Why Didnt the Invisible Hand Prevent the Rolling Blackout in Texas?

Why didn't the "invisible hand" prevent the rolling blackout in Texas?

Good question and yes the answer is that Northern countries do not have rolling blackouts because t do not rely on unreliable wind and solar hardly at all. T depend on reliable fossil fuels, hydro, nuclear or geothermal to prevent rolling black outs as happens in Texas and California these days. Think about it why are we pushing wind and solar energy sources that are unreliable and calling them renewable. What is renewable about zero or nothing when the wind does not blow or the sun shine. Are not unreliable renewables an oxymoron? Martha Kirtley comment Add to this excellent summary, that both solar panels and wind turbines require massive amounts of polluting materials to manufacture and that neither are recyclable once t reach their maximum life spans of 20–30 years. A disaster in many ways! This Northern experience and reality posits this formula that if Texas wants to reduce the risk of black outs it must reduce the amount of unreliable wind and solar in your energy consumption mix. Russia is a cold Northern country that eschews wind and solar sources of energy. Likewise Canada is a cold country (I live there) and has very little unreliable renewables in its energy mix. Iceland is the worlds largest consumer of electricity per capita and does not use unreliable wind or solar to keep warm. “Finally, wind power currently occupies less than 0.1% of Iceland renewable energy.” Sweden has some unreliable wind power at 5% of total and almost no solar. “From 2020, Sweden will have 3 nuclear plants with 6 operating nuclear reactors providing 40% of the country's electricity (World Nuclear Association, 2019). Hydropower and bioenergy are currently the dominating renewable sources that the country is relying on. The energy sector in Sweden - Flanders Investment & Trade” ALASKA Does not use wind or solar sources of power. State Profile and Energy Estimates Profile Analysis Last Updated. January 21, 2021 Overview Alaska, the largest U.S. state, is one-fifth the size of the Lower 48 states, and, with its Aleutian Island chain, is as wide as the Lower 48 states from east to west.1 It is the only U.S. state with land north of the Arctic Circle, and it has the highest mountains and longest coastline of any state.2 Alaska's winters are frequently severe, but its climate varies significantly from north to south and from winter to summer, particularly in the interior, where temperatures ranging from minus 80°F to 100°F have been recorded.3 Large areas of Alaska remain uninhabited. It has the third-smallest population of the U.S. states and is the least densely populated state.4 Nearly half of Alaskans live in the cities of Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks, while the rest of the state averages less than one resident per square mile.5 The oil and natural gas industry is a key part of Alaska's economy.6 The state's North Slope contains 6 of the 100 largest oil fields in the United States and 1 of the 100 largest natural gas fields. Alaska's Prudhoe Bay field is among the 10 largest oil fields in the nation.7 Alaska is the only state that does not have a state sales tax or a personal income tax, as revenues from Alaska's oil and gas industry fund most of the state government.8 Since 1982, every eligible state resident has received an annual dividend that is based on the value of oil royalty revenue in the Alaska Permanent Fund.9 The 2020 dividend was $992, the smallest since 2013, and it was paid four months early to help residents handle the economic impacts resulting from actions to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic.10 Alaska’s energy demand per capita is the fourth highest in the nation. In recent years, Alaska experienced warmer temperatures than normal for longer periods of time. Warmer temperatures reduce the amount of time energy companies can explore for onshore oil, because ice roads and drilling pads can be used only during the coldest months of the year, when the frozen land is less damaged by heavy equipment. Conversely, the warmer temperatures reduce floating ice packs, potentially making offshore oil exploration easier.11 Alaska has other substantial energy resources. Its recoverable coal reserves rank 14th among the states.12 Alaska's many rivers offer some of the best hydroelectric power potential in the nation.13 Large swaths of the Alaskan coastline have significant wind energy resources, and the state's many volcanic fields offer geothermal energy potential.14,15 Because of its small population, Alaska's total energy demand is among the 10 lowest states.16 However, with its harsh winters, energy-intensive oil and natural gas industries, and small population, the state's per capita energy consumption is the fourth highest in the nation, after Wyoming, Louisiana, and North Dakota.17 US Sleepwalking Into Clean Energy Disaster FEBRUARY 25, 2021 tags. USA By Paul Homewood image Joe Biden pledges to spend $2 trillion on clean energy in first term US presidential hopeful Joe Biden has set out a $2 trillion spending plan for clean energy and sustainable infrastructure, pledging to install 500 million solar panels and achieve net zero carbon emissions in the power sector by 2035. The Democratic nominee has pledged to spend the $2 trillion in his first term, far faster than previously proposed. Biden proposes to reform and extend tax incentives that support clean energy