Green Energy Revolution Megathread

[jimmy olsen]

The US is a village?

He's saying the amount of electric production added (1291 MW) isn't much.  The US average consumption per capita/year is ~13,250KW according to Google.  1291 MW = 1,291,000KW.  About enough for 100 people a year.

I thought power plants measured watts by the hour?

Correct.

1291 MW is quite a bit.  Equivalent to 2 large generation facilities, about enough to serve 1 million homes.

One heck of village.

Glad to hear my understanding wasn't that off base.

[jimmy olsen]

Portugal,  population 10.4 million,  ran on 100% renewable energy for 4 days straight.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/18/portugal-runs-for-four-days-straight-on-renewable-energy-alone

[Capetan Mihali]

Portugal,  population 10.4 million,  ran on 100% renewable energy for 4 days straight.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/18/portugal-runs-for-four-days-straight-on-renewable-energy-alone

They also decriminalized all drugs.  Cause or correlation?

[Monoriu]

What kind of stadium was that?

Imagine an indoor basketball place.  It is actually used quite often for exams and ceremonies. 

[The Brain]

The US is a village?

He's saying the amount of electric production added (1291 MW) isn't much.  The US average consumption per capita/year is ~13,250KW according to Google.  1291 MW = 1,291,000KW.  About enough for 100 people a year.

I thought power plants measured watts by the hour?

Correct.

1291 MW is quite a bit.  Equivalent to 2 large generation facilities, about enough to serve 1 million homes.

One heck of village.

Glad to hear my understanding wasn't that off base.

What do you mean measure watts by the hour???

[Monoriu]

I have been saying this for years guys. Cheap and renewable energy is coming. And we are leading the charge here in Texas. We are going to have massive battery banks storing all of our wind and solar energy and we are going to be exporting it all around the country to take advantage of high prices in areas still reliant on old fashioned technology. As I said when I was meeting with the solar and wind investors last year they said they really wouldn't care if the Feds cancelled their tax credit, they know they have reached the tipping point.

Mono I fail to see how one mistake means jack. Would you like to see all the hilarious disasters that can occur when you run a nuclear plant or fire a giant fireball inside a coal plant? Besides as I have said tons of times, but you seem to be deaf to, is that rooftop solar is not a good solution for Hong Kong.

That's a village.  Currently, Hong Kong's electricity generation fuel mix is 50% coal, 20% nuclear and 30% natural gas.  We are planning to change that to 60% natural gas, 20% coal and 20% nuclear.  There are no plans to use renewables. 

Then pay higher prices. Somebody else will make the renewables and make a fortune off of Hong Kong's poor planning. Though I will say that renewables requires space. Hong Kong does not have much of that...but then does Hong Kong have coal mines and natural gas operations?

As you said, renewable energy requires space.  We don't have space.  So we don't use renewables.  And guess what, as long as this remains true for places outside Europe and North America, the Earth is still doomed

[Iormlund]

Power: Watts (kW, MW, etc).
Energy: Watts per hour (usually kWh or MWh).

By the way Tim, renewables cannot replace gas beyond certain point. The thing about gas is it is ideal from a backup point of view. They can be hooked on and off the grid fast and are always dependable. The only renewable that can do this is hydro, but unless you live in a wet, mountainous, sparsely populated area (say Norway) you won't have enough capacity or will have to hold on to water for irrigation purposes.

[jimmy olsen]

I have been saying this for years guys. Cheap and renewable energy is coming. And we are leading the charge here in Texas. We are going to have massive battery banks storing all of our wind and solar energy and we are going to be exporting it all around the country to take advantage of high prices in areas still reliant on old fashioned technology. As I said when I was meeting with the solar and wind investors last year they said they really wouldn't care if the Feds cancelled their tax credit, they know they have reached the tipping point.

