamped. Furnaces are being electrified, but not overnight. These are long-term, capital-intensive processes.

You also can't simply add solar panels to a grid (even after upgrading the lines), you have to have backup ready to keep the grid parameters nominal - which is usually LNG because it is ideal for turning on and off quickly. The hope is that batteries can take over but that's not going to happen any time soon. There's too many gaps, too many expenses, and not enough global cooperation. So we use LNG which gives us another excuse to extract and even subsidize more oil. I guess it's better than coal or more oil, but not by much.

The only thing that is going to make a difference here is curbing demand. Obviously that is easier said than done, but it's the unfortunate truth imo.