Posted on 02/19/2021 5:22:40 AM PST by NOBO2012
So let me get this straight: we can land on Mars (average temperature –81 degrees F), seek out signs of ancient life, collect samples of Mars to be saved in orbit until retrieved by a later mission and land the first helicopter on another world…
but we can’t keep the electric grid and water pumps in Texas operating during a cold spell?
Something tells me this is a human problem rather than a technological one, as everyone knows you have to winterized wellheads, pipelines and gauges in order to keep natural gas (still the primary source of electricity production in the state) flowing in sub-freezing temperatures. But apparently everyone – by which I mean regulators, Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUCT), system operators, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), and electric distribution companies too many to mention didn’t feel the probability of a “100 year weather event” warranted the investment. Perhaps they believed in the myth of global warming despite all scientific evidence pointing to a sun cycle plunging us into another mini-ice age. Or maybe they were just feeling lucky and thought Mother Nature would deal them only good hands.
Given the disastrous results this week everyone will no doubt look into implementing widely available precautionary measures going forward. I would like to suggest those measures involve well established weatherization technology rather than more green energy boondoggles.
Remember: green glycol is your friend, green energy, not so much.
“Coolant” aka “anti-freeze” in the north
Posted from: MOTUS A.D.
My cars didn’t freeze here in Texas. In fact, I never even worried about them.
I lived in Dallas during the last cold event in December of 83. That was 38 years ago. 100 year event comes every 38 years? I love these 500 and 100 year weather events that the “scientists” talk about. They have no clue. The weather is gonna do what it’s gonna do and the puny human can’t do a darn thing about it except prepare. But don’t tell these communist pigs that. They think they’re better than God. Yeah. Go ahead you Aholes.
Piss poor managemnet at these power plants. They had plenty of warning. Pay the ot and get stuff set up for an extended freeze. I worked at such a place. Saw more than a few cpvc,and cast iron pipes break because no one wanted to drain them- lazy.also saw level gauges freeze year after year. It got warm and they never revusted past failures. mgmt was too wrapped up in themselves and other more spotlighted projects to worry about the little things. Like systems that needed to be drained.
“”””we can land on Mars (average temperature –81 degrees F), seek out signs of ancient life, collect samples of Mars to be saved in orbit until retrieved by a later mission and land the first helicopter on another world…but we can’t....””””
...but we can’t conduct a fair election within the USA.
Could the reason for this dichotomy be the fact that ‘politicians’ are the builders of our election systems?
” Perhaps they believed in the myth of global warming “
THis is the root.
What’s your point? The gas system was not “winterized.”
The article simply makes it clear that this is standard practice and was neglected.
From what I see of current-day “managers” all under 40, the idea of a 100 year event is something they can’t even think about.
What’s your point?
Nope.
This problem has been developing over a few decades.
We’ve shut down 95,000 MWs of RELIABLE 24/7/365 baseload coal generation since 2011. We sacrificed it for UNRELAIBLE green energy that doesn’t work when the sun doesn’t shine, when the wind doesn’t blow, and when it’s too cold.
Anyone like me who’s spent 40 years in the industry isn’t surprised in the slightest. We knew this day would come.
We shut down 95,000MWs of reliable 24/7/365 baseload coal over the last ten years and “replaced” it with green energy and everyone is surprised this happened?
We in the baseload industry aren’t. We knew this day was coming. And we will have more of them until ignorant people stop making ignorant decisions.
I still don’t understand why, in 2021, my toilet STILL doesn’t clean itself...
The greenies cant see past a 65 degree day and who needs ac or heat in The spring and fall? They have been lied to about greenenergy . Told its free, never realizing these things need maintennce and replacements, use slave labor for the raw materials, Wasat one hearing in annapolis where the greenies blamed a coal plant 70 miles away for asthma in baltimore city. At least one of the commissioners asked where the smog in baltimore came from and they admitted 90% was cars! But eliminating a coal fired power plant is a start to cleaning up baltimore . Greenies are terrorists. No questions about it. A small group of people want to control an entire populTion and uses scare tactics to gain political and social power. Greenies are a threat to a free society.
Somehow I am guessing that the greenies have taken care of themselves in this event. I’m guessing that their favored gentrified neighborhoods in Austin and other places are doing just fine.
Demand can never exceed supply. Texas is an isolated system. Had they tie lines to the outside world, plants in Arizona could have fed the Texas grid.
Now there are many reasons for Texas not wanting to join the remaining federally controlled grid. But, after this snafu, it will be very hard for them to resist.
For a truly informed discussion on what happened and why, it must be a detailed technical discussion by those with technical knowledge of the system. It is far more complicated than not draining a few pipes. That was my point.
I used to own natural gas wells in Ohio and when they were producing we had workmen that had to winterize the lines and valves and whatever else they had to do.
There are pipelines and valves all over America and those in normally colder climates are winterized as a matter of course.
It's kinda like the windshield fluid that is sold for summer, good for temperatures above 32 and the winter version, good for -20 degrees.
Somebody dropped the ball in Texas and it is definitely a man caused screw up.
Mine does, when it rains.
HA!
See, this is why you need more illegal inmmigrants. /sarc>
The truth is, the amount of fossil-fuel capacity supplanted by wind; the lack of winterizing of the wind turbines; and the insistence on the part of the greenies, that the natural gas lines, rather than relying upon borrowing some of the gas flowing through them for heat -- as long as gas is being pumped through the pipes, they don't freeze -- warming the pipes by external electrical heaters connected to, you guessed it, green sources.
And the fact the one board member of EPCOT or whatever it's called, living in Michigan...the board members' names got scrubbed off the website really quickly so they couldn't get doxxed, or blamed, right?
Take notes: the left renders it ILLEGAL (usually a felony) to do to them, what their little Red Guards and Hitlerjugend, regularly do to those on the right ("personalize, isolate, and polarize").
Sounds like about 65000 of them coming in pretty quick too.
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