and implement a technology-neutral "Energy Efficiency and Clean Electricity Standard (EECES)" for utilities and grid operators. Biden’s team plans to "dramatically expand" solar and wind energy deployment through community-based and utility-scale systems, including 8 million solar roofs and community solar systems and 60,000 onshore and offshore wind turbines. Biden sets out rapid $2 trillion clean energy plan; Energy storage wins in FERC court ruling Joe Biden is planning to spend big on wind and solar power, as he aims to completely decarbonise electricity generation by 2035. It’s a tall order, given that wind and solar only account for 9% at the moment. image BP Energy Review Naturally the renewable sector is rubbing its hands in glee, as t scent their share of that $2 trillion. image As President Joe Biden begins his first term in office, one of his administration’s top concerns will be ramping up green energy initiatives. And the renewable energy industry, from offshore wind to electric vehicles, is getting ready for a White House that’s more open to them. Renewable energy is already a massive industry — by 2025, it’s estimated that the sector will be worth over $1.5 trillion globally. Companies like NextEra, Albemarle, and Vineyard Wind have already grown significantly in recent years. And since Biden became president-elect, renewable energy stocks have soared. Under President Trump, renewable energy took a backseat in favor of the fossil fuel industry. According to Trump, renewable energy was too expensive and bad for the country’s existing factories, despite the fact that oil and gas giants have been moving towards renewable energy for years in a bid to diversify in the growing market. The Biden administration, meanwhile, has big plans for renewable energy. In a $2 trillion proposal, Biden wants electricity to go carbon-free by 2035, and for the country to get to net-zero emissions by 2050. Experts predict a handful of strategies Biden will use. cutting back on coal use, phasing out old utility plants, and expanding wind and solar power. Arguably the country’s biggest renewable energy giant, NextEra Energy, is primed for the Biden administration. The century-old company took an early stake in wind power and managed to grow its profits under Trump, making it the biggest investor-owned generator of wind and solar power. In October, NextEra briefly surpassed the biggest energy company, Exxon Mobil, in market capitalization. One of NextEra’s growth strategies relies on taking advantage of federal tax credits — it’s amassed $3.1 billion since 2010. Under President Biden, those federal incentives are likely to expand. NextEra plans to continue its path to dominance in wind and solar energy through lobbying, a strategy that worked wonders under Trump. In 2019 alone, it spent $4.1 million on lobbying federal lawmakers, according to Bloomberg. With the new administration and democrats in control of both houses of Congress, NextEra may not need to work so hard to persuade lawmakers to advocate for green energy. From electric vehicles to offshore wind, the renewable energy sector is primed for Biden and a greener White House But what evidence is there that the US can run its grid without fossil fuels? Hydro is tiny, and nuclear seems to be getting phased out everywhere, which just leaves wind and solar. There is a naive assumption that the wind is always blowing somewhere in the country, so there is ample to go round. Sadly wind power is still horridly variable, even across the US as a whole, commonly ranging from between 500 and 1500 GWh a day. United States - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) - Real-time Operating Grid Solar power is little better, even if you could store enough to cover peaks and troughs each day. Last month, it ranged from just over 100 GWh to over 200 GWh a day. Just as significantly, January solar output is about half that of June. Biden’s plan to install 500 million solar panels, is equivalent to 125 GW, assuming 250 watt panels. Current capacity is about 71 GW, so solar output would still remain tiny, which suggests his main target is to massively increase wind power. Sleepwalking towards disaster would be putting it mildly! Texas power freeze-down demonstrates political climate craziness By Larry Bell |February 21st, 2021|Climate|42 Comments Texas just sent a very chilling message to the rest of the nation about what to expect your life to be like with President Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan AKA, “Green New Deal,” in order to save the planet from overheating. It seems he’s already overachieving that goal. An unusual Arctic blast that spread across the state from the tip of the Panhandle all the way to the Rio Grande Valley has left millions of homes and businesses here without electricity. A series of forced rolling blackouts were required to prevent power grid collapse as single-digit temperatures froze wind turbines and hobbled dozens of power plant operations. How could this possibly happen here in Texas? This isn’t supposed to be California, after all, where over-dependence on wind and solar power destabilized the grid during a record 2020 heat wave. California already leads the nation with the least reliable power system and greatest number of annual outages … 4,297 were recorded between 2008 and 2017. And conditions will only become far worse as the state now requires that all new homes be nearly entirely electric. More than 30 cities, including San Francisco, have already enacted bans on new gas appliance hookups. California plans to eventually outlaw gasoline and diesel cars. y’all…this is Texas, a land of far more savvy dudes in a state rightly famous for being awash in huge petroleum and natural gas resources. Texas isn’t a place where we who live here ordinarily worry about freezing to death due to a lack of reliable fossil and nuclear power to heat our homes… unlike northern latitudes that routinely get really cold with iced-up failing power lines. So, in addition to record low temperatures, what happened to change that? I guess we got a little bit too woke. