General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Biden Plans Wind Farms Along Entire U.S. Coastline [View all]lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)But you knew that. When it comes to energy, the answer should NEVER be "one single technology". That leads to fragility and vulnerability to monopolies.
Flywheels and lithium batteries for instantaneous frequency regulation.
Gravity (including hydro), compressed air, thermal, hydrogen for longer term.
Many other technologies are in development. Flow batteries (limited only by tank size), superconductors, supercapacitors, etc.
https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/76097.pdf
https://www.pnnl.gov/sites/default/files/media/file/Final%20-%20ESGC%20Cost%20Performance%20Report%2012-11-2020.pdf
Other key points:
Diversity of supply reduces intermittency. For example, the likelihood of an extended drop in both solar and wind energy in a region is much lower than a drop in either source alone.
Environmental impacts of solar installations should be mitigated by placing them on land that is already damaged (e.g rooftops, brownfield industrial sites/waste facilities, parking lots (makes a great sun shade for the cars)).
Much storage is moving "behind the meter" - i.e. individual customers are installing combined renewable source/storage in a distributed way.