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The cost of living crisis can only be beaten by tackling the climate crisis | Ed Miliband
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2023
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c/Environment
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Thing is, renewable isn't at all cheap.
I heat with locally sourced hardwood which is affordable and cozy, but not scalable. Refitting the 1972 house for a heat pump would cost north of 100 kEUR, if you can at all find the labor, and make you depend on very expensive, increasingly unreliable grid. The city might get deep geothermal in 3-4 years so that we no longer need natgas, but cost is unknown and this is also not an option for most.
The little PV I installed ROIs in 2.5 years, only because I've built it myself and is operated guerilla. Adding some 3.5 kWh backup storage is 2 kEUR minimum, if illegally self-installed, buffers a night, lasts about a decade and never ROIs. Professional, legal PV installs ROI in 15-20 years, assuming you can find the labor. And, of course you still rely on the grid.
EVs are still noticeably more expensive than ICEs. And so on.
Let's be honest to ourselves: transition is high capex and not necessarily low opex. The old, lavish lifestyle is unaffordable for most in the renewable future.