|
|
|
|
We appreciate your help
in keeping this site going.
|
|

09-24-2022, 10:19 PM
|
|
Banned
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Metro Detroit
Posts: 13,135
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by finnbow
Germany, which is both further north and cloudier than Michigan (not to mention with far less open space), gets 8.2% of its electricity from solar.
|
Good for Germany.
My point was, when compared to TX, MI is likely a better candidate for investment in other sources of renewable energy. Wind turbines have been sprouting faster than mushrooms in MI, for example. That may change due to some recent tech developments that make the two sources more equivalent in cost, but that may still be a few years away.
|

09-25-2022, 07:34 AM
|
 |
Reformed Know-Nothing
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: MoCo, MD
Posts: 26,554
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by whell
Good for Germany.
My point was, when compared to TX, MI is likely a better candidate for investment in other sources of renewable energy. Wind turbines have been sprouting faster than mushrooms in MI, for example. That may change due to some recent tech developments that make the two sources more equivalent in cost, but that may still be a few years away.
|
The best renewable system is not an either/or, it's both. Here's Germany's breakdown which results in ~50% coming from renewable energy.
__________________
As long as the roots are not severed, all will be well in the garden.
|

09-25-2022, 08:24 AM
|
|
Banned
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Metro Detroit
Posts: 13,135
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by finnbow
The best renewable system is not an either/or, it's both. Here's Germany's breakdown which results in ~50% coming from renewable energy.

|
No doubt. When planning where an area will generate power for the grid, the planners will play to the area's geological and geographic strengths. I suspect there are parts of Germany where one generating strategy has more economic and output benefits than others.
At present, Mi gets most of it's electric capacity from nuclear. MI retired it's aging coal fired plants. That capacity was replaced by natural gas and wind, because that's what made the most sense for the generating potential per dollar. Solar will be in the state's future when the benefits of solar make more economic sense than other renewable sources.
|

09-25-2022, 08:58 AM
|
 |
Reformed Know-Nothing
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: MoCo, MD
Posts: 26,554
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by whell
No doubt. When planning where an area will generate power for the grid, the planners will play to the area's geological and geographic strengths. I suspect there are parts of Germany where one generating strategy has more economic and output benefits than others.
At present, Mi gets most of it's electric capacity from nuclear. MI retired it's aging coal fired plants. That capacity was replaced by natural gas and wind, because that's what made the most sense for the generating potential per dollar. Solar will be in the state's future when the benefits of solar make more economic sense than other renewable sources.
|
Agree (see, we can actually agree on something  ), though I'm a bit puzzled by you buying into plans that contradict your oft-stated climate change skepticism. That said, photovoltaic solar panels continue to get cheaper and more efficient and, unlike wind turbines, don't require much, if any, preventive maintenance and will likely continue to increase their market share in the future.
__________________
As long as the roots are not severed, all will be well in the garden.
|

09-25-2022, 06:26 AM
|
 |
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Derby City U.S.A.
Posts: 8,935
|
|
""Solar Power Is Helping Some Puerto Rico Homes Avoid Hurricane Fiona Blackouts""
“Hurricane Fiona is just one more example of the urgency needed to transition to an electrical system that’s resilient and provides people what they need, which is rooftop solar and storage,” says Cathy Kunkel, an energy program manager at San Juan-based sustainability nonprofit Cambio PR. “Puerto Rico needs something that’s not going to go out every time a major storm hits, because we’re just getting more and more of them.”
https://dnyuz.com/2022/09/20/solar-p...ona-blackouts/
Someday there will be no other choice then going renewable. We have already gone way beyond the point of no return on preventing drastic changes. Survival mode will soon become apparent.
Then the blaming pointing fingers....... At those on the wrong side of history.
|

