NOTE; Bad link fixed
ISO-New England, which oversees the six-state power grid, has released a report talking about ways energy use is changing. From their point of view the big difference is that peak usage is going to happen in winter, when solar power is low, which raises issues. Read it here.
The part I found most interesting is reflected in the chart shown above: The two-decade trend of dropping electricity use caused by efficiency, changes in industry and all that rooftop solar is about reverse due to high-profile things like data usage (although we don’t have much in the way of monstrous data centers) and the electrify-everything movement.
It’s obvious to anybody with half a brain that we need more energy sources which won’t kill our grandchildren, like offshore wind and solar all over the place. But you knew that already.
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It’s too bad we don’t have something that can naturally convert solar energy into a stable, easily-stored form that can be converted to electricity in the winter to fill in for the seasonal solar output shortfall. ‘Wood’ probably be quite the solution coupled with more solar panels and battery storage. Too bad…