LogFAQs > #979991718

Part of the problem is that electricity is never perfectly insulated. You lose a little bit transforming from the power source to the line, you lose a little bit more as it travels across low voltage lines, then you lose around 2 to 4% traveling over high voltage lines, then you lose a little bit more back on the low voltage lines, until ultimately the last little bit of loss happens at the transformer that converts it to other currents.

Power generation needs to be within a certain distance of the consumer in order to get it there without too much loss. Windmill farms and solar power plants require significant space to generate the equivalent energy of a traditional power plant and often need to be placed further away.

Yes, people with obscene amounts of money that are heavily invested in oil are hindering the transition to renewable energy, but I also don't think a lot of people understand or appreciate the sheer volume of energy that the world needs generated and exactly how going fully renewable would make that possible when you can only transmit power so far from the source.