09-25-2022, 11:14 AM
|
 |
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Sierras
Posts: 15,280
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oerets
""Solar Power Is Helping Some Puerto Rico Homes Avoid Hurricane Fiona Blackouts""
“Hurricane Fiona is just one more example of the urgency needed to transition to an electrical system that’s resilient and provides people what they need, which is rooftop solar and storage,” says Cathy Kunkel, an energy program manager at San Juan-based sustainability nonprofit Cambio PR. “Puerto Rico needs something that’s not going to go out every time a major storm hits, because we’re just getting more and more of them.”
https://dnyuz.com/2022/09/20/solar-p...ona-blackouts/
Someday there will be no other choice then going renewable. We have already gone way beyond the point of no return on preventing drastic changes. Survival mode will soon become apparent.
Then the blaming pointing fingers....... At those on the wrong side of history.
|
That someday is here and now and presently solar power generation is the most economical, negative being that power is only generated when the sun is up and about and it drops precipitously in the winter. Pumped storage is a very easy and viable storage option, but requires a lot more investment. I don't believe that storing power in batteries is an economical viable option but sodium based batteries are evolving.
Nuclear is by far the best option, but it takes years and years of planning and construction. Doubt we as a country will ever shed the disdain for nuclear power, yet we make submarines and other nuclear powered naval vessels!
Power from other sources, cost of fuel will continue to make it prohibitive and will also take years to commission.
__________________
The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite. Thomas Jefferson
|

09-25-2022, 11:36 AM
|
 |
Reformed Know-Nothing
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: MoCo, MD
Posts: 26,554
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rajoo
That someday is here and now and presently solar power generation is the most economical, negative being that power is only generated when the sun is up and about and it drops precipitously in the winter. Pumped storage is a very easy and viable storage option, but requires a lot more investment. I don't believe that storing power in batteries is an economical viable option but sodium based batteries are evolving.
Nuclear is by far the best option, but it takes years and years of planning and construction. Doubt we as a country will ever shed the disdain for nuclear power, yet we make submarines and other nuclear powered naval vessels!
Power from other sources, cost of fuel will continue to make it prohibitive and will also take years to commission.
|
I would not disagree at all with your assessment of nuclear energy (I worked in that industry for ~20 years), but for the apparent death of the repository at Yucca Mountain (upon which I consulted for several years). Now, we have no capacity (or even a plan) to deal with used fuel rods from nuclear plants beyond on-site storage. The US government took untold billions from the nuclear industry for studies and construction of a repository, but now we're back to square one even if the studies and construction at Yucca Mountain are largely complete.
__________________
As long as the roots are not severed, all will be well in the garden.
|

09-25-2022, 11:49 AM
|
 |
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Sierras
Posts: 15,280
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by finnbow
I would not disagree at all with your assessment of nuclear energy (I worked in that industry for ~20 years), but for the apparent death of the repository at Yucca Mountain (upon which I consulted for several years). Now, we have no capacity (or even a plan) to deal with used fuel rods from nuclear plants beyond on-site storage. The US government took untold billions from the nuclear industry for studies and construction of a repository, but now we're back to square one even if the studies and construction at Yucca Mountain are largely complete.
|
I wonder why we do not reprocess spent nuclear fuel rods other than for economic reasons. India does this, so does Russia, Japan and China if my information is correct.
Storing is perhaps the cheapest option, put the rods in a lead casket, bury them deep underground and monitor the environment. But then politicians and citizens are suspicious of scientists and rightfully so. As a matter of civil engineering, this should be easier than digging a chunnel under a river or a bay.
__________________
The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite. Thomas Jefferson
|

09-25-2022, 12:00 PM
|
 |
Reformed Know-Nothing
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: MoCo, MD
Posts: 26,554
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rajoo
I wonder why we do not reprocess spent nuclear fuel rods other than for economic reasons. India does this, so does Russia, Japan and China if my information is correct.
Storing is perhaps the cheapest option, put the rods in a lead casket, bury them deep underground and monitor the environment. But then politicians and citizens are suspicious of scientists and rightfully so. As a matter of civil engineering, this should be easier than digging a chunnel under a river or a bay. 
|
And many more countries, including France (the most successful and efficient of the nations who reprocess fuel). It's all about non-proliferation. Reprocessing fuel or using breeder reactors results in material more suitable for bomb-making (i.e., plutonium) than the the 3-5% enriched U235 used for nuclear fuel. We're afraid of diversion of those materials (or at least that's the argument that resulted in current US policy on the matter).
__________________
As long as the roots are not severed, all will be well in the garden.
|

09-25-2022, 09:25 AM
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 14,447
|
|
|
Is Whell actually evolving!? His MAGAMoron pals are running around cutting cords off EV recharging stations and blocking them with their huge, gross-polluting diesel pickup trucks.
__________________
"In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act." -
George Orwell
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:13 AM.
|