The Remarkable Progress of Renewable Energy

[Cheerful Charlie]

There are some big Texas renewable energy projects in the works. If it will be cheaper to do hydrogen pipelines than high voltage lines to distribute that energy, the pipelines and plants will be built.

MONEY! It is about money. If company A does things the expensive way and company B does things the inexpensive and economical way, lomg term, who survives? Who gets all that lovely money?

Energy in Texas 25 years from now is going to very different from today.

 

[bilby]

MONEY! It is about money. If company A does things the expensive way and company B does things the inexpensive and economical way, lomg term, who survives? Who gets all that lovely money?

Whoever can persuade the government to subsidise their business because it's "green", or "creates jobs", or "makes the state more competitive", or because they take the legislators on junkets to Bermuda or Hawaii of course.

What, did you imagine that electricity generation and distribution in the USA is a free market without subsidies or penalties imposed by government?

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

I have posted several links to articles about Texas, renewable energy and hydrogen. But nobody seems to read them. I just get instant knee jerk replies. Hydrogen in Texas is here. It is becoming important for feed stock for creating fertizer and other products. It is half the cost of high voltage lines, which is going to be a big thumb on the scale for future planning. Long term, the writing is on the wall.

I might as well stop posting in this thread. It seems like debating flat earthers all too often. In Texas, there are stirrings of great changes and large scale new technologies being planned.

 

[Learner]

Thumbs up from me CC
Texas is showing the way.

 

[Learner]

Transforming Greenhouse Gases into Renewable Energy

Converting cow manure into renewable energy prevents harmful methane from reaching the atmosphere. This is important because methane on dairy farms accounts for the majority of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions. If methane digesters were installed on most California dairies, they would protect the climate as much as taking more than one million cars off the road — about 5% of the state’s total.

The good news is that methane from dairy manure can be captured and converted into energy using existing technologies. The resulting biogas can be used to create:

• Renewable electricity
• Renewable vehicle fuel (biomethane)
• Renewable natural gas that can be can be injected into existing pipelines for a wide range of uses (heating, power plants).

Electricity from methane digesters on dairy farms can be used on site (thereby reducing the farmer’s energy costs), and the surplus can be sold to a public or private utility. The electricity can replace some power from fossil-fuel plants, which account for approximately 20% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The biogas from methane digesters can be refined to produce vehicle fuel, known as biomethane or “cow power.” The manure on California dairies could produce enough biomethane to power more than 100,000 vehicles. Dairy digesters can also reduce the risk of excess manure nutrients polluting waterways, including groundwater.

https://suscon.org/project/cow-power/

So in other words, it won't make a difference and the cost on the environment to even put the system into place would likely be significant (forget the cost to the farmers).why are people falling for gimmicks... oh wait... because they are gimmicks. I think more is being done regarding the feed to livestock to reduce emissions, but in the end... you have that much cattle, you get a great deal of methane.

There's usually the negativity on good ideas. It looks like it would work out more efficiently for the farmers, who will be providing the conventional produce they normally do, while at the 'same time' produce biomethane for fuel. The adjustment shouldn't be problematic to farmers.

Talking about methane damage, fracking is one of those methods.

 

[Tigers!]

For more info, google - university of Texas, hydrogen pipeline vs high voltage line

How can hydrogen power my electric blanket?

 

[lpetrich]

I have posted several links to articles about Texas, renewable energy and hydrogen. But nobody seems to read them. I just get instant knee jerk replies. Hydrogen in Texas is here. It is becoming important for feed stock for creating fertizer and other products. It is half the cost of high voltage lines, which is going to be a big thumb on the scale for future planning. Long term, the writing is on the wall.

I like your posts on that subject -- please feel free to continue. It's remarkable to see that investment in hydrogen, because that substance is necessary for making synthetic fuels (synfuels) and chemical feedstocks. That means that we can have plastics and nitrogen fertilizers. It is also easier to store than electricity, thus helping to get around the intermittency problem.

I might as well stop posting in this thread. It seems like debating flat earthers all too often. In Texas, there are stirrings of great changes and large scale new technologies being planned.

I agree -- one can like nuclear energy without attacking renewable energy at every chance one gets.

 

[lpetrich]

Renewable Energy: safe, clean, sustainable energy for our future at Reddit - a good source for articles on renewable energy, though many of them are very enthusiastic about it

Europe Is Stockpiling Chinese Solar Panels At Record Levels | OilPrice.com

• The vast majority of solar panels in Europe are coming from China.
• China is now the undisputed global leader in solar manufacturing, with four out of five solar panels sold worldwide originating from the country.
• China has poured over $50 billion into wafer-to-solar panel production lines, 10 times more than Europe.

Hops for beer flourish under solar panels. They're not the only crop thriving in the shade. | AP News

Solar panels atop crops has been gaining traction in recent years as incentives and demand for clean energy skyrocket. Researchers look into making the best use of agricultural land, and farmers seek ways to shield their crops from blistering heat, keep in moisture and potentially increase yields. The team in Germany says its effort is the first agrivoltaic project that’s solely focused on hops, but projects have sprouted around the world in several countries for a variety of grains, fruits and vegetables.

