The Green Room

[ChezCheese:)]

All of Texas's power woes cannot be blamed on wind and solar - - the majority of the problem is from natural gas powered electrical power stations:

"The state largely relies on natural gas for its power supply, though some comes from wind turbines and less from coal and nuclear sources.

Natural gas can handle the state’s high temperatures in the summer, but extreme cold weather makes it difficult for the gas to flow to power plants and heat homes. Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas Austin, told the Texas Tribune that “gas is failing in the most spectacular fashion right now”....

... Ed Hirs, an energy fellow at the University of Houston, told the Washington Post that Ercot “limped along on underinvestment and neglect until it finally broke under predictable circumstances”.

Read the analysis here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...-the-winter-freeze?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

 

[Art Deco]

All of Texas's power woes cannot be blamed on wind and solar - - the majority of the problem is from natural gas powered electrical power stations:

"The state largely relies on natural gas for its power supply, though some comes from wind turbines and less from coal and nuclear sources.

Natural gas can handle the state’s high temperatures in the summer, but extreme cold weather makes it difficult for the gas to flow to power plants and heat homes. Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas Austin, told the Texas Tribune that “gas is failing in the most spectacular fashion right now”....

... Ed Hirs, an energy fellow at the University of Houston, told the Washington Post that Ercot “limped along on underinvestment and neglect until it finally broke under predictable circumstances”.

Read the analysis here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...-the-winter-freeze?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Many more reputable media mention the same thing, gas valves freeze up just like windmills, and the infrastructure was never built for winter conditions. Windmills are less than 20 percent of their energy, but all of their energy systems failed.

 

[tomjasz]

Another weak-willed governor.

 

[Art Deco]

The battery invented 120 years before its time

At the turn of the 20th Century, Thomas Edison invented a battery with the unusual quirk of producing hydrogen. Now, 120 years later, the battery is coming into its own.

www.bbc.com

A different battery technology from Edison that is being revived for industrial use.

 

[Art Deco]

And for something completely different ... repairable electronics in France ...

Why France’s New Tech ‘Repairability Index’ Is a Big Deal

Liberté, égalité, reparabilité.

www.wired.com

 

[tomjasz]

And for something completely different ... repairable electronics in France ...

Why France’s New Tech ‘Repairability Index’ Is a Big Deal

Liberté, égalité, reparabilité.

www.wired.com

The right to repair movement is getting some ground. Sucks not being given access to parts for a product I paid good money for.

 

[Sierratim]

Software controlled motors might improve efficiency of many motor driven applications;

Bill Gates and Robert Downey Jr are betting they will;

Firms backed by Robert Downey Jr. and Bill Gates have funded an electric motor company that slashes energy consumption | TechCrunch

Sometimes the smallest innovations can have the biggest impacts on the world's efforts to stop global climate change. Arguably, one of the biggest

techcrunch.com

 

[john peck]

And for something completely different ... repairable electronics in France ...

Why France’s New Tech ‘Repairability Index’ Is a Big Deal

Liberté, égalité, reparabilité.

www.wired.com

And now for something completely different....Is there any place in WA you can get a decent bowl
of green chili? Regarding the $1400 check as punitive damages for C-19 PTSD, I´d happily spend
half for some serious Mex food right now.

 

[tomjasz]

decent bowl
of green chili

After 20 something years in Las Vegas and many trips to Mexico I live in MN where all the Mexican restaurants are anglicized. YUCH

 

[john peck]

After 20 something years in Las Vegas and many trips to Mexico I live in MN where all the Mexican restaurants are anglicized. YUCH

Much the same in Washington state, nuthin´ but franchised bland blah. Guess I´ll havta do it myself. I need to make
a chili roaster & do my own peeling. Old gal who taught me to make green chili had 19 kids, 60 some grandchildren,
& a passle of great grandchildren. I´d be 500# if ate her stuff regular, but damn, that woman could cook. Lucy was
a one woman population explosion. Had her own little restaurant down where Bingo´s saddle shop used to be
across from the old courthouse in Colorado Springs ¨bout 2 blks from where my grandfatherś corral had been.

 

[Sierratim]

Used tires converted into graphene strengthen concrete by up,to 30% in new process;

Tires turned into graphene that makes stronger concrete

This could be where the rubber truly hits the road.

phys.org

Fewer tires in landfills, less concrete needed for construction. A win-win.

