This is an important piece. I am particularly grateful for pointing out the energy crisis in Massachusetts and the need for pipelines to abundant Appalachian nat gas. The Boston Globe and the state’s Woke leadership has a news blackout on this urgent situation except as it can be used to flog its favored narrative of the need for ever more commitment to renewables.
And can I just mention that I have seen corn fields in Indiana and high ridges on Spain’s rolling Hills and They are ugly and a blight on the landscape. I imagine the noise is unbearable. When they start to fall apart it will only get worse
The AGW thing is a scam which is a type of fraud. The people who claim the earth is getting hotter left out heat from the earth, heat removed by the evaporation of water which goes on 24'7. They also left out CO2 and oxygen from the oceans. They are necessary to support ocean life. Any leftover CO2 and O2 goes into our atmosphere.. The foregoing is based on scientific facts.
This is more of a general observation, but as I read Substack, I realize how rampant censorship of just different/opposing views is - not only when it comes to covid, but literally seems to have permeated every single industry. What a crazy times we live in.
Engineering for reliability is all about understanding of he variability of inputs. Of course.
The sun isn't going away and the wind will continue to blow. Is it variable? Yes within an understood range and therefore it can of course be designed into electric grids that provide sufficient power with high reliability.
You do that by understanding the variability of inputs, diversifying renewable sources, transmitting power from areas where given renewable resources are most effective.
But the number one way you make a variable electrical input predictable is short and medium term storage at grid scale. When you don't have a large percentage of variable versus baseload power sources then it isn't a big deal. But storage must of course scale with renewables. It's not complicated. It's not a science project. It's simply engineering that must continue hand in hand.
Ultimately we will end up with an even more reliable energy security picture than we have today because no one will be dependent on imported fossil fuels or even local fossil fuel supply variability.
New England Energy Crisis, I tried to speak at the 2021-12- Public comment on H.3288/S.2136 but was not selected, but patiently listened for hours to Anti-Nuclear - CAN, Sierra Club, UCS, & RE Developers. No one opposed to H.3288/S.2136, Spoke. Submitted written comment = " I am Strongly OPPOSED to 100% Clean Act, H.3288/S.2136, filed by Rep. Decker, Rep. Garballey, and Sen. Boncore. Reason, 100 percent clean electricity excludes NUCLEAR POWER.
The Bill states Investor-owned utilities must provide 100 percent clean electricity by 2035, with at least 80 percent from Class I resources like wind and solar through the renewable portfolio standard (RPS). " UD article, doubt our MASS Pols listen to ISONE? This is also the case in CA for CAISO. Advocates of Nuclear and Grid Reliability need to be more active.
ISO New England can meet winter power demand 'if the weather is mild,' grid operator warns
In all of the previous comments I have been trying to prove the negative with respect to AGW while at the same time the AGW proponents have not presented any scientific evidence to support their position. If they had any, one would think they would reveal it for peer review.
A study published in 2009 looking at the US and Europe estimated that wind farms were responsible for about 0.3 bird deaths for every 1GWh of electricity generated, compared with 5.2 deaths per 1GWh caused by fossil-fuelled power stations.
It said this would equate to the deaths, every year, in the US, of about 7,000 birds caused by wind turbines, 300,000 by nuclear plants and 14.5 million by power plants using fossil fuels.
It's a fairly old study so this may have increased with the growth of wind power in the US or decreased with better understanding of how to mitigate the risks.
Another study in 2012 came to a similar conclusion, finding that fossil-fuel powered plants killed birds during mining, through onsite collision, electrocution with plant equipment and poisoning.
Whatever the exact number, and how it compares with fatalities at fossil fuel plants, it's generally considered that any harm to birds could be mitigated by locating wind farms away from major migration routes and feeding, breeding and roosting spots.
The UK-based Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) says that if this is done, wind farms will have "minimal impacts".
I live in the North East power system. About 40 yrs ago we had an outage triggered by an overload demand from Canada. In response they built a new system to monitor demand and they are able to drop overload demand when necessary. Also they maintain natural gas turbines which don't take much time to start.. We don't need solar or wind power. we certainly don't need batteries. What will the reaction when people freeze their ass of because of the green energy crap?
It is all staggeringly obvious. Worse it has all been predicted, for at least the last 10 years.
It. Won't. Work.
20-25% renewables based in wind or solar are not a problem IF the rest of the grid is nuclear, hydro, geothermal. It is also fine if the rest of the grid is gas IF you develop, maintain, and distribute adequate supplies. Otherwise no.
What they are trying to do is exceed what wind and solar can possibly allow. In Europe you either need to secure adequate supplies of gas or build nuclear. Hopefully both. There is no other alternative.
Last February during the extreme winter storm Uri coal, hydro and peakers fired on fuel oil kept my lights on in CO. Not renewables dude!! I'm all you are credential wise and have a PE.
This is an important piece. I am particularly grateful for pointing out the energy crisis in Massachusetts and the need for pipelines to abundant Appalachian nat gas. The Boston Globe and the state’s Woke leadership has a news blackout on this urgent situation except as it can be used to flog its favored narrative of the need for ever more commitment to renewables.
And can I just mention that I have seen corn fields in Indiana and high ridges on Spain’s rolling Hills and They are ugly and a blight on the landscape. I imagine the noise is unbearable. When they start to fall apart it will only get worse
Well reasoned as usual.