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) which oversees the state’s wholesale power market has shifted grid reliance away from reliable coal, nuclear, and natural gas toward heavily taxpayer-subsidized (no free lunch here) wind energy. That wind generation now constitutes the second-largest electricity power source in Texas. According to ERCOT, it accounted for 23% of the state supply last year, behind natural gas which represented 45%. Over the past decade, strict CO2 emission regulations have caused coal’s share of Texas’s electricity to plunge by more than half, to supply 18%. A power crunch ensued, as bitter cold damp conditions caused wind turbines in West Texas to freeze at the same time it was causing residents to crank up their thermostats. Regulators did what t could to protect public safety by rationing gas for commercial and industrial uses to ensure fuel for power plants and household heating. Some natural gas wellheads also froze, along with refining facilities in some locations, in turn bleeding natural gas needed for turbines that provide essential back-up “spinning reserve” power for – at best intermittent – wind and solar outputs. And who could have possibly imagined what happened next? The spot price of wholesale electricity on the Texas power grid spiked more than 10,000%, surging past $9,000 per MegaWatt-hour. Even during high demand summer months, $100 per MW-hr would be considered high. On second thought, maybe Texas and every other state might have anticipated much of this occurring based upon Germany’s “Energiewende” (energy transition) experience, a policy established in 2000 to decarbonize its primary energy supply. When the program was first launched, 6.6% of Germany’s electricity came from renewable sources, primarily solar and wind. By 2019, nearly two decades later, that share had reached 41%. By 2019, average German household electricity costs during that same period have doubled to 34 U.S. cents per Kilowatt-hour. (Compare this with 22 cents per kWh in France, and 13 cents in the United States.) Meager renewable energy supply conditions worsened dramatically this winter as the coldest western Europe weather in a decade have blanked millions of Germany’s solar panels with snow and ice and rendered 30,000 of its wind turbines idle. This left the greatest share of vital power coming from coal. In January, the German RBB (Berlin-Brandenburg) public broadcasting network aired a report that sums up the consequences of continually shutting the country’s coal and nuclear energy capacities in favor of adding those “green renewable alternatives.” Harald Schwarz, a professor of power distribution at the University of Cottbus, went straight to the point, saying. “die gesicherte leistung von wind + sonne = 0,” which means. “The guaranteed output of wind + sun = 0.” To be more charitable to those renewables, the actual benefit reportedly ranges between zero and two or three percent. The RBB broadcast went on to warn that Germany’s futile attempt to replace reliable nuclear and coal-fired energy with wind and solar will extend the supply and demand gap dangerously wide. The current trend leaves Germany with no real future alternative but to rely more on natural gas from Russia, coal power from Poland, and nuclear power from France. And what about America, where wind and solar combined provide, at most, about four percent of our grid electricity (not total energy), versus about 80% from hydrocarbons? The $2 trillion Biden “Equitable Clean Energy Future” agenda pledges to eliminate those hydrocarbon emissions from electricity by 2035, and then achieve “net-zero carbon” by 2050. To prove he’s serious, on his very first day in the Oval Office, President Biden capped off the Keystone XL pipeline at the Canadian border along with about 11,000 jobs and 830,000 barrels of oil per day it would have delivered, which must now be transported by CO2-emitting rail and trucks. On top of decimating our current energy supply infrastructure, the plan is for taxpayers to finance a half-million electric car chargers across the nation and add a humongous number of electricity-thirsty electric vehicles to further stress already precarious capacities. Before buying into this political man-made climate crisis of lunacy, demand to know where sufficient energy will come from, and at what economic and social cost, to air condition fully-electrified Texas summer and New England winter homes – plus recharge millions of plug-in vehicles – on windless cloudy days and nights – especially during inevitable extreme weather demand periods. Author Larry BellCFACT Advisor Larry Bell heads the graduate program in space architecture at the University of Houston. He founded and directs the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture. He is also the author of "Climate of Corruption. Politics and Power Behind the Global Warming Hoax."