Green energy sources....

[wdefromtx 3,159]

Can kiss my @$$. Unreliable in bad weather. Fossil fuels for the win!! 

[The Freak 2,529]

Car battery die this morning?   lol

[SLAG-91 1,488]

Most of Texas is in an unusually deep freezer this morning...power outages scattered around Houston, but we've managed to avoid it in our neighborhood so far (knocks on wood). Not going to crack 30 here today, and it's breezy to boot. Glad I don't have to be anywhere today except home.

ERCOT (Council responsible for most of the state's electric grid) has been getting a workout the last few days. 

[I_M4_AU 8,052]

I wonder how solar panels work with a sheet of ice or snow over them.  Of course they could be anti-iced by heaters, but that would use some if not all the stored up power of the solar panels.

Windmills would not turn if the blades are iced over, unless of course they are anti-iced by their own source. Again all the energy it produces will be used to anti-ice the blades.

If you want power in days like these, get a generator and make sure it is fueled by propane or natural gas, that is possible through fracking.

[johnnyAU 3,668]

Frozen windmills. Who knew?  Get those electric helicopters up there to de-ice STAT! 

[AuburnNTexas 7,197]

There is nothing wrong with a well planned Green energy solution the problem is that none of the green energy solutions are well planned. In our current system we have to have enough fossil fuel backup in place for when we can't get enough green energy. So we are paying for redundant energy production.  You either have to have a National Energy Grid so that when one areas green energy is not available you can get green energy from another area or you have to have enough storage to provide energy for long periods of time. Both are extremely expensive options that would increase our energy costs. 

Of the two options my preference would be a National Grid as our current systems are antiquated and vulnerable to external attack.  As we have seen in California in the past summer they have had Rolling blackouts and in last couple days here in Texas we are having same issue because the current system can't handle the load with the cold front that has hit middle of the US.  A national Grid would take trillions of dollars and a long time to build assuming we could get it through congress and get other states on board with it.

We are just beginning to see electric cars starting to come online as they slowly overcome issue like range and recharge times. In the next ten to 15 years as they become a preferred choice we will have to dramatically increase the production of energy we can help cut down the demand by some sane policies as having meters at home for charging cars that charge a rate based on when you recharge at night where there is less energy usage better rates. We also will need to tax Recharge stations both at home and in stations to pay for highway infrastructure. All this needs planning which sadly is lacking. It is great to be for green energy but you need to be honest about what it will cost to get there also because it will cost a lot more then current energy costs how will you subsidize costs for low income people so they don't have to choose between energy and food. 

I wish that some how we could have gotten Fusion energy to work but so far it is a pipe dream, energy storage adds to the cost of green energy. By the way green energy has its own environmental impacts large solar farms and wind mails are not very bird friendly many of the substances in Batteries and solar panels will create a toxic environment when we have to dispose of them kind of like Nuclear fission what do you do with the byproducts. 

I am pro electric car and pro green even though I am a conservative, but I am also a realist there are a myriad of issues that must be resolved before you can really go green as a mainstay of your energy solution.  The countries closest to it have extremely expensive energy. You have to be honest up front if you push green energy that it will be expensive if not many of the people who currently support it will jump off the bandwagon when their energy costs increase dramatically and unexpectedly because you were not honest upfront.

[wdefromtx 3,159]

Screw Ercot. Lol 

 

PS, I blame Biden!! Just because!! lol 

[SLAG-91 1,488]

Space City Weather guys laid into ERCOT (and others) this afternoon about this fiasco, and deservedly so.

More on the way Wednesday, too...think we'll be just south of the freezing rain line, though (crosses fingers).

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

Just for the record here, much of the issue in Texas is because of coal and natural gas issues not being able to be made into energy.  Very little of the problem us due to frozen wind turbines.

https://www.wfaa.com/article/weather/texas-power-outages-frequently-asked-questions/287-554d28ba-a8a9-4213-a08a-7c436ad8b59a

Multiple electrical generating units began tripping offline quickly Sunday night, causing a collapse in electricity supply and prompting the outages. The units fell offline due to the cold weather, ERCOT officials said during the call.

Most of those that went offline were natural gas, coal or nuclear facilities that shut down. Combined, it in total took more than 30,000 megawatts from the grid. 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

Well this aged poorly for Ole Ted

 

[SLAG-91 1,488]

Gonna blame the "who" here (decision-makers) and not the "what." It's not like this forecast came out of nowhere. 

Oh, this picture was a really, really dumb thing to post when the local, um, leadership is telling people to conserve power and such. Nice work, KTRK!

A shot of downtown Houston...guess lots of people went in to do some work? 🤔

 

[homersapien 11,500]

11 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

There is nothing wrong with a well planned Green energy solution the problem is that none of the green energy solutions are well planned. In our current system we have to have enough fossil fuel backup in place for when we can't get enough green energy. So we are paying for redundant energy production.  You either have to have a National Energy Grid so that when one areas green energy is not available you can get green energy from another area or you have to have enough storage to provide energy for long periods of time. Both are extremely expensive options that would increase our energy costs. 

