www.cnn.com
Texas' situation should be a forewarn of some of the faulty thinking regards electrical energy supply and generation plans being advocated by the pro-AGW/ACC crowd.
When it comes to so-called "renewables" such as 'wind' and 'solar', the wind needs to blow and the Sun shine for them to work. With cloud cover delivering snow, solar ain't going to work very well. Severe winds often cut off 'wind' since the generators auto shutoff if getting overloaded. Then too, the chill factor appears to freeze some of the wind generators. As the following excerpt and link shows, though wind is only about 23% of Texas' electrical grid, it is about 33% of the outage/shortfall currently being experienced.
'Massive failure': Why are millions of people in Texas still without power?
Extreme cold winter weather led to power outages and rolling blackouts in Texas. Here's why it happened.
...
Are frozen wind turbines to blame?
Some have pointed to freezing on wind turbines as a potential cause of the widespread outages, saying the renewable energy source is not reliable, but Cohan called those arguments "a red herring."
Rai said there are times of the year when wind is an extremely important energy source for Texas, powering half of the state's electricity supply.
This week, operators planned for much less wind capacity, in the range of 6,000 megawatts, Cohan said.
"Firm resources" – such as gas, coal and nuclear – failed to supply roughly 30,000 megawatts, which contributed to the bulk of the problem, Cohan said.
...
'Massive failure': Why are millions of people in Texas still without power?
Extreme cold winter weather led to power outages and rolling blackouts in Texas. Here's why it happened.www.usatoday.com
However, other parts of the above article would contradict this "red herring" claim based in the information and data presented in the article. Loss of the wind turbines isn't a sole cause, but would appear to be a major factor when it's one-third of the toal shortfall.
Actually, would seem this is more often the case;Texas' situation should be a forewarn of some of the faulty thinking regards electrical energy supply and generation plans being advocated by the pro-AGW/ACC crowd.
When it comes to so-called "renewables" such as 'wind' and 'solar', the wind needs to blow and the Sun shine for them to work. With cloud cover delivering snow, solar ain't going to work very well. Severe winds often cut off 'wind' since the generators auto shutoff if getting overloaded. Then too, the chill factor appears to freeze some of the wind generators. As the following excerpt and link shows, though wind is only about 23% of Texas' electrical grid, it is about 33% of the outage/shortfall currently being experienced.
'Massive failure': Why are millions of people in Texas still without power?
Extreme cold winter weather led to power outages and rolling blackouts in Texas. Here's why it happened.
...
Are frozen wind turbines to blame?
Some have pointed to freezing on wind turbines as a potential cause of the widespread outages, saying the renewable energy source is not reliable, but Cohan called those arguments "a red herring."
Rai said there are times of the year when wind is an extremely important energy source for Texas, powering half of the state's electricity supply.
This week, operators planned for much less wind capacity, in the range of 6,000 megawatts, Cohan said.
"Firm resources" – such as gas, coal and nuclear – failed to supply roughly 30,000 megawatts, which contributed to the bulk of the problem, Cohan said.
...
'Massive failure': Why are millions of people in Texas still without power?
Extreme cold winter weather led to power outages and rolling blackouts in Texas. Here's why it happened.www.usatoday.com
However, other parts of the above article would contradict this "red herring" claim based in the information and data presented in the article. Loss of the wind turbines isn't a sole cause, but would appear to be a major factor when it's one-third of the toal shortfall.
Leave it to a rightie, take a situation and twist it into confirming your own beliefs regardless of reality. First, concerning wind. Wind is never considered a contributor to the "baseline" load. Wind is merely an additional supplier to supplement more stable sources when possible, not always, and most certainly, not during peak loads. The problem is the baseload calculated for the winter in Texas is low, some coal and gas plants were offline for routine servicing, and some natural gas supplies were disrupted. The real culprit here is that Texas attitude. See, there are three power grids in the US. The Western grid, the Eastern grid, and the Texas grid. Texas, and Texans, think they are "special". To avoid federal regulation of their power companies they refused to join the national grid, way back in 1935. So unlike any other state in the nation, where if powerplant failures or demand outstrips supply they can bring in power from other states, Texas' powergrid is self-contained. There would not be any rolling blackouts if Texas were part of the National Grid. Texas can blame no one. Not the weather, not the wind turbines, not liberals. Nope, Texans can only blame themselves.
Leave it to a rightie, take a situation and twist it into confirming your own beliefs regardless of reality.Texas' situation should be a forewarn of some of the faulty thinking regards electrical energy supply and generation plans being advocated by the pro-AGW/ACC crowd.
When it comes to so-called "renewables" such as 'wind' and 'solar', the wind needs to blow and the Sun shine for them to work. With cloud cover delivering snow, solar ain't going to work very well. Severe winds often cut off 'wind' since the generators auto shutoff if getting overloaded. Then too, the chill factor appears to freeze some of the wind generators. As the following excerpt and link shows, though wind is only about 23% of Texas' electrical grid, it is about 33% of the outage/shortfall currently being experienced.
'Massive failure': Why are millions of people in Texas still without power?
Extreme cold winter weather led to power outages and rolling blackouts in Texas. Here's why it happened.
...
Are frozen wind turbines to blame?
Some have pointed to freezing on wind turbines as a potential cause of the widespread outages, saying the renewable energy source is not reliable, but Cohan called those arguments "a red herring."
Rai said there are times of the year when wind is an extremely important energy source for Texas, powering half of the state's electricity supply.
This week, operators planned for much less wind capacity, in the range of 6,000 megawatts, Cohan said.
"Firm resources" – such as gas, coal and nuclear – failed to supply roughly 30,000 megawatts, which contributed to the bulk of the problem, Cohan said.
...
'Massive failure': Why are millions of people in Texas still without power?
Extreme cold winter weather led to power outages and rolling blackouts in Texas. Here's why it happened.www.usatoday.com
However, other parts of the above article would contradict this "red herring" claim based in the information and data presented in the article. Loss of the wind turbines isn't a sole cause, but would appear to be a major factor when it's one-third of the toal shortfall.
Leave it to a rightie, take a situation and twist it into confirming your own beliefs regardless of reality. First, concerning wind. Wind is never considered a contributor to the "baseline" load. Wind is merely an additional supplier to supplement more stable sources when possible, not always, and most certainly, not during peak loads. The problem is the baseload calculated for the winter in Texas is low, some coal and gas plants were offline for routine servicing, and some natural gas supplies were disrupted. The real culprit here is that Texas attitude. See, there are three power grids in the US. The Western grid, the Eastern grid, and the Texas grid. Texas, and Texans, think they are "special". To avoid federal regulation of their power companies they refused to join the national grid, way back in 1935. So unlike any other state in the nation, where if powerplant failures or demand outstrips supply they can bring in power from other states, Texas' powergrid is self-contained. There would not be any rolling blackouts if Texas were part of the National Grid. Texas can blame no one. Not the weather, not the wind turbines, not liberals. Nope, Texans can only blame themselves.