 

[Art Deco]

That's cool. It's past time to take a hard look at concrete in regard to air pollution as well, but using less is a good thing.

 

[Art Deco]

All of Texas's power woes cannot be blamed on wind and solar - - the majority of the problem is from natural gas powered electrical power stations:

"The state largely relies on natural gas for its power supply, though some comes from wind turbines and less from coal and nuclear sources.

Natural gas can handle the state’s high temperatures in the summer, but extreme cold weather makes it difficult for the gas to flow to power plants and heat homes. Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas Austin, told the Texas Tribune that “gas is failing in the most spectacular fashion right now”....

... Ed Hirs, an energy fellow at the University of Houston, told the Washington Post that Ercot “limped along on underinvestment and neglect until it finally broke under predictable circumstances”.

Read the analysis here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...-the-winter-freeze?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

We probably need to discuss the grid failures in California and Texas, now that power is back on for a while.
The wierd weather isn't going away anytime soon, and record breaking weather is spreading to other parts of the USA.

I haven't been to either state in decades, but these are both rich states in a rich country, and yet both power grids got hammered by weather events that aren't really that far from their normal patterns over the last century.

And I really doubt that it's all because of corruption and incompetence.

 

[6zfshdb]

We probably need to discuss the grid failures in California and Texas, now that power is back on for a while.
The wierd weather isn't going away anytime soon, and record breaking weather is spreading to other parts of the USA.

I haven't been to either state in decades, but these are both rich states in a rich country, and yet both power grids got hammered by weather events that aren't really that far from their normal patterns over the last century.

And I really doubt that it's all because of corruption and incompetence.

As a former utility company manager, I agree that corruption, incompetence and mismanagement do play a small role in the crumbling utility infrastructure. A much larger cause however is the fact that these public utilities are regulated by the government. Utility companies are limited in what they can charge for their services and getting a rate increase is very hard to achieve. The general public does not want to pay more and politicians loose votes whenever a rate increase is approved. That is why most are loathe to support such an issue.

Faced with increases in labor, materials, weather damage and investor demands, utilities are forced to put less and less maintenance $$ into their infrastructure. They can't just raise prices like an unregulated business. It is no wonder that things are falling apart. It's a vicious cycle that may ultimately result in some utilities going into chapter 11. Then the government will be forced to take over operations and raise taxes to foot the bill. When that happens, corruption, incompetence and mismanagement will REALLY become an issue.

 

[Dallant]

As a former utility company manager, I agree that corruption, incompetence and mismanagement do play a small role in the crumbling utility infrastructure. A much larger cause however is the fact that these public utilities are regulated by the government. Utility companies are limited in what they can charge for their services and getting a rate increase is very hard to achieve.

Utilities Not Regulated by the PUC

www.puc.texas.gov

 

[6zfshdb]

Utilities Not Regulated by the PUC

www.puc.texas.gov

I didn't mean to imply that ALL utilities are regulated. MOST are, including the power companies discussed earlier in the thread.

 

[Art Deco]

It appears that our local utility PPL is no longer in the generation business. They buy power, maintain transmission lines, handle billing and compliance, etc. But they maybe ? don't actually run the plants anymore.

 

[john peck]

It appears that our local utility PPL is no longer in the generation business. They buy power, maintain transmission lines, handle billing and compliance, etc. But they maybe ? don't actually run the plants anymore.

Suffice to say, some utilities take advantage of being a necessity while other desperately need federal
assistance with infrastructure, not all bad guys, but not all good guys either. There a lot of rural grids
in dire need.

 

[Dallant]

Many more reputable media mention the same thing, gas valves freeze up just like windmills, and the infrastructure was never built for winter conditions. Windmills are less than 20 percent of their energy, but all of their energy systems failed.

Texas has not done much, if anything, to winterize their energy infrastructure. Those who decided to not fund this (even after the similar event in 2011) are far more responsible than either wind or solar energy. Texans need to elect more responsible leaders or they’ll be facing this same disaster yet again.

 

[tomjasz]

Decades ago Rochester MN Home of the Mayo bought out the local electric utility and had the lowest power bills in MN. In my opinion electrical utilities should be controlled by the customers.