General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Nuclear renaissance? US OKs new reactor design [View all]FBaggins
(26,727 posts)I replied directly to a statement that presupposed that the NE would be supplies with renewable generation from Kansas - specifically that there existed already enough transmission capacity to do that now.
Of course that's wrong. Correcting the error is appropriate.
In more direct reply to your post... you dramatically overstate the ease with which the NE can be supplied entirely with renewable energy. On a per-capita basis, it's one of the most challenging locations to do so in the US. Comparatively little solar insolation (and far less open space with which to install it). Prime wind spots onshore are much harder to come by than in the center of the country (not as bad as Florida... but ND/SD/NE/KS/etc have them beat hands-down - and again there's the comparative open space issue). Traditional hydro power is good... but also well developed already. And can we please wait until geothermal actually gets some traction before we start assuming that it will power tens of millions of people by next Thursday?
Offshore wind holds the greatest potential to contribute in a big way in the coming decades, but I don't think that you've grasped how large a gap there is between energy demand in the NE and how that compares to current offshore plans.
Which brings us back to the transmission issue. New England is too small geographically to represent much diversification of weather. You certainly could have days and days of limited generation from that area. Jumping back to posts from months ago, I point you to your own graphs estimating the leveling impact of linking turbines all up and down the coast. Of course such an interconnection of geographic resources (absolutely necessary in any renewables model and you darn well know it) does not currently exist. The poster mistakenly assumed that it did and I corrected the error. Quite simple... but your compulsion neither allowed you to see that nor remain silent.