It is COLD down Here. Will Green Energy Fix It?

[ICU 812]

Here in Houston, it is well below 20 degrees with actual snow on the ground. I grew up in the snow country north and know about scow. But here on the Texas Gulf Coast it is unusual. . . .and can be deadly to those who have no experience with extended periods of sub freezing weather.

Global worming is said to be responsible for extreme cold by those who say they know. I do not "know" , but it seems counter intuitive and I am not convinced. Pleas do not try to convince me in this thread. We can talk about it another time.

What I have on my mind today is the efficacy of "Green Energy". Wind turbines dropped off the power grid when we needed them most due to icing up. Wind turbines have been spinning away in Northern Europe for decades now. How do the Europeans handle this problem?

Another thought: How much worse would the current situation be if (when?) 70% to 90% of road vehicles are electric?

[Unique_Carpenter]

Originally Posted by ICU 812

Here in Houston, it is well below 20 degrees with actual snow on the ground. I grew up in the snow country north and know about scow. But here on the Texas Gulf Coast it is unusual. . . .and can be deadly to those who have no experience with extended periods of sub freezing weather.
Global worming is said to be responsible for extreme cold by those who say they know. I do not "know" , but it seems counter intuitive and I am not convinced. Pleas do not try to convince me in this thread. We can talk about it another time.

What I have on my mind today is the efficacy of "Green Energy". Wind turbines dropped off the power grid when we needed them most due to icing up. Wind turbines have been spinning away in Northern Europe for decades now. How do the Europeans handle this problem?

Another thought: How much worse would the current situation be if (when?) 70% to 90% of road vehicles are electric?

ICU,
Shorter more pointed Questions needed so responses are easier.

Basic answer: Nope.

Green energy of today's generation, is fairly good, but, yes inconsistent, unreliable en masse, etc.
Wind turbines kill birds, quite a lot actually, and spotty power transmission wholly dependent on wind patterns, and subject to lack off.
Hydro Dams block fish migration, and are dependent on rain/snow to fill reservoirs.
Solar is way to limited on small scale, on a large scale fries birds and still inconsistent, one good string of clouds causes an off switch.

The real issue is that we've been spoiled by cheap (really cheap) energy for the last hundred years and we've become used to it. That will change (is changing).

The big issue is if we can get off planet before the recycled dinosaur bits are all used up, or do we go back to horses. Seriously, without cheap energy, the "tall" cities as we know them will die.

As for evs, where does the electric come from that recharges evs? That's the amusing thing, instead of self powered by gas, evs are powered by electric generating plant somewhere. So is there really a reduction in co2?
Seriously, look at the energy cost of purchase and running (including recharge) and production of an EV (including a 2nd battery package) and contrast that to a gas. You'll be surprised.

Turbine blades icing up? For an extra install value, heaters can be installed on the blades for deicing. Opps. But $$ caused a decision of not to, where never expected to ice up. Maybe Texas can through a BBQ competition at the base of each turbine.

Last, the Kansas City Metro has more than a half dozen coal and gas fired plants and are all online at full power last few days. Even the little one (pair of gas turbines) may have went on line. I'm out of town today so don't actually know. But it does fire up frequently for summer air conditioning load as it's actually in the city. Yesterday would be no different for electric heat.

Maybe a few new nuke plants can be justified. /s

[ICU 812]

My pick up is 20 years old and has 200K miles on it. During the power outage last night, that was my last ditch survival back up. A full tank would have idled for 6-8 hours with the heat on.

Even if they can ever get the cost of an electric car down to a Chevy price point, I wonder if a lifetime of even ten years is to be expected.

Today, my 96 year old mother-in-law is making do and surviving with a natural gas fireplace.

And yes, the ultimate salvation for the humankind is self sufficient colonies off world. The moon is iffy, Mars is marginal. It'll have to be somewhere far away.

[Unique_Carpenter]

I've taught my kids to all ride horses.
Neither Mars nor our moon are viable unless resources, more than water, can be found.

[ICU 812]

Originally Posted by Unique_Carpenter

Turbine blades icing up? For an extra install value, heaters can be installed on the blades for deicing. Opps. But $$ caused a decision of not to, where never expected to ice up.

Not expected? I have lived in the Houston area since 1977. In that time this area has experienced several lessor weather events with ice storms and sub freezing temperatures lasting for shorter times. In 1989 we had a sever cold weather event with temperatures in single digits at times and 7 days of continuous below 32 degrees F. That is just my direct life experience here in Houston.

Weather records go back into the late 1800s in this part of the world. There have been other significant severe cold snaps on record. One 20th Century event brought twenty inches of snow to Houston.

Unprecedented? No.

Unexpected? No.

Unplanned for? YES.

[Unique_Carpenter]

I said Opps.
Try getting the power co officers to admit anything other than "unexpected".
I don't understand why whichever Texan state board of whatever that regulates utilities isn't beating on the power companies there.
Back when I was spending a lot of time in SW Houston, I remember the huge fiasco in 2011 when Texas had to actually buy power from Mexico.

[ICU 812]

Yeah . . My remarks are really meant to be directed at the situation, not the posters.

Sorry if this started to move in an adversarial direction.

[Ripmany]

It cause by the nuckler bombs nuclear winner, there just have told any one yeat. Notice how bright it is night when comes down that radiation.

[Unique_Carpenter]

Come on Rip.
We all know that the sun is nuclear powered, so yes we soak up radiation every day.

Add on,
The largest vehicle assembly plant in the United States, the Ford plant in Kansas City Metro, shut down this morning, allowing it's power requirement to stay on the grid.
Btw, this is where Ford will assemble its EV once that starts, and prep work for that is already underway.

[dilbert firestorm]

truth be told. USA needed to go nuclear power 20 year ago.


we're something like 15-20% at nuclear. we needed to be at 50% nuclear. ideally, it should be 70-80%.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by dilbert firestorm

truth be told. USA needed to go nuclear power 20 year ago.


we're something like 15-20% at nuclear. we needed to be at 50% nuclear. ideally, it should be 70-80%.

Why? Power from natural gas is cheaper. I think wind and solar are cheaper excluding storage costs.

[Unique_Carpenter]

Originally Posted by Tiny

Why? Power from natural gas is cheaper. I think wind and solar are cheaper excluding storage costs.

Tiny,
But the storage costs must be included as that's required.
But yes NG is currently the energy of choice.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by Unique_Carpenter

Tiny,
But the storage costs must be included as that's required.
But yes NG is currently the energy of choice.

True, although it can make sense to use wind and solar without battery storage when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining, and use electricity generated from natural gas to take up the slack when needed.