US shift to renewable energy

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US shift to renewable energy

Postby everything on Sun Aug 28, 2022 8:00 am

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/ren ... ls-in-2022

The Inflation Reduction Act recently passed by Congress adds significant long-term certainty for electric utilities and power generators eager to transition to cleaner power sources, but the effects won't be felt for a few years. That doesn't mean industry is waiting around in the meantime.

In an astonishing trend, the United States added 462% more electricity from renewables than fossil fuels in the first half of 2022 compared to 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Renewable energy accounted for 25.3% of the nation's electricity generation in the first six months of this year, a full three percentage points above where things stood at the halfway mark of last year.



From 2007 to 2021, the United States experienced virtually no change in total electricity generation, but the nation's energy mix underwent historic changes.

Coal-fired power plants fell from 48.6% of national electricity production to just 21.6%.
Natural gas increased from just 21.6% to 37.8% in that span.
Meanwhile, total renewables jumped from 8.5% of the energy mix to 21%.


Consider the historic changes from June 2020 to June 2022.

The United States grew installed capacity of utility-scale solar from 38.8 gigawatts (GW) to 63.3 GW, an increase of 63%.
The United States grew installed capacity of onshore wind from 107 GW to 137 GW, an increase of 28%.
Many renewable power plants added in 2021 are contributing to energy production for the first time in 2022 – and they're making their presence felt.

From the first half of 2021 to the first half of 2022:

The United States added 22.3 TWh of electricity from solar (including small-scale installations) and 47.7 TWh from wind.
By comparison, the nation added only 39.7 TWh from natural gas and saw coal-fired power generation decline by 27 TWh.
In total, the United States added 82 TWh from all renewables and only 14.6 TWh from all fossil fuel sources.
This is a remarkable shift compared to the first phase of the energy transition when natural gas-fired power plants were responsible for most new generation.

Here's another way to look at it: The United States could add over 90 TWh of electricity from wind power and 35 TWh from solar in 2022 compared to 2021. That nation only added 345 TWh and 160 TWh from wind and solar, respectively, in the 14 years spanning 2007 to 2021.

The trend will accelerate in the next few years. The EIA estimates 13 GW of solar was added to the grid in 2021, but expects another 44 GW to come online by 2023. Why is that important?

Whereas wind power production peaks in early spring and early fall, solar production peaks in summer. That sounds obvious, but national energy consumption also peaks in summer due largely to air conditioning. That makes solar uniquely positioned to help renewables continue dominating the energy mix and put the final nail in the coffin of coal-fired power plants.

The third phase of the energy transmission beginning near 2030 will be powered by all the same trends, although offshore wind power will begin to nudge natural gas-fired power plants off the grid.

Nearly 30 GW of offshore wind capacity is expected to come online by 2030, up from virtually nothing today. That may not sound like much, but these next-generation power plants can produce two- and three-times as much electricity per GW than onshore wind and utility-scale solar, respectively. They will also generate electricity for the country's major coastal population centers, helping cities rapidly reduce their reliance on coal and natural gas facilities.

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Re: US shift to renewable energy

Postby yeniseri on Sun Aug 28, 2022 12:21 pm

The switch to renewables is a lie and an illusion only because there is monetary reward with the current energy sources and the multinationals will go as long as possible to get as much "blood" and revenue from it because it has becomea source of wealth, profit and schemeing. Don't get me wrong....Going green/renewable energy sources are a positive but we know the sun, rain, water, etc cannot be monetarized by corporations but we know they will find ways to do that so they can get return on investment (ROI) in the profit generation world of monopolization of "resources" regardless of origin.

I say we are headed in a wrong direction (as opposed to the wrong direction) due to the short term strategies that will result from this debacle. Remember when parts of the Texas grid failed last year? If not, read the origin of it..Texas being energy efficient in its own way refused to comply with regulations to mitigate such "disasters" and when the cold snap hit, which was unusual, the system collapsed because they refused to follow federal regulation of preparation of the unknown meaning Incident Managemt tools were ignored. Despite improvements and the presence of Gov. Abbott, things will get worse,...I hope I will be proved wrong because of Texas and its behavioural pattern of Person Over Party is dtrimental to civil unity and state posterity.

HOW THE TEXAS POWER GRID FAILED
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/02/15 ... torm-2021/

PROBLEMS STILL EXIST IN TEXAS
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/23/us/t ... inter.html

Fast forward to 2027 (just guessing-choose your own year ??? ) when we all plug into this electrical grid in a terrible winter or summer, the system willl fail miserably because we have never preplanned for emergencies. Remember when Obama issued an infrastructure alert (bridges, railword, etc) and his opponents refused to fund projets and they partially do the same today. Look aagin..why would China, parts of EUrope want to see transportation work for their citizens and USA does not..what is wrong here? lack of insight, spite, vision, etc...May He help US all
When fascism comes to US America, It will be wrapped in the US flag and waving a cross. An astute patriot
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Re: US shift to renewable energy

Postby everything on Sun Aug 28, 2022 12:53 pm

"monetizing the Sun" or wind sounds somehow like insidiously charging money for a "free" resource, but I think it's more that someone has to expend efforts converting one type of "free" energy into electricity that is then usable for our cars or computers or televisions or whatnot. That process has costs, of course, and creating markets and competition is a solution to reduce costs / increase availability / compete against burning coal, etc. Those companies doing it do need a return on investment, otherwise they may just use coal. But it would seem quite difficult to have a monopoly on the effectively "unlimited" (for a few billion years) raw resource. If governments need to provide incentives to shift the behavior from something like burning coal to get thing started, it's a good idea if the motivation is otherwise to stay on fossil fuels. Consumers need it as well (otherwise we just drive ICE cars).

