Posted on 05/09/2022 6:40:40 AM PDT by Red Badger
"Traditional and nuclear power plants are being retired to make way for renewable sources of energy, but the plants are going offline faster than renewable energy and battery storage can keep up."
Industry experts warn of power shortages due to 'renewable' energy "Traditional and nuclear power plants are being retired to make way for renewable sources of energy, but the plants are going offline faster than renewable energy and battery storage can keep up."
Company executives who own electrical grids are making dire pronouncements about potential mass shortages over plans to replace fossil-fuel and nuclear plants with "renewable" sources.
John Bear, the CEO of MISO told the press on Sunday, "As we move forward, we need to know that when you put a solar panel or a wind turbine up, it’s not the same as a thermal resource."
According to Fox News, "the issue is on the rise throughout the country as many traditional and nuclear power plants are being retired to make way for renewable sources of energy, but the plants are going offline faster than renewable energy and battery storage can keep up."
"Green" energy sources such as solar and wind rely heavily on batteries. Battery efficiency is constantly improving, but it's not enough to keep up with current demand if plant closures continue as planned, Bear said.
Brad Jones, acting CEO for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said "every market around the world is trying to deal with the same issue."
"We’re all trying to find ways to utilize as much of our renewable resources as possible…and at the same time make sure that we have enough dispatchable generation to manage reliability."
Both supply chain issues and inflation are reportedly slowing the process.
Another great irony - they “green energy” supply-chain is nearly monopolized by China - rare earth magnets, polysilicon for solar, refining of battery metals and battery chemistry, spherical graphite for battery anodes, etc....
No wonder the USA tip-toes around China, while aggressively trying to take-down Russia.
I seems solar power industries are more interested in harvesting monies than power.
The mainstream media is busily erasing all the footage from a couple years ago of Biden and the other Dems saying that higher fuel prices are necessary to force Americans off of their addiction from oil, and that more people need to walk and ride bikes to work.
Now is not the time to live in a state that deregulated and is a net power importer.
Russia also is a big repository for those materials. And the Chinese aren’t sharing the way they used to.
Switching to “Renewable” energy will mean blackouts and freezing in the dark. We know that. The politicians in charge know that, and are going ahead anyway.
Why would they, it would slow their momentum.
Green Energy = Assisted Suicide
If we continue down the path were on, the power shortages will likely be as bad as predicted, if not worse. Unfortunately our politicians don’t learn by observation thinking their pronouncements and edicts will magically provide the power we need going forward. Germany and Australia are learning the hard way. Renewal energy is not a bad thing, but just not as dependable currently as thermal sources generated with fossil fuel, at least not so for the foreseeable future. As stated, battery development has a long way to go to fill in the gap. So, we can expect less reliable power, at higher cost, and likely a downgraded way of life.
This not unlike the attempt of our current administration to make electric vehicles magically become the panacea for transportation by simply reducing the fossil based energy supply before the technology is developed for viable electric vehicles. How much easier is it to develop alternatives in a robust economy as opposed to a depressed, or even destroying the economy while doing expensive research and development. The use of fossil based fuel to generate electricity for electric vehicles, along with the rare minerals needed to manufacture the batteries is a subject needed thorough review.
And yet China is rushing to build coal-fired power plants.
try to think of them as “renewable shortages” or “green blackouts”. You’re suffering so mudder erf can live.
With the threat of power shortages looming and the climate crisis worsening, Gov. Gavin Newsom may attempt to delay the long-planned closure of California’s largest electricity source: the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant.
Newsom told the L.A. Times editorial board Thursday that the state would seek out a share of $6 billion in federal funds meant to rescue nuclear reactors facing closure, money the Biden administration announced this month. Diablo Canyon owner Pacific Gas & Electric is preparing to shutter the plant — which generated 6% of the state’s power last year — by 2025.
“Traditional and nuclear power plants are being retired to make way for renewable sources of energy, but the plants are going offline faster than renewable energy and battery storage can keep up.”
A perfect example of stupidity. Our energy supply is not a play toy.
“Battery efficiency is constantly improving”
Not by much.
Back in college I took a class that dealt with different fuels and power-generation systems. The class had a guest speaker who basically talked about how solar and wind power were the best power sources ever, no flaws, and everything else was evil. He held up California as the ideal we should all strive for, because they had just enacted some law that would force power companies to use more solar and wind.
When I pointed out that the rolling blackouts in California would be even worse, because solar and wind can’t be ramped up on-demand, he actually claimed that that couldn’t possibly happen, because of some vague reason that he babbled about but never actually explained. But he actually made fun of me for bringing up the blackouts at all.
I hope when the blackouts hit, he always ends up in the middle of them.
The energy policy of the Left has always been no energy for the masses.
That would be my state, which has mandated that all energy produced come from renewable sources by 2045. It’s not going to happen, and discovering this will be both expensive painful, if not fatal to some people. It seems to me that if you want to increase the percentage of power produced by “renewable” sources, the best way is not to shut down nuclear and coal-fired generating stations, but to aggressively encourage consumers through further tax credits and subsidies to install solar panels. That way, a reserve is always there when power is needed. At the same time, the cost of those tax credits and subsidies, is likely to be not more than the money poured into subsidizing large scale solar farms, or expanding our current generating capacity.
I’ve read the math. In this country, to acquire and STORE solar energy, you would need hundreds of billions of dollars in investment and heaven only knows how many SQUARE MILES of storage capacity.
These people are delusional. Their ideal simply cannot be met. All-of-the-above (fossil fuels, hydro, nuclear, solar, wind) is much better.
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