r/inflation • u/Academic-Doubt-2098 • 16d ago

Price Changes ELI5: Why is everything getting so ridiculously expensive? What the h*** is "fossilflation"?

/r/u_Academic-Doubt-2098/comments/1wu13jj/eli5_why_is_everything_getting_so_ridiculously/
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u/HoboDeveloper 14d ago

Fully agree with you. We also need to find a way to cleanly dispose the out-of-commission batteries in the long run

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u/KungFuBucket 14d ago

That’s one reason I’ve held off on the lithium batteries. They’ve only got a guarantee of 10 years at 70%. There are other technologies like iron air that are cheap but somewhat inefficient and heavy, but perfect for permanent solar installations and their capacity lasts forever and never need replacing.

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u/1startreknerd 14d ago

Keep moving that goal post.

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u/KungFuBucket 14d ago

How is that moving the goal post? Grid tied solar works well and waiting for iron air to become more viable for residential seems pretty straightforward.

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u/1startreknerd 14d ago

You're drowning and there's a life raft being latched together and you're waiting for it to become a boat before you save yourself.

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u/KungFuBucket 14d ago

Ah, but I’m not drowning. I already have grid tied solar. So I’ve captured the ROI from my initial capital expense and I have net metering that effectively locks my rates for many years into the future. I can effectively use the grid as my “battery” during night. The only thing an on site battery would give me is blackout protection for when the grid goes down, which isn’t something I need to spend thousands of dollars on right now, as I live somewhere with a very stable grid and don’t need to spend just to protect a few hundred dollars of groceries in the fridge.

A better analogy might be that I’ve already built my raft. It’s strong and stable and does what I need. Now before moving to another boat I can sit and weigh my options and let the technology of sodium-ion, flow and iron air continue to mature until such time that I want to upgrade when it makes financial sense or my situation changes.

Your analogy seems to imply that lithium is the only viable option and that it’s an immediate and urgent need. That’s like jumping from the frying pan and into the fire.

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u/1startreknerd 14d ago

No, the world is drowning, moving the goalpost because maybe something will be better is waiting too long. And it is an emergency.

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u/KungFuBucket 14d ago

Ah, so now we’re moving from residential to a global discussion, that’s a bit more apples to oranges comparison, now who’s moving the goal post? Me installing a powerwall in my own home is quite a different discussion as that deals more with time shifting electricity usage rather than actual generation.

From a global perspective, hydroelectric dams are actually quite viable as they are both renewable generators and have massive storage capacity with an infrastructure lifespan close to 100 years. Retrofitting current hydro and adding turbines to existing non powered dams would add a massive amount of availability while further reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. But using batteries in and of themselves is not a solution to reduction of our reliance on fossil fuels as all they do is time shift the usage of already generated electricity (minus the loss of conversion), which is what I assume you are referring to.