As for Texas stupidity, who knows... the electricity has to be generated on demand .... maybe storage technologies will improve ... that probably won't change the nature of "Florida Man" or Texas Man.
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Re: US shift to renewable energy

Postby Steve James on Sun Aug 28, 2022 4:09 pm

If there's simply an agreement that we should do as little as possible to destroy the environment, then we can look for the least harmful methods of producing energy. So far, there's no perfect solution. The problem isn't governmental. In the US, we use a lot more energy than we need. Btw, guilty as charged. Reducing unnecessary energy consumption voluntarily helps.
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Re: US shift to renewable energy

Postby windwalker on Sun Aug 28, 2022 6:23 pm


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk11vI-7czE

Apr 21, 2020 Michael Moore presents Planet of the Humans, a documentary that dares to say what no one else will — that we are losing the battle to stop climate change on planet earth because we are following leaders who have taken us down the wrong road — selling out the green movement to wealthy interests and corporate America.

This film is the wake-up call to the reality we are afraid to face: that in the midst of a human-caused extinction event, the environmental movement’s answer is to push for techno-fixes and band-aids. It's too little, too late.


Image


Large department stores and malls across Germany have started turning off escalators or limiting their use,
in the latest bid to save energy, the German tabloid Bild reported on Saturday.

https://www.rt.com/business/561670-germ ... ff-energy/


Germany leading the way in the renewable energy shift.... :-\
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Re: US shift to renewable energy

Postby everything on Mon Aug 29, 2022 3:00 pm

I like driving my gas-powered, manual car, mainly because it's fun, and I guess "20th century technology" nostalgia is part of the fun. So definitely am part of the problem and not particularly part of the solution. I guess I drive it less frequently these days.

I don't know if we have anything else besides use less + techno-fixes + band-aids. I guess there are pandemics and wars and things that kill off humans before the extinction. Ugh... :-\ ... let's talk about IMA, lol.
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Re: US shift to renewable energy

Postby Steve James on Mon Aug 29, 2022 3:22 pm

:) Funny you say that. I've been considering selling my Jeep (manual) because the dealer keeps begging me for it, insurance is coming due, and I get tired of moving it for the sake of alternate side parking twice a week. I don't need it or use it much. I ride my bike or take the subway.

I'm attached to it, and like the idea of not needing to call a cab in an emergency. Anyway, if I replace it, I'll be looking for a hybrid. Until electric charging stations are as convenient as gas stations, that'd be the way I'd go.

I wouldn't buy a Tesla, though. And, I'm never going from stick to self-driving.:)
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Re: US shift to renewable energy

Postby everything on Mon Aug 29, 2022 5:29 pm

Dodge is saying their EV Charger will have an "exhaust sound" as loud as the Hellcat and a "manual" ("electro manual") for shifting type experience.

Guess they acknowledge 1. EV is the way 2. people are still attached to the loudness 3. people are still attached to that mechanical, manual experience.

Who knows if they can execute it. I'm not a muscle car guy, but dang this car and sound are still super cool to me
https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/18/2331 ... aust-sound

I think I'd just hold on to the manual Jeep for as long as I could stand those other inconveniences. It's going to be too difficult to replace it in the future if you still want something like it.
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Re: US shift to renewable energy

Postby windwalker on Mon Aug 29, 2022 5:30 pm

Just picked up a Hybrid,,,rav4

the tech is amazing..... :)

Understand about the jeep, had a couple in my time...also Subaru's

you can still get a jeep


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPKAw7v8HqE

Hybrids, use something called regenerative braking, captures the power of the cars momentum in slowing the car down.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzuSH0mL0cQ

Would think that this will or might replace friction brakes,,,for most cars going forward
maybe storing the power in batteries that can be plugged up to the house or other things...

Nuclear technology is quite safe at this stage of development.
Unfortunately it's been portrayed as not a good alternative, and so is not more wide spread in the west,,,In other parts of the world that have the tech
like "China" "Russia" they will continue to develop their programs.

As far as "renewable" don't think its really possible..

used to work in the solar industry on tools used to make the cells....from the silicon to the final product.

Its not so clean nor efficient

With wind and even batteries, the mining of rare earth metal also not so clean.....