Of the two options my preference would be a National Grid as our current systems are antiquated and vulnerable to external attack.  As we have seen in California in the past summer they have had Rolling blackouts and in last couple days here in Texas we are having same issue because the current system can't handle the load with the cold front that has hit middle of the US.  A national Grid would take trillions of dollars and a long time to build assuming we could get it through congress and get other states on board with it.

We are just beginning to see electric cars starting to come online as they slowly overcome issue like range and recharge times. In the next ten to 15 years as they become a preferred choice we will have to dramatically increase the production of energy we can help cut down the demand by some sane policies as having meters at home for charging cars that charge a rate based on when you recharge at night where there is less energy usage better rates. We also will need to tax Recharge stations both at home and in stations to pay for highway infrastructure. All this needs planning which sadly is lacking. It is great to be for green energy but you need to be honest about what it will cost to get there also because it will cost a lot more then current energy costs how will you subsidize costs for low income people so they don't have to choose between energy and food. 

I wish that some how we could have gotten Fusion energy to work but so far it is a pipe dream, energy storage adds to the cost of green energy. By the way green energy has its own environmental impacts large solar farms and wind mails are not very bird friendly many of the substances in Batteries and solar panels will create a toxic environment when we have to dispose of them kind of like Nuclear fission what do you do with the byproducts. 

I am pro electric car and pro green even though I am a conservative, but I am also a realist there are a myriad of issues that must be resolved before you can really go green as a mainstay of your energy solution.  The countries closest to it have extremely expensive energy. You have to be honest up front if you push green energy that it will be expensive if not many of the people who currently support it will jump off the bandwagon when their energy costs increase dramatically and unexpectedly because you were not honest upfront.

Excellent points about upgrading the "grid".

[AuburnNTexas 7,197]

8 hours ago, Brad_ATX said:

Just for the record here, much of the issue in Texas is because of coal and natural gas issues not being able to be made into energy.  Very little of the problem us due to frozen wind turbines.

https://www.wfaa.com/article/weather/texas-power-outages-frequently-asked-questions/287-554d28ba-a8a9-4213-a08a-7c436ad8b59a

Multiple electrical generating units began tripping offline quickly Sunday night, causing a collapse in electricity supply and prompting the outages. The units fell offline due to the cold weather, ERCOT officials said during the call.

Most of those that went offline were natural gas, coal or nuclear facilities that shut down. Combined, it in total took more than 30,000 megawatts from the grid. 

https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/local-news/lack-of-west-texas-wind-energy-production-during-extreme-cold-affects-electricity-customers-in-other-parts-of-state/

You seemed to have left out that the green energy is down also.   Right now in Texas we are getting 2% of our normal green energy. The difference is that with a little better planning by weatherizing the Gas generated plants they could have avoided the rolling blackouts. With the Wind there is nothing they could have done. Texas has gone big into Green energy as between 20-25% of our total energy production is green.  We normally have enough excess capacity in GAS. Coal, and Nuclear (Coal will be gone soon) to handle Green not being available. If we continue expanding Green Energy in Texas as the percent approaches 30% we will really be screwed as there won't be enough redundant energy in the system.

West Texas is an ideal place for Wind as low Population and strong steady winds most of the country does not have an area like West Texas. There is still an environmental impact.

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2021-02-14/icy-weather-chills-texas-wind-energy-as-deep-freeze-grips-much-of-us

This was Sunday even more is offline now as it got colder.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

2 hours ago, SLAG-91 said:

Gonna blame the "who" here (decision-makers) and not the "what." It's not like this forecast came out of nowhere. 

Oh, this picture was a really, really dumb thing to post when the local, um, leadership is telling people to conserve power and such. Nice work, KTRK!

A shot of downtown Houston...guess lots of people went in to do some work? 🤔

 

Same type of pic floating around Austin too.  I understand the downtown grid needing to stay on because of hospitals, but office buildings need to have their **** cut off.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

1 minute ago, AuburnNTexas said:

https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/local-news/lack-of-west-texas-wind-energy-production-during-extreme-cold-affects-electricity-customers-in-other-parts-of-state/

You seemed to have left out that the green energy is down also.   Right now in Texas we are getting 2% of our normal green energy. The difference is that with a little better planning by weatherizing the Gas generated plants they could have avoided the rolling blackouts. With the Wind there is nothing they could have done. Texas has gone big into Green energy as between 20-25% of our total energy production is green.  We normally have enough excess capacity in GAS. Coal, and Nuclear (Coal will be gone soon) to handle Green not being available. If we continue expanding Green Energy in Texas as the percent approaches 30% we will really be screwed as there won't be enough redundant energy in the system.

