Texas power grid struggles with system-wide stresses caused by brutal heat wave - PBS NewsHour

[Rhiannon12866]

A record heat wave, and its connections to climate change, are highlighting again the growing concerns around America’s electrical grid and whether it can withstand the added stress. In Texas, which operates its own electrical grid, power demand hit an all-time high this week. William Brangham discussed more with Michael Webber, a professor of energy resources at the University of Texas. - Aired on 06/29/2023.

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. The Texas Republican Energy grid can't fix the energy supply problem....

without bringing wind and solar into the grid.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. Which they are certainly opposed to

Even if it means more citizens will die, as they tragically did during that brutal winter storm.

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. Sadly, the grid is exposed every season.

and their devotion to Big Oil can't compete with Big Oil's impact on climate change, Blows my mind. You'd think Big Oil energy vision for Texas's closed grid would be the place to prove the future of energy policy. Looks like the only winners in this mess are the politicians that signed on to this fiasco.

[Rhiannon12866]

4. What I do not understand is after the failures (and deaths) during that devastating storm

Why the citizens didn't demand new leadership.

[hunter]

5. Wind and solar power are like the employee who only shows up to work when they feel like it.

They won't fix anything and will only make a grid teetering on the edge of instability more unstable.

At best they will reduce overall gas consumption 40% (a capacity factor rarely achieved in practice) but that's not enough to save the world, even in combination with solar and ludicrously large (and expensive!) energy storage schemes.

Supporting hybrid natural gas / wind / solar power systems is the "light" version of climate change denial, as in "light beer" or "light" low tar and nicotine" cigarettes.

When I see wind turbines, especially wind turbines on previously undeveloped landscapes or seascapes I don't get the warm fuzzies, I'm simply appalled. They will do nothing, absolutely nothing, to reduce the total amount of greenhouse gasses humans dump in the atmosphere because they will only prolong our dependence on fossil fuels, especially natural gas.

[Blues Heron]

6. I think for most wind deniers it's primarily emotional- they just don't like how they look.

But there is literally no reason not to harvest the free wind energy out there. There is no chance the wind will ever stop blowing, nor the sun stop shining, nor the rivers tumbling to the sea. To not harvest that energy is the height of folly.

[bello]

7. Solar has a significant correlation with air conditioning

As the owner of a solar array, it is my experience that it generally produces the most power on those bright, sunny, hot days when I am running my air conditioner.

It also works well for those draws that are intermittent and interruptible. For example, my hot water heater that is on a timer will run when solar is available. Then I have enough hot water to last well over 24 hours. Yes, it is a large and well insulated hot water heater.

Solar will not solve all of our energy problems, but with the right mix of other sources and storage, it is a valuable tool in our toolbox to solve the energy problems

[hunter]

9. The natural gas industry would like you to think so.

In actual practice solar drops off just when it's needed the most.

You can look at any of the real time electric grid monitoring sites I commonly link to.

Here's part of Texas:

https://app.electricitymaps.com/zone/US-TEX-ERCO

You may get 24 hours of personal hot water storage on sunny summer days, but how does that work out on cloudy winter days?

Would you be willing to completely disconnect your water heater from the electric grid or other greenhouse gas emitting heat sources for an entire year?

How much storage would it take to supply a comfortable and reliable hot water supply all year?

The same sorts of calculations apply to batteries, and the problems are the same at any scale from a small cabin to an entire electric grid.

In the long term large scale wind and solar development doesn't actually solve ANY problems except the image problems of the fossil fuel industry.

[bello]

8. And another analysis

Texas renewable are saving their bacon.

[link:https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218051537|

[hunter]

10. Until it does the opposite by not being there when its needed.

That could happen soon, on some day when the wind isn't blowing, the sun has gone down, and the gas fired power plants can't keep up.

Let's be honest. Solar and wind power are simply not viable without fossil fuel "backup" power, which isn't backup power at all but the primary energy source, especially in Texas.

In the last 30 days about 43% of Texas electric power came from gas. Without gas, coal, and nuclear power Texas would be a mess, no matter how many solar panels and wind turbines they built.

https://app.electricitymaps.com/zone/US-TEX-ERCO

I'm going to say it again, like a broken record.

Suppose you have an electric grid where half the electricity is generated by nuclear power. If you double the amount of nuclear power generation then all the electricity comes from nuclear power.

That's not the case with wind or solar power. You hit a wall of greatly diminishing returns long before you reach your goal of 100% renewable energy.

If anyone believes that the natural gas backing up their solar and wind power follies isn't a huge threat to the earth's natural environment, they can just say so.

Personally I think natural gas is a much greater threat to the earth than nuclear power, mostly because so many people believe it's "clean," especially compared to coal.

There is enough natural gas in the ground to destroy our natural world and our civilization as we know it. I think it's best we leave it, like all fossil fuels, in the ground.


At this point in the argument many wind and solar enthusiasts start waving their arms about magical energy storage systems or synergies that simply don't exist and never will exist.