The Alternative Green Energy Thread

EricMears

JKenH said:

Biden Assurances on Jobs Sting Like Insults in Mines, Oil Patch

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-02-16/miners-and-oil-workers-hear-insults-in-biden-talk-of-better-jobs
It’s going to be tough to square his climate policies with his promise (below).

“I want you to know that I’ll work as hard for those who voted against me as those who voted for me. That’s the job,”

It won't be "tough" at all 
It's a "politician's promise"  !  They can be interpreted however you like  - e.g.   “I’ll work as hard for those who voted against me as those who voted for me. ”   might really mean he won't be working very hard for either group  or it might even mean he'll work very hard at his declared policies but feels they'll benefit even those who voted against him   

JKenH

Texas was "seconds and minutes" away from catastrophic monthslong blackouts, officials say

Interesting article that explains what can happen when the electricity grid is stressed.

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/18/texas-power-outages-ercot/

shinytop

JKenH said:

Texas was "seconds and minutes" away from catastrophic monthslong blackouts, officials say

Interesting article that explains what can happen when the electricity grid is stressed.

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/18/texas-power-outages-ercot/

As I understand it, the grid operators saw what was coming and cut demand so that it remained within what could be supplied.  What would happen if they didn't do this that would cause the fires, damage, etc that were mentioned?  Not doubting, just curious.  

JKenH

shinytop said:

JKenH said:

Texas was "seconds and minutes" away from catastrophic monthslong blackouts, officials say

Interesting article that explains what can happen when the electricity grid is stressed.

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/18/texas-power-outages-ercot/

As I understand it, the grid operators saw what was coming and cut demand so that it remained within what could be supplied.  What would happen if they didn't do this that would cause the fires, damage, etc that were mentioned?  Not doubting, just curious.  

I don’t know. I did find this article from 2014 which highlights some of the issues peculiar to the US. 

https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.5.5020/full/.

it does mention “ A generator that drops 2 Hz below 60 Hz will rapidly build up enough heat in its bearings to destroy itself.”

While the US has different problems to us there have been a couple of capacity warnings issued this winter by National Grid. We are running our grid close to its limit and as we close more fossil fuel generating plants we lose some flexibility to respond to periods of high demand. 

Cardew

An energy consultant on Bloomberg stated that although Texas is the oil/gas capital of the USA, the peak load is always in the summer with air-conditioning and pool heating. So they have closed lots of fossil fuel generators and rely on loads of solar panels - which don't work well under a foot of snow.

Also Texas has its own Grid with little ability to import from other states. 

JKenH

Drax Amite fined for breaching limits on pollution at wood pellet processing facility

The UK is one of the world’s biggest consumers of biomass, which accounts for 12 per cent of its electricity mix. 

Amid a push to move away from coal, the Government now provides the largest subsidies in Europe, with £1bn backing every year for the industry. 

The vast majority of that goes to Drax, which has so far converted four of its six former coal units in Yorkshire to burn biomass. 

A recent letter from 500 scientists to US President Joe Biden, and leaders from the EU and Japan, called for the scrapping of subsidies and an end to the classification of biomass as carbon neutral. 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/environment/2021/02/19/mississippi-wood-pellet-plant-supplies-uk-electricity-grid-fined/

JKenH

As Britain moves towards more renewable power, the value of having control over the timing of output is coming into sharp relief.  

Some interesting observations on costs here. It does explain why the value of solar farm investments has been dropping with worse to come it seems.

Because wind and solar farms have no fuel costs, they generate whenever possible. When their output is high they can push down power prices, and even send them negative when output has to be curtailed.  At the start of the decade, solar farms earned above the average price, as they operate during daylight hours when prices were higher. Now sunny afternoons often see negative prices as solar output is so high (e.g. last Easter), and average power prices throughout the summer are now £10-15 lower than they were ten years ago.

Although average power prices are pushed down by growing shares of renewables, dispatchable and flexible generators may continue to earn a reasonable rate. Weather-driven renewables may suffer further as their shares grow, so the business case for integrated renewables with storage projects may strengthen.

https://reports.electricinsights.co.uk/q4-2020/flexible-fossil-rewarded-with-premium-prices/

JKenH

Q4 2020: Record Wind Output And Curtailment

https://reports.electricinsights.co.uk/q4-2020/record-wind-output-and-curtailment/

JKenH

How Bitcoin's vast energy use could burst its bubble

"If Bitcoin were to be adopted as a global reserve currency," he speculates, "the Bitcoin price will probably be in the millions, and those miners will have more money than the entire [US] Federal budget to spend on electricity."

"We'd have to double our global energy production," he says with a laugh. "For Bitcoin."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56215787

JKenH

The $7 TRILLION cost of upgrading the US power grid

Overall, greenhouse gas emissions per kwh generated fell about two percent per year during the Obama presidency and three percent per year during Trump’s term, largely for economic reasons.

We believe that policy makers would accelerate decarbonization and modernization of the electricity sector by making it a business opportunity for electric companies to embrace rather than as an environmental compliance problem, using tried and true components such as securitization to pay for the most polluting regulated power stations if retired promptly, granting higher returns on assets that support decarbonization, and a bonus to electric companies for the fossil-free electricity that they produce or deliver. Add a Federal guarantee for the securitization bonds or any other deferrals designed to smooth the price impact of the capital program, and that will lower costs to consumers at practically no cost to the government.

https://www.rt.com/business/516669-us-power-grid-upgrading-cost/