ICE have become very efficient, Toyota is moving to make all their vehicles hybrids,
so much so, in the new ones they've dropped some of the "hybrid" badging on their cars..

interesting times, as the west tries to electrify
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Re: US shift to renewable energy

Postby everything on Tue Aug 30, 2022 5:54 am

those rav4 and jeep hybrids sound pretty awesome.

maybe the terms should be "recyclable" or "a little bit cleaner" energy.
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Re: US shift to renewable energy

Postby Steve James on Tue Aug 30, 2022 6:31 am

Yeah, I doubt I could replace the Jeep. It makes me feel invincible and able to go anywhere, anytime. If I drove regularly, I wouldn't consider giving it up.

They have to add some sound to evs. Otherwise, pedestrians never hear them coming. I'd prefer not to have the muscle car sound, but have the muscle car performance. I like sleepers.

The Rav4 is nice. Way more comfortable than the Jeep. Converting the Jeep to a hybrid is interesting, but too time consuming.

Solar powered cars would be for somewhere like Saudi Arabia -London not so much.
Nuclear is actually possible. But, iinm, it works by converting heat to electricity -using pressurized steam and lasers to power a turbine. Putting all that under the hood is a handful. The major advantage of nuclear is that the nuclear fuel would last longer than car or driver.

Then, there's still the same problem of energy storage. Right now, lithium ion batteries are the most effective. But, there's a limit to lithium supply, and it's not an environmentally friendly resource. Cheap li-ion batteries kill people almost every day. They're currently working on batteries that use sodium instead of lithium. It's as plentiful as sea water and might be acquired as the waste of desalination plants.

Imo, though Elon doesn't like it, is using hydrogen as the primary fuel. It's as plentiful as water, and the exhaust is water vapor.
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Re: US shift to renewable energy

Postby everything on Tue Aug 30, 2022 2:39 pm

ha, the good invincibility feeling is probably an ironic cause of the self-extinction event. well... i guess future generations won't be as attached to the 20th century tech, and their tech may better delay the end.

Honda was looking into hydrogen for those reasons. Not sure if they've stalled, given up, still trying to do or what.
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Re: US shift to renewable energy

Postby windwalker on Tue Aug 30, 2022 6:52 pm

everything wrote:ha, the good invincibility feeling is probably an ironic cause of the self-extinction event. well... i guess future generations won't be as attached to the 20th century tech, and their tech may better delay the end.

Honda was looking into hydrogen for those reasons. Not sure if they've stalled, given up, still trying to do or what.


Might want to understand what it takes to make hydrogen.....

At today's energy prices, it is considerably more expensive to produce hydrogen
by water electrolysis then by reforming of fossil fuels. According to [5] it costs
around $5.60 for every GJ of hydrogen energy produced from natural gas, $10.30
per GJ from coal, and $20.10 per GJ to produce hydrogen by electrolysis of water


https://afdc.energy.gov/files/pdfs/hyd_ ... iasson.pdf

this is what it's said to take to make one EV battery...

Image

To manufacture each EV battery, you must process

25,000 pounds of brine for the lithium
30,000 pounds of ore for the cobalt
5,000 pounds of ore for the nickel, 25,000 pounds of ore for copper
Diging up 500,000 pounds of the earth's crust

For just - one - battery.


https://twitter.com/brianroemmele/statu ... 5974216710


solar cells,,,as mentioned used to work in the industry / wafer section where silicon ingots were sliced into wafers that would later be made into the cells.

Solar Panel Production
Photovoltaic panel production is resource-intensive, requiring substantial amounts of water, industrial materials, and even fossil fuels.

Coal is the primary energy source used in the photovoltaic panel production process, which is directly linked to increased carbon emissions.

Hydrofluoric acid and sodium hydroxides are both used in the solar panel manufacturing process. These both require strict regulations regarding the treatment and disposal of toxic waste water. Meanwhile, workers employed at photovoltaic panel production factories must be safeguarded from these hazardous chemicals. This means regulated protections.

Studies show that silicon particles are released into the environment during the production process, causing Silicosis in people that are known to have come in contact with the particles. Silicon particles that are released into the environment during the production process have been shown to cause Silicosis in those exposed to the particles 3.



https://honuaolabioenergy.com/environme ... facturing/

Hydrofluoric acid :o

"Hydrofluoric acid (HF) differs from other acids because the fluoride ion readily penetrates the skin, causing destruction of deep tissue layers, including bone. Pain associated with exposure to solutions of HF (1-50%) may be delayed for 1-24 hours."

Looks like water, once exposed the affects may be delayed ....said to attack bones ...

tends to get ones attention if they have to work with it.. :-\
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Re: US shift to renewable energy

Postby everything on Tue Aug 30, 2022 8:09 pm

yeahhhhhh we are just going with self extinction. maybe the pandas are on to something. chill out and eat bamboo
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Re: US shift to renewable energy

Postby Quigga on Tue Aug 30, 2022 8:20 pm

Life itself is renewable or not. Takes quite a while until an entire species outgrows it's stupidity, welp. I try to be grateful for what I have until it's gone
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