The AGW thing is a scam which is a type of fraud. The people who claim the earth is getting hotter left out heat from the earth, heat removed by the evaporation of water which goes on 24'7. They also left out CO2 and oxygen from the oceans. They are necessary to support ocean life. Any leftover CO2 and O2 goes into our atmosphere.. The foregoing is based on scientific facts.
This is more of a general observation, but as I read Substack, I realize how rampant censorship of just different/opposing views is - not only when it comes to covid, but literally seems to have permeated every single industry. What a crazy times we live in.
Engineering for reliability is all about understanding of he variability of inputs. Of course.
The sun isn't going away and the wind will continue to blow. Is it variable? Yes within an understood range and therefore it can of course be designed into electric grids that provide sufficient power with high reliability.
You do that by understanding the variability of inputs, diversifying renewable sources, transmitting power from areas where given renewable resources are most effective.
But the number one way you make a variable electrical input predictable is short and medium term storage at grid scale. When you don't have a large percentage of variable versus baseload power sources then it isn't a big deal. But storage must of course scale with renewables. It's not complicated. It's not a science project. It's simply engineering that must continue hand in hand.
Ultimately we will end up with an even more reliable energy security picture than we have today because no one will be dependent on imported fossil fuels or even local fossil fuel supply variability.
New England Energy Crisis, I tried to speak at the 2021-12- Public comment on H.3288/S.2136 but was not selected, but patiently listened for hours to Anti-Nuclear - CAN, Sierra Club, UCS, & RE Developers. No one opposed to H.3288/S.2136, Spoke. Submitted written comment = " I am Strongly OPPOSED to 100% Clean Act, H.3288/S.2136, filed by Rep. Decker, Rep. Garballey, and Sen. Boncore. Reason, 100 percent clean electricity excludes NUCLEAR POWER.
The Bill states Investor-owned utilities must provide 100 percent clean electricity by 2035, with at least 80 percent from Class I resources like wind and solar through the renewable portfolio standard (RPS). " UD article, doubt our MASS Pols listen to ISONE? This is also the case in CA for CAISO. Advocates of Nuclear and Grid Reliability need to be more active.
ISO New England can meet winter power demand 'if the weather is mild,' grid operator warns
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/iso-new-england-can-meet-winter-power-demand-if-the-weather-is-mild-grid/611385/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202021-12-13%20Utility%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:38565%5D&utm_term=Utility%20Dive
Germany has hardly bothered us since 1918... (Tom Lehrer)
New England Energy Crisis, Bloomberg, will never state the Truth, but Doomberg gets it Right. "New England is an Energy Crisis Waiting to Happen" https://doomberg.substack.com/p/new-england-is-an-energy-crisis-waiting
In all of the previous comments I have been trying to prove the negative with respect to AGW while at the same time the AGW proponents have not presented any scientific evidence to support their position. If they had any, one would think they would reveal it for peer review.
Unlike Mike, I earned a Master of Science in this field, and he is wrong.
The rest of you are simply ignorant of the complexities of the environment.
I want to debate the science here. Who can do it?
Start by discussing Ocean Acidification.
From the BBC
Wind v fossil fuels
A study published in 2009 looking at the US and Europe estimated that wind farms were responsible for about 0.3 bird deaths for every 1GWh of electricity generated, compared with 5.2 deaths per 1GWh caused by fossil-fuelled power stations.
It said this would equate to the deaths, every year, in the US, of about 7,000 birds caused by wind turbines, 300,000 by nuclear plants and 14.5 million by power plants using fossil fuels.
It's a fairly old study so this may have increased with the growth of wind power in the US or decreased with better understanding of how to mitigate the risks.
Another study in 2012 came to a similar conclusion, finding that fossil-fuel powered plants killed birds during mining, through onsite collision, electrocution with plant equipment and poisoning.
Whatever the exact number, and how it compares with fatalities at fossil fuel plants, it's generally considered that any harm to birds could be mitigated by locating wind farms away from major migration routes and feeding, breeding and roosting spots.
The UK-based Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) says that if this is done, wind farms will have "minimal impacts".
I live in the North East power system. About 40 yrs ago we had an outage triggered by an overload demand from Canada. In response they built a new system to monitor demand and they are able to drop overload demand when necessary. Also they maintain natural gas turbines which don't take much time to start.. We don't need solar or wind power. we certainly don't need batteries. What will the reaction when people freeze their ass of because of the green energy crap?
It is all staggeringly obvious. Worse it has all been predicted, for at least the last 10 years.
It. Won't. Work.
20-25% renewables based in wind or solar are not a problem IF the rest of the grid is nuclear, hydro, geothermal. It is also fine if the rest of the grid is gas IF you develop, maintain, and distribute adequate supplies. Otherwise no.
What they are trying to do is exceed what wind and solar can possibly allow. In Europe you either need to secure adequate supplies of gas or build nuclear. Hopefully both. There is no other alternative.
Last February during the extreme winter storm Uri coal, hydro and peakers fired on fuel oil kept my lights on in CO. Not renewables dude!! I'm all you are credential wise and have a PE.
Unlike Shellenberger, I am a former senior engineer for a large power company.
Unlike Shellenberger, I earned a Master of Science in energy and the environment.
Unlike Shellenberger, I understand complex systems and stable states.
Unlike Shellenberger, I am honest, and not disingenuous.