World’s ‘solar and wind capital’ freezing due to snow ‘blanketing millions’ of solar panels

Green cannot deliver reliable base load energy.

Clean Coal is amazing. Most people have no clue what it is. It only comes from Utah and the process is 100% emission free.
Natural Gas in incredibly cheap and burns incredibly clean, we should be fine with it.
Nuclear is 100% carbon free and a great resource. We should be moving towards Small Modular Reactors.

Full Disclosure: I have worked in the Nuclear Energy Industry for over a decade as well as Natural Gas and Carbon Plants, but predominantly Nuclear.

 

We have the technology to move to emissions free power, and should be doing so with all possible haste.

The problem with Wind / Solar is that we just dont have great storage technology at present. I believe we will break that barrier soon. Wind and Solar can be the major producer of most power, and I would use smaller local nuclear plants to cover the jump, and to provide the fill ion power for those times when output is low.

 

~ It's the same story the other way around as well. Many promote the theory of Co2 as the evil of mankind out to destroy life on planet earth. The majority of these folks are politicians.

~ Many of us are. Just think of the future source of energy beyond nuclear. Humankind will do just fine without the asinine interference of politics.

~ That is not the only problem.

 

In 2003, Australia installed a pair of wind turbines at its Mawson Research Station in Antarctica.

I didn't read every post in this long thread so I may be repeating what's already been said, but the idea that the problem is wind turbines and solar panels is nothing short of RW bullshit lies. The right tries to spin EVERYTHING to blame their screwups on the left. In this case the problem is that in their infinite wisdom, Texas decided to isolate their little grid from every other state, giving them total control over it and insulating them from federal regulation. Meanwhile, FERC on nore than one occasion beginning 12 years ago told Texas they needed to winterize their power generation or it could freeze in a freak cold spell, which they had 10 years ago. But oh heck no, they knew better and ignored the Feds so they could maximize profits. Now their stupidity has bit them in the butt again, so they blame lefty "green energy".

But hey. The stupidity and lies obtained from RW media feels better than admitting one's own failure.

 

In 2003, Australia installed a pair of wind turbines at its Mawson Research Station in Antarctica. After 14 years, in 2017, one of them failed with age but the other is still going strong.

The problem is that Texas has its own, unregulated, state-wide grid and they didn't winterize it as FERC recommended more than once. Do you really think Texas energy tycoons would let the Texas media tell Texans that this was their fault for trying to maximize their profit?

 

Global warming is making the cold polar air mass unstable. The consequence is more extreme cold weather in the winter.

 

It's happening.

 

Why? I was talking about you.

 

You really don't understand this stuff, do you. Sheesh!

Hey! I turned on my hot water faucet in the kitchen and the water was COLD! I had to let it run for about half a minute for the water heater to kick in and start heating it!

 

YEAH! And you no you got feed tubes in you're belly? The feed goes threw dem!

 

Too many of the people who might be open to using nuclear power are busy promoting fossil fuels.

 

Heat pumps are better and they can go with a baseboard or radiant heating (not forced air).

 

Hydro, unlike many renewables, can be used for baseload power.

 

What you have in Texas is the result of 25 years of Republican control.

1) Long ago they bucked the national grid to avoid Federal regulations [there are regulations for a reason]
2) They installed wind turbines but refused to get the cold-weather packages
3) Their energy infrastructure is severely outdated
4) This happened in 2011 and they still failed to act
5) The majority of the power loss is due to coal and gas power failures

Turbines in other States hit by the freeze are doing great!

 

Yet the UK, 68 million of us, produces about 60% of its energy without burning fossil fuels. America lags behind the civilised world in this.

 

I fear this is sad but true. Reading the posts here and watching the news America seems to be constantly looking backwards. Everything is about not changing, staying the same. Both culturally and in technology. I can't believe Americans are still saying renewable is unviable. That argument ended here 10 years ago.

 

There will always be a need for gas and even coal. The goal is not 100% renewable, the goal is enough renewable to reverse climate change.
Do you have a link to 'clean coal' please. The only clean coal I am aware of is carbon storage.

 

~ Stupidity and lies from the LW media are making people sick ! The ratings are in the toilet . People are waking up. They are becoming "woke".

~ Looks like jolly old England is not doing much better . A few months ago the U.K. had similar problems as Texas.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenr...wable-energy-may-not-suffice/?sh=3cc804ed5aca

 

That’s because it doesn’t exist.

Here’s clean coal in the real world.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/the-clean-coal-boondoggle-getting-southern-company-in-hot-water

Here’s what’s really going on in Utah.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2020/10/29/epa-guts-plan-that-would/

 

Except we did not have "similar problems", we did not have any blackouts. And the telling paragraph is "At the same time, several natural gas and nuclear powerplants in the U.K. are currently undergoing maintenance."

 

Really, “jolly old England” (how parochial), are not having issues with renewable energy. The naysayers dismiss it on the basis that they claim it will never cover 100% of the load. Which is a claim, not a fact. A claim made by oil lobbyists and their media allies. Their claims have been consistantly wrong.

The crisis in Texas was caused by an antique electrical grid, which has already collapsed four times in the last three decades.

And when the pipelines and the well heads froze, the gas stopped flowing and the lights went dark.

I am not aware of the UK having that problem.

 

They have this “windmills caused the blackout” meme firmly planted in their heads.

It was debunked almost immediately.

But this is clearly a meme that is popular with the flat earth crowd. So they keep it up.

Some of them are just trolling the thread at this point. You know the ones.

Right wing media jumped in with both feet to peddle the myth that windmills caused the outages in Texas.

As the storm passes and the temperature begins to rise, broken gas lines, and cracked valves will delay the power coming back on right away.

That won’t happen with wind. Once the ice melts off the blades, the power will begin to flow.

While the gas pipelines are shut down for repairs .

 

That is a constant amongst the Trump crowd.

The oil industry has always held outsized influence in Washington.

And, as the Republican party gained influence in the 1980’s big oil was there to be its handmaiden. The big conservative think tanks in DC are all oil financed.

None of the chorus of right wing talk radio hosts will ever say a bad word about oil or coal. Indeed, they constantly bash renewables, peddling outdated stereotypes, false claims, and quack cures like clean coal.

 

Concerning Texas, it wasn’t just the wind farms that failed but the entire system. Wind, coal, gas, and nuclear facilities all went down because Texas grid is not prepared for such drastic dips in cold.

Apparently, Texas took itself off the national grid and deregulated its energy industry back in the 90s.

I guess there’s one thing Texans ain’t big enough to handle—cold.

 

Why? Neither of them are on or direct the ERCOM folks here. Do Ted and Greg haunt your dreams these days?