How’s that Green Energy working for you?

According to the local media, about 24% of Texas elect energy is generated by wind turbines, which freeze up and stop working in single digit temps.

Millions have no power. Rolling blackouts are in effect although many of my FB friends have been without juice for two days.

In a state with plenty of natural gas, we have all this green energy because of fed mandates.

Solar is affected too I understand, but I don’t know how much energy it provides.

Since Tx privatized its energy generation, then power companies and co-ops buy from private generators. Apparently, it’s not cost effective to protect windmills from effects of single digit temps! Why would you! It seldom gets that cold!

So many Texans, including leftist transplants, are freezing in the dark.

Give me natural gas and nukes!

One characteristic I feel I observe repeatedly in the left is lack of foresight and ability to assess future implications and outcomes. They know only how they feel in the moment and have no clue what a decision may imply for the future.

This is observed somewhat in professional environments but most obviously manifested in personal situations.

Obviously not a statement of fact. Nor is it an indication of a universal trait. But I’ve seen this enough times that it’s now a personal belief - more often than not, a leftist will exhibit this behavior in decision making. I’ve found this to be much more random on the right, in fact surprising, at least in my experience.

The people who support 'green energy' and buy into the climate hysteria are loving this.

https://www.washingtonexaminer...ar-people-break-will

Massachusetts climate official proposes targeting regular people who heat their homes: 'We have to break your will'

A Massachusetts climate official said people who heat their homes and fuel their cars will need to have their “will” broken in order to combat emissions and climate change.

“I know one thing that we found in our analysis is that 60% of our emissions come from … residential heating and passenger vehicles,” said David Ismay, Massachusetts, undersecretary for climate change, during a virtual meeting with the Vermont Climate Council. “Let me say that again: 60% of our emissions that need to be reduced come from you, the person on your street, the senior on fixed-income. Right now, there is no bad guy left, at least in Massachusetts, to point the finger at and turn the screws on and now break their will, so they stop emitting. That’s you. We have to break your will.”

Ismay reasoned that climate agencies were running out of options.

“We can’t have no offshore wind, no transmission, no solar, and have clean energy,” he said. “Something has to give. There has to be some mechanism we trust to find a place to site a transmission line.”

But Ismay also admitted his remarks would not be popular.

“I can’t even say that publicly,” Ismay said.

That prediction seemingly came to fruition when the state’s Republican Gov. Charlie Baker got wind of the statements, which he insisted “no one who works in our administration should ever say or think.”

“First of all, no one who works in our administration should ever say or think anything like that,” Baker said. “Secondly, Secretary Theoharides is going to have a conversation with him about that. And third, one of the main reasons we didn’t sign the climate bill when it got to our desk was because we were specifically concerned about the impact it was going to have on people’s ability to pay for many of the pieces that were in it, which means it also doesn’t represent administration policy or position.”

The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance also weighed in on the clip, calling it “frightening” that someone with as much power as Ismay was calling for such proposals.

“It’s frightening to think an official so high up in the Baker administration is bragging to an out-of-state group about the economic pain he wants to inflict on the very people who he’s supposed to work for,” Paul Craney, a spokesman MFA, told Commonwealth Magazine. “Remarks like this have no place in state government. Ismay should be dismissed from his position in state government, as he’s clearly demonstrated he does not have the best interests of the residents of Massachusetts at heart.”

Poke poke poke. Bang. Ahhhh, freedom again.

Just grabbed some local news in between the power going out. These idiots actually had the nerve to say that the natural gas and nuke plants were the cause, while wind was generating again and some solar back on line.

What a bunch of horse shit! Baghdad Bob would be ashamed of himself if he saw this. He only wishes he could have been as good as these aholes.

Every city and large town and region should be independent from every other region as far as energy production goes. Build a thorium reactor the size of a container and generate enough power for your area. Instant energy independence and about as green as your going to get without major improvements in all “green energy” production.

Didn't Texas opt out of being on a regional grid and to have only their own grid?

https://www.star-telegram.com/...r%20all%20of%20Texas.

quote:

Originally posted by maxdog:
How’s that Green Energy working for you?

According to the local media, about 24% of Texas elect energy is generated by wind turbines, which freeze up and stop working in single digit temps.

From what I understand and read, ERCOT did not anticipate wind to provide much of any power, based upon historical trends. To blame wind, or the lack thereof, is off base because ERCOT didn't forecast wind as part of their power portfolio to begin with. Power grid operators plan for these types of swings in power production.

quote:

In a state with plenty of natural gas, we have all this green energy because of fed mandates.

Even your oil and gas companies are incorporating green power in their leases and operations. Also, the gas produced in the Permian doesn't necessarily go directly to industrial or residential customers. My understanding that natural gas-powered generation was competing for limited supply of gas due to the unusual gas demand from residents due to the weather. I don't know much about pipeline delivery and restrictions in the Texas and Oklahoma are.

quote:

Give me natural gas and nukes!

Completely agree. Natural gas and nukes should provide a stable base for power delivery.

Well, there was plenty of wind across the state to turn wildmills. What’s being said is that the windmills won’t function in the current conditions and have to be shut down.

Not a green nut, but this isn’t a fair criticism. Multiple power sources are down in Texas because of weather, including nuclear (needs water to function and cool, said water is frozen), natural gas and coal (water needed as well), as well as wind.

