Renewable Power Fail – As Usual – May 2010

PA Pundits International ^ | 19 August 2010 | TonyfromOz

[TonyfromOz]

If you think Renewable Power can become a viable alternative for the future to replace coal fired power generation, then you need to see how it is performing right now. Even after huge amounts of public money have been diverted on the most current Wind and Solar technology, both these forms of power fail miserably to supply electrical power on the same basis that coal fired power is already providing, that being access to reliable power on a 24/7/365 basis. This analysis of current statistics shows exactly how Renewable power is failing to provide that electrical power, and no amount of wishing and hoping will make it more reliable.

[Sacajaweau]

It's a duh moment.

By the way, there is an international corn shortage. Hmmmmmm

[Bigh4u2]

I don’t need no power plant.

I get my electric from the wall plug.... /sarc

[pingman]

A greenie pal o’ mine emailed me yesterday, suggesting I buy stock in Vestas (windmill company)because the stock dropped 22% in one day! Must be the bottom!

Pardon me if I don’t back up the truck on his suggestion. Why? Simple:

wind power:

1.) Highest maintenance cost per watt generated, from day one of production.
2.) Lowest quality energy currently being sought (inconsistent wind, not located near point of use, etc)

The magical thinking that these people cling to belies their supposed intelligence.

[Pessimist]

I think their magical thinking may be more pragmatic than you realize.

Maybe they know alt energy is BS. So what? As long as the gvt pours our money into it, forces us into using it, etc., it might be a reasonable invesment.

How cynical we have become...

[Need4Truth]

Hey Tony. Obviously you have some knowledge about electrical things. Here’s a question I haven’t seen answered anywhere. If someone moves to Oz and buys a shiny new Volt, just how much electrical power does it take to drive around Oz in it? Let’s say Oz gets their power from a natural gas powered generation plant. How much natural gas does it take to drive a Volt for that first mile?

[Bean Counter]

There’s real problems out West here with all of the wind turbines that have been sprouting like weeds for decades. Besides all of the outright fraud surrounding the State tax breaks for wind farm developers, the ever-increasing turbines play merry hell with Bonneville Power. If we get an un-forecasted breeze during a non-peak period, the sudden spike in power production can suddenly overload certain high-tension lines, and even force hydroelectric dams to dump water and perform emergency shutdown of their turbines.

Bonneville Power is in the process of spending millions to develop their own weather forecasting service so they can better predict and control these spikes, but it’s years away from implementation while wind turbine construction continues unabated.

[TonyfromOz]

First Point.
Australia is not importing the Volt, mores the pity, and I seriously doubt anyway that GM would run a separate production line to make them in Right Hand Drive.
Second Point.
The shortest way to drive around Australia is a trip of around 9,000 miles, and I seriously doubt that for many stretches of that trip, there would be no access for electrical power.
That 9000 miles is the short way, and to effectively do it might actually entail a journey of close on 15,000 miles at the very least.
Not knowing the specifics of the specs on the Chevy Volt’s electrical system, I would be somewhat at a loss to work out how much power a journey of that distance would be consumed. Either way, it would be an exceedingly risky thing to even attempt the journey in the first place in a car running solely on electricity.
I have the idea that your original premise might have been done somewhat in jest, but this reply indicates some of the scope of that drive around Australia.
Hope this helps.

[VOA]

“
Australia is not importing the Volt, mores the pity,...
“

I don’t know if Government Motors can afford to sell all that many Volts.
My understanding is that it costs $81,000 per unit to build, only to
be sold for a projected $41,000.
Then add in the complication that GM dealers are hoping to get a premium
of an extra $20,000 per unit. Of course, there is the $7,500 tax credit.

Thus, Government Motors will just dig themselves a deeper hole by
selling more Volts.

(Please note: as I grew up next to two oil refineries, I’m not against
new, earth-friendlier automobiles. But the Volt doesn’t sound like
a solution. If it’s a step to a solution...than I can accept that.
But there is some sort of disconnect between the idealism of a “green car”
and a real-world vehicle regarding the Volt.)

[cicero2k]

For starters, wind power is 25% efficient. So you need 3.5X nameplate in wind towers to equal the nameplate of a coal-nuke-gas plant. Solar is inconsequential, at least on an industrial scale.

Then siting wind farms and solar is next to impossible because building transmission line IS impossible. I can’t imagine a locality accepting new transmission lines because of the unsightliness. With coal-nuke-gas you can site near transmission lines and get the fuel there on or under the surface.

So please stop the alternative energy electric is the future charade.

The only possibility is rooftop solar, providing peak shaving electricity where it is consumed. Not sure of the track record there, but it’s not being touted.

[pingman]

And when the government $$$ runs out, or the political winds shift (say, in November)?

[FrankR]

My car runs on renewable energy...yep, when the gas tank gets empty, I just "renew" the tank with fresh gasoline...and I'm off.

[Need4Truth]

Thanks, I was looking for a comparison in efficiency between electrical vehicles and internal combustion vehicles. Then, I found this site that has some discussion on the topic.

http://www.electroauto.com/info/pollmyth.shtml

(I’d rather drive the Acura mentioned then an EV especially around Australia or even around Texas.)

[Pessimist]

Timing is everything. :)

[xrmusn]

I don’t know if Government Motors can afford to sell all that many Volts.
My understanding is that it costs $81,000 per unit to build, only to
be sold for a projected $41,000.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Hmmm.
Straight from the pages of “Catch 22” in regards to the ‘egg co-op’.
Selling them for .02 less than purchased, but making money because they had a monopoly.

[runninglips]

Thursday, Aug. 12, 2010 Comments (0) Recommend (0) Kittitas County approves massive solar farm The Associated Press http://www.kvnews.com CLE ELUM, Wash. Kittitas County officials have approved a massive solar farm near Cle Elum. The Daily Record of Ellensburg reports the Board of Adjustment denied an environmental appeal at a meeting Wednesday, before granting the Teanaway Solar Reserve a permit. The company says the project could generate up to 75 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 45,000 homes. The facility would be made up of 400,000 panels surrounded by an existing pine forest just northeast of Cle Elum. TSR's Managing Director Howard Trott says the project will create jobs and generate clean energy. But the group Citizen's Alliance for a Rural Teanaway says the project didn't have adequate environmental review. Read more: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2010/08/12/1128382/kittitas-county-approves-massive.html#ixzz0x9l9uo2v

I believe this solar farm will be sited on 460 acres, but 900 acres will be dedicated to the project. The area has 3+ feet on the ground daily in the winter, and has accumulations of 3-10 feet yearly. Of course they are going to have to put in transmission lines, and the area is depressed economically, having been a coal mining town, they have few steady jobs. I doubt the projections of power, and I fear that the thing is on a scale of light rail in cost to the taxpayer.