West Texas is an ideal place for Wind as low Population and strong steady winds most of the country does not have an area like West Texas. There is still an environmental impact.

I haven't left it out.  I said "most of the issue" is due to other sources.  Green energy outages are acorns compared to the amount of outages being caused by coal, natural gas, and nuclear facilities going down.

And the funny thing to me is that the people who I know have solar panels on their homes in my own neighborhood haven't lost power once.

[johnnyAU 3,668]

An early snapshot of the idiocy of trying to push for 100% renewable sources before we are remotely ready. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,197]

1 hour ago, Brad_ATX said:

I haven't left it out.  I said "most of the issue" is due to other sources.  Green energy outages are acorns compared to the amount of outages being caused by coal, natural gas, and nuclear facilities going down.

And the funny thing to me is that the people who I know have solar panels on their homes in my own neighborhood haven't lost power once.

20-25% of energy production is not acorns. The very rich can afford Solar panels on their homes the poor can't and even if they have battery packs if we have two or three days of rainy weather they have to rely on the regular electrical system.  

[johnnyAU 3,668]

1 hour ago, Brad_ATX said:

coal, natural gas, and nuclear facilities

Without these sources that are running, how many more folks would be without power? The problem wasn't the power generation ability, it was the lack of winter prep due to cost savings and neglect.

[johnnyAU 3,668]

3 minutes ago, AuburnNTexas said:

20-25% of energy production is not acorns

Imagine if it was 75%-100% and this happened.

[AuburnNTexas 7,197]

12 minutes ago, johnnyAU said:

Without these sources that are running, how many more folks would be without power? The problem wasn't the power generation ability, it was the lack of winter prep due to cost savings and neglect.

As I said I am not against Green energy, I am against Green energy that is not well planned just like I am against other types of energy where proper maintenance and Winterization was not done. The difference is the fix for natural Gas plants is fairly easy with proper winterization, for green energy it is it very expensive and difficult. 

Proper Winterization does cost money but no place near the amount of money that is required for green energy, extra energy storage that would last a week would cost a tremendous amount of money or building a National Grid trying to tie so many separate and often incompatible grids together.

I back spending even more Federal money on finding better cheaper energy storage so that Green energy can become self reliant and cost effective. I believe Green energy is the future but not building it without fail safes and also letting people know that their energy bills will go up. I am also for requiring new building standards for new homes, apartments, commercial building's meet certain energy efficiency standards. Thicker external walls with more insulation as an example.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

38 minutes ago, johnnyAU said:

Without these sources that are running, how many more folks would be without power? The problem wasn't the power generation ability, it was the lack of winter prep due to cost savings and neglect.

Why would you winterize for these extremes in Texas though?  It's a bit of a waste of money in many ways.  Same reason I wouldn't take crazy steps to shelter in for a long winter here.  It was 65 just a few days ago, which is normal for us in February.

[aubiefifty 17,082]

well we know many of the same on here are climate change deniers as well. the polar ice caps are literally melting right before our eyes and people still scream hoax.

[I_M4_AU 8,052]

7 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Why would you winterize for these extremes in Texas though?  It's a bit of a waste of money in many ways.  Same reason I wouldn't take crazy steps to shelter in for a long winter here.  It was 65 just a few days ago, which is normal for us in February.

If your electric grid is 25% reliant on green energy why wouldn’t you winterize?  If you make the decision to subject your citizens to this new technology you better be able to guarantee its reliability.  Some how Texas couldn’t see this storm coming?  I watched the weather channel and they knew it was coming days ago when it was 65 degrees.

When you go green, it is going to cost more, especially when the technology is not up speed with regard to severe weather.  Politicians are pushing a system that isn’t ready for reliable service.

[johnnyAU 3,668]

It has happened multiple times before. Spend the money, or risk potential grid failure. More people die of extreme cold than extreme heat. It doesn't take a "long winter" to kill folks.

[AuburnNTexas 7,197]

17 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Why would you winterize for these extremes in Texas though?  It's a bit of a waste of money in many ways.  Same reason I wouldn't take crazy steps to shelter in for a long winter here.  It was 65 just a few days ago, which is normal for us in February.

It happens every ten years. It is not a waste of money compared to danger. My brother-in-law has cancer and has an oxygen generating machine he needs to live while going through treatment, luckily my sister has portable tanks but just had the Fire department pick him up and move him so he will be warm and machine will work before portable tanks run out of air. Then I have to drive an hour each way to pick my sister up and bring her to my place.  You plan for emergencies 100 year storms ten year storms. Right now green energy relies on fossil Fuel when green doesn't work so because of both green not having a real backup and Power companies not winterizing we are in this predicament.  We have a cold snap like this about every 10 years.  I will leave once my sister calls and says Fire Department has taken my Brother-in-Law.