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Category Archives: Electric Grid
Concentrated Solar Power is dying out in the U.S.
Preface. Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) contributes only 0.06 % of U.S. electricity, mainly in California (64 %) and Arizona (24 %) because extremely dry areas with no humidity, haze, or pollutants are required. Of the 1861 MW power they can … Continue reading
Building a national super grid in America
Preface. Renewables are not evenly distributed. Just 10 states have 80% of hydropower (Homeland Security 2011), 10 states produce 75% of wind power (EIA 2017), and 10 states produce 79% of solar power (CE 2020). With a national grid, instead … Continue reading
Posted in Blackouts, Electric Grid, Electric Grid, Electricity, National Super Grid, Solar, Vaclav Smil, Wind
3 Comments
A nationwide blackout lasting 1 year could kill up to 90% Americans
Preface. What follows is the 30-page testimony of Dr. Pry at a 2015 U.S. House of Representatives session that I’ve summarized. In addition to electromagnetic pulses from a solar event, nuclear weapon, or purpose-built equipment, cyberattacks can also bring down … Continue reading
Generating electricity with biomass at utility-scale in California limited to direct combustion in small 50 MW plants
Preface. It’s obviously much easier and more energy efficient to set logs on fire for heat and electricity than to turn them into ethanol. Burning biomass can’t do much to solve our energy crisis. To produce just 10% of … Continue reading
Challenges to making California’s grid renewable
What follows is a report from the California Energy Commission. But in less bureaucratic language, this may summarize it better (Petersen 2019): “I’ve always been amazed at a strange mental disconnect that’s common among renewable power advocates. On one hand, … Continue reading
Posted in Grid instability
Tagged california, grid, instability, intermittency, renewable, smart grid, solar, wind
1 Comment
Black starting the grid after a power outage
Black starts Large blackouts can be quite devastating and it isn’t easy to restart the electric grid again. This is typically done by designated black start units of natural gas, coal, hydro, or nuclear power plants that can restart themselves … Continue reading
Utility scale energy storage has a long way to go to make renewables possible
What follows comes from my book “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation” , which is also where you’ll find the references backing up what I’ve written below. I often get letters from people about energy breakthroughs … Continue reading
Challenges to the Integration of Renewable Resources at High System Penetration
Preface. This overview of challenges for wind and solar written in 2010 is still true today. We are far from being able to reach even a 50% renewable grid (excluding hydropower from the total) given the lack of storage, the … Continue reading
Posted in Electric Grid, Solar, Wind
Tagged electric grid, energy storage, forecasting, intermittence, smart grid, solar, wind
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Robert Rapier: Oil demand is growing, not shrinking. There is no peak oil demand in sight.
[ Yes, this article was published 10 months ago, but with all the attention to fake news today, I thought it would be worthwhile pointing out that peak demand is propaganda, not based on facts. Since the goal of fake … Continue reading
Posted in Dependence on Oil, Electric Cars, Other Experts, Peak Oil, Transportation
Tagged electric cars, peak demand, peak oil
1 Comment
Can the lights be kept on with distributed generation? 2015 U.S. House hearing on a reliable electric system
[ Corporate speakers testify – could they have any self-interest, hope for government grants? Since Congress often asks the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to write unbiased papers on topics, why didn’t NAS and National Laboratory scientists speak? Corporations are … Continue reading
Posted in Congressional Record U.S., Distributed Generation, Grid instability
Tagged distributed energy, generators, house of representatives
Comments Off on Can the lights be kept on with distributed generation? 2015 U.S. House hearing on a reliable electric system