Mono I fail to see how one mistake means jack. Would you like to see all the hilarious disasters that can occur when you run a nuclear plant or fire a giant fireball inside a coal plant? Besides as I have said tons of times, but you seem to be deaf to, is that rooftop solar is not a good solution for Hong Kong.

That's a village.  Currently, Hong Kong's electricity generation fuel mix is 50% coal, 20% nuclear and 30% natural gas.  We are planning to change that to 60% natural gas, 20% coal and 20% nuclear.  There are no plans to use renewables. 

Then pay higher prices. Somebody else will make the renewables and make a fortune off of Hong Kong's poor planning. Though I will say that renewables requires space. Hong Kong does not have much of that...but then does Hong Kong have coal mines and natural gas operations?

As you said, renewable energy requires space.  We don't have space.  So we don't use renewables.  And guess what, as long as this remains true for places outside Europe and North America, the Earth is still doomed

Africa doesn't have space? South America doesn't have space? India doesn't have space?  Mainland China doesn't have space?

[jimmy olsen]

I thought power plants measured watts by the hour?

Correct.

1291 MW is quite a bit.  Equivalent to 2 large generation facilities, about enough to serve 1 million homes.

One heck of village.

Glad to hear my understanding wasn't that off base.

What do you mean measure watts by the hour???

As in the below example.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt#Confusion_of_watts.2C_watt-hours_and_watts_per_hour

The terms power and energy are frequently confused. Power is the rate at which energy is generated or consumed and hence is measured in units (e.g. watts) that represent energy per unit time.

For example, when a light bulb with a power rating of 100W is turned on for one hour, the energy used is 100 watt hours (W·h),  A power station would be rated in multiples of watts (for example, the Three Gorges Dam is rated at approximately 22 gigawatts), but its annual energy sales or output would be in multiples of watt hours. Major energy production or consumption is often expressed as terawatt hours for a given period that is often a calendar year or financial year

[jimmy olsen]

Speaking of China, Mono.

http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/may/13/tantalisingly-close-is-solar-thermal-energy-ready-to-replace-coal-fired-power

Chinese company Shenhua Coal, which signed a memorandum of understanding with SolarReserve last week to build ten, large-scale solar tower and storage plants in China, totalling more than 1,000MW and at a cost of $2bn.

[The Brain]

I thought power plants measured watts by the hour?

Correct.

1291 MW is quite a bit.  Equivalent to 2 large generation facilities, about enough to serve 1 million homes.

One heck of village.

Glad to hear my understanding wasn't that off base.

What do you mean measure watts by the hour???

As in the below example.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt#Confusion_of_watts.2C_watt-hours_and_watts_per_hour

The terms power and energy are frequently confused. Power is the rate at which energy is generated or consumed and hence is measured in units (e.g. watts) that represent energy per unit time.

For example, when a light bulb with a power rating of 100W is turned on for one hour, the energy used is 100 watt hours (W·h),  A power station would be rated in multiples of watts (for example, the Three Gorges Dam is rated at approximately 22 gigawatts), but its annual energy sales or output would be in multiples of watt hours. Major energy production or consumption is often expressed as terawatt hours for a given period that is often a calendar year or financial year

You mean measure energy in watt hours?

[jimmy olsen]

Yes

[The Brain]

Good. Good.

[Valmy]

As you said, renewable energy requires space.  We don't have space.  So we don't use renewables.  And guess what, as long as this remains true for places outside Europe and North America, the Earth is still doomed

Um coal mines and coal plants also require space

Renewables will soon be cheaper and HK will be importing it regardless of what their plan is.

[Valmy]

Speaking of China, Mono.

http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/may/13/tantalisingly-close-is-solar-thermal-energy-ready-to-replace-coal-fired-power

Chinese company Shenhua Coal, which signed a memorandum of understanding with SolarReserve last week to build ten, large-scale solar tower and storage plants in China, totalling more than 1,000MW and at a cost of $2bn.

That is the funny part. For all of Mono's bluster the Chinese have been big leaders in this process.