Wind works in Northern Europe, including Denmark, but different hardware because those are optimized for cold weather. Texas normally has warm weather, so the additional cost of making them effective in freezing weather was not spent.

quote:

Originally posted by Russ59:

quote:

Originally posted by maxdog:
How’s that Green Energy working for you?

According to the local media, about 24% of Texas elect energy is generated by wind turbines, which freeze up and stop working in single digit temps.

From what I understand and read, ERCOT did not anticipate wind to provide much of any power, based upon historical trends. To blame wind, or the lack thereof, is off base because ERCOT didn't forecast wind as part of their power portfolio to begin with. Power grid operators plan for these types of swings in power production.

Frankly, ERCOT has fucked up royally and have repeatedly lied their asses off. Texas' legislator is in session and the long knives are coming out for them.


Michael Berry has been pointing out that Gov Abbott (aka Grabbit) won an award last week for his promotion of wind energy.

Ala green energy, I think of the Ivanpah solar power plant in the Mojave Desert.

Everyone loved the idea. But when it was actually in operation, they realized it produced only 2/3 the intended power, meaning the power cost 50% more to produce than planned.

And they put in natural gas generators to produce electricity when there was no sun, the natural gas generators put out enough CO2 they had to register as a gross polluter.

And there were enviro lawsuits as the massive array of solar panels were doing harm to the local flora and fauna.

But other than those matters, a good idea.

Who shovels the snow off the solar panels or mirrors? They don't work if covered by snow.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by sig226fan: Build a thorium reactor the size of a container and generate enough power for your area. Instant energy independence and about as green as your going to get without major improvements in all “green energy” production.

My understanding is the nuclear regulatory agencies are more focused on saying no, in an overbearing effort to be safety conscience, while minimizing any kind of advances in nuclear energy, such as utilizing thorium and other elements. Most US reactors are pressurized water reactors, while safe and effective, its largely technology that has gone unchanged since Rickover was a O-6. The Dems like to pound their chest as being the 'party of science' yet, they're the ones that keep on throwing up roadblocks to advances in nuclear energy, which dovetails with space exploration and development.

quote:

Originally posted by reloader-1:
Wind works in Northern Europe, including Denmark, but different hardware because those are optimized for cold weather. Texas normally has warm weather, so the additional cost of making them effective in freezing weather was not spent.

Everyone is wrapped-up in the schadenfreude angle of this but, the above distinction is getting overlooked. Those TX windmills weren't built for use in freezing conditions, they could've been but, the odds of such a weather event happening was pretty remote. So, they gambled and right now, those owner/operators (ERCOT?) is looking pretty bad at the moment.

quote:

I think of the Ivanpah solar power plant in the Mojave Desert.

A giant blight on the desert landscape for anybody that's driven to/from Vegas on I-15, not to mention a giant money siphoning project....smh

Tatortodd,

I don't profess to know the ins and outs of ERCOT. I'll defer.

Do you have any insight to gas supply for power generation and industrial/commercial/residential use in TX?

I wonder how the refineries are doing. We might want to
keep our vehicles full.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

quote:

. . . I think of the Ivanpah solar power plant in the Mojave Desert.

A giant blight on the desert landscape for anybody that's driven to/from Vegas on I-15, not to mention a giant money siphoning project....smh

I didn't drive by, but I did fly next to it at dusk, the collection globes were bright as staring into headlights. And I am quite certain some bureaucrats and cronies did quite well financially on the project.

quote:

Originally posted by Scoutmaster:

I didn't drive by, but I did fly next to it at dusk, the collection globes were bright as staring into headlights. And I am quite certain some bureaucrats and cronies did quite well financially on the project.

That giant POS had all the greenies celebrating...then word got out of the cascading failures of this massive eyesore. One thing after another, from its underwhelming performance to the effects on the desert tortoises; just a shining example of a project that pulled the wool over the gullible people's eyes.
On a side note, I do enjoy going to that outlet just over the border at Primm.

This article spells out the Texas situation pretty well: https://townhall.com/tipsheet/...7e4522a&recip=595088

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by Russ59:
Even your oil and gas companies are incorporating green power in their leases and operations.

Only because of legislation. Left to their own devices, these companies would have been happy with what they were doing before. It's only due to legal requirements that these companies started doing so. Stating it such as you did is disingenuous.

As far as I am concerned, wind has never been a viable option, anywhere. It's too erratic and this is coming from someone that lived on the Plains of Eastern Colorado where wind is the norm. Solar has the potential to work fine on an individual residence but industrial power generation capabilities are lackluster to say the least. Entire eco systems are permanently altered when done on a scale large enough to provide even a portion of the power needed for small cities, much less large metropolitan areas.

quote:

Originally posted by Russ59:
Do you have any insight to gas supply for power generation and industrial/commercial/residential use in TX?

I don’t have any publicly available data to share on natural gas supply. Natural gas supply works great at my house (furnace and whole house generator).

quote:

Originally posted by RVF400:
I wonder how the refineries are doing. We might want to
keep our vehicles full.

I don’t have any publicly available data to share on refinery status. Florida has zero refineries so always a good idea to keep full when you see a natural disaster in Texas or Louisiana Gulf Coast (ie where most of your refined product comes from).