I wonder if something similar is happening at Saturns polar region. No one can explain that hexagon yet.

It's not solid, and surface tension should mean jack at that scale. But some force is creating the same shape.

It is a problem, but consider this. Mexican labor is now cheaper than Chinese labor and they are going through the largest buildout of industrial capacity in their history.

Not to mention the rest of south east Asia is still dirt cheap for mass production.

Hence the onshoring.

It would be trouble, but temporary. Not crippling. Notably, even if China captured the factories intact, which is impossible. They would not have the capacity to utilize them without American designs.

In this case microprocessors?

It's ambiguous because china only makes the very low end chips. They are not a threat to the high end market.

The article does not differentiate. So yeah china makes a lot of chips, but not even the quality to go in a car, more like a toaster. Lots of em, but just the real basic designs.

The engineering is great. The sunshine is not.

Solar intensity is so low that far north. Germany has paid 4x as much on solar investments for 1/3 the results as California.

Order of magnitude less efficient.

I'm all for Green tech, but pick the ones that work best where you are!

So they determine not only the "truth" but also mind read your intent.

Given the missteps lately of true stories being labeled misinformation, I don't think there could be a good way to administer this policy, it is flawed.

The source is a best selling author and THE dude the industry pays to consult for them and give talks at all the big conferences. I picked a short video just for ease of linking right to it, but his infographics are used the world over.

Also, if you looked at the video, you would see it also praised wind as the solution, although Germany doesn't have the best profile there it is much better than solar. Germany has paid more for solar than California where it makes sense, for way way way less output.

Carbon emissions are way up overall, and were even before the war. Yes they are using more renewables in the mix, but overall the environmental impact of German energy policy has been getting worse.

Peak demand is winter and during the night. Solar is unable to meet those needs so in moving away from oil they have been burning coal instead.

I agree with you that agenda over facts is a problem. I just caution you to re-examine which is which. Here is an expert on the subject explaining the issue of why solar in Germany has not gone well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LV-D9mKoig

We all want to see the energy grid to go green, but there are right and wrong ways to get it done.

So much. Lignite too, the dirtiest kind. It was way up even before the Russian mess.

The German energy policy has been divorced from reality for a while now.

Will have to circle back Saturday with the data. I'm currently 2000 miles from home. Small town with limited internet and no access to my files.

Best I can do from my snow bunker are resources like this. https://globalsolaratlas.info/map?c=11.523088,8.261719,2

Red or orange, solar is great economic and environmental.

Yellow it is probably break even. Worth doing for environment reasons. But may not be a great investment.

Green or worse you are probably never going to make back the carbon debt of blast furnacing the silicon into panels.

It is, and that is an option being considered. Sicily is also pretty good.

Transmission across the Mediterranean sounds difficult.

Well nuclear is honestly the smartest choice for Germany specifically. Would take them a decade or more though.

Transmission is not terrible. You lose a few % but it's way more efficient than the change in sun angle going north.

I am also a green. Just one who can do math 😔

Don't mind being unpopular. Everything I said is backed up by data. Need to say it moreso because of the reactions.

Germany uses Hollywood style accounting to shuffle significant lignite coal power production into its solar ledger. Takes a whole day to switch over when weather changes but they count it all as 100% solar.

Their solar investments have been GREAT for the technology. But it's been pretty shitty for power output.

They have spent more than California and produce a fraction of the power. Why? Simple amount of sunshine.

Solar in Germany is all about feelings and wishes and nothing about math. The earth is not flat.

Put that shit in Spain and import it. Much cheaper, much more efficient.

They have not yet fully mobilized. The Russian army will be larger when the spring mud dries, but Ukrainian deferred maintenance on all the captured equipment will also be done then.

May might be decisive either way.

If the hospital is only 10 min away, sure