World's largest wind turbine is now fully operational and connected - "Three Gorges Energy has connected the world's first 16-megawatt monster offshore wind turbine to the power grid. With a mind-boggling 260-meter (853-ft) rotor diameter, this towering colossus will supply clean energy for about 36,000 Chinese homes."

A friend and I once tried to drive near some wind turbines some years back, and they were huge. These ones are even bigger.

 

[lpetrich]

Dead EV batteries turn to gold with US incentives | Reuters

A little-publicized clause in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act has companies scrambling to recycle electric vehicle batteries in North America, putting the region at the forefront of a global race to undermine China's dominance of the field.

The IRA includes a clause that automatically qualifies EV battery materials recycled in the U.S. as American-made for subsidies, regardless of their origin. That is important because it qualifies automakers using U.S.-recycled battery materials for EV production incentives.

Wind and solar unbeatable for low cost new electricity in Australia, at least.

A New Era in Luxury Homebuilding: Embracing Solar Power - "The rooftop solar power industry in Southern Nevada is set for a significant take-off in the coming decade, encouraged by a federal Investment Tax Credit and several other financial inducements. These initiatives make the installation of solar panels and energy storage systems more appealing for homebuilders, while offering attractive returns for potential homeowners."

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

For more info, google - university of Texas, hydrogen pipeline vs high voltage line

How can hydrogen power my electric blanket?

Did you read the articles I linked to? Electricity is expensive to transmit. University of Texas has studied pipelines transporting hydrogen. Wind power to hyroden. Hyrogen piped to remote markets. Hydrogen to elecricity. Your electric blankie is warm. Hydrogen pipelines cost half of high voltage systems. So logically, large scale off shore wind farms in the future will probably see high voltage lines as technologies of the past, like using coal to generate electricity. A technology dying a well deserved death.

Meanwhile, this summer our electric bills are sky high. Because Texas still gets a lot of electricity from natural gas. Texas is send large amounts of LNG to Europe. Eff you, Putin! The price per 1000**3 cubic meters is now at great highs. Big Oil promised us cheap electricty from natural gas. They lied. Wind power has saved Texas' big fat as 100+ temperatures plague Texas. We have not had any brownouts or blackouts here thanks to renewables. Renewable wind and PV and hydrogen make sense for the future and Texas.

 

[lpetrich]

The more you install, the cheaper it gets’: Wind and solar to produce 33% of global power by 2030 | Euronews - electricity

Exponential sector growth means wind and solar projects are predicted to generate at least 33 per cent of global electricity, up from around 12 per cent now. This will lead to a fall in fossil fuel-powered generation and cheaper power, the RMI report showed.

Assuming continued exponential growth, that means complete replacement of fossil fuels by 2038. That may be overly optimistic, however.

Solar panels on water canals seem like a no-brainer. So why aren't they widespread? | Euronews

India pioneered it on one of the largest irrigation projects in the world. The Sardar Sarovar dam and canal project brings water to hundreds of thousands of villages in the dry, arid regions of western India’s Gujarat state.

Then discussing problems with canal solar panels in India.

Yet when entrepreneurs Jordan Harris and Robin Raj went knocking on doors with an idea that addresses both water loss and climate pollution - installing solar panels over irrigation canals - they couldn't get anyone to commit.

Fast forward eight years. With devastating heat, record-breaking wildfire, looming crisis on the Colorado River, a growing commitment to fighting climate change, and a little bit of movement-building, their company Solar AquaGrid is preparing to break ground on the first solar-covered canal project in the United States.

Solar Aquagrid - that company's home page

Project Nexus - Turlock Irrigation District - "The Project is anticipated to break ground in Fall 2023 and be complete in 2024."

Project Nexus may not be alone for long. The Gila River Indian Tribe received funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to install solar on their canals in an effort to save water to ease stress on the Colorado River. And one of Arizona's largest water and power utilities, the Salt River Project, is studying the technology alongside Arizona State University.

Still, rapid change isn’t exactly embraced in the world of water infrastructure, said Representative Jared Huffman, D-Calif.

“It’s an ossified bastion of stodgy old engineers,” he said.

Huffman has been talking up the technology for almost a decade, and said he finds people are still far more interested in building taller dams than what he says is a much more sensible idea.

He pushed a $25 million (€22 million) provision through last year's Inflation Reduction Act to fund a pilot project for the Bureau of Reclamation. Project sites for that one are currently being evaluated.

 

[lpetrich]

Texas solar and wind are setting records, and the state's grid can't handle it - "Texas solar and wind are going to double by 2035, but if the state’s grid isn’t upgraded, then all that power is going to go to waste, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA)."

Little-known but efficient, a different way to heat and cool your house | AP News

A major push is now underway to get people to consider ground-source heat pumps because they use far less electricity than other heating and cooling methods. “Ground-source heat pumps average about 30 percent less electricity use than air-source heat pumps over the course of the heating season,” said Michael Waite, senior manager in the buildings program at the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

“Cooling the house for a month is maybe $10 worth of electricity, and this is the most efficient way to do it,” said Maioli. During the coldest winter month, their highest heating bill was around $70, he said.

To install ground-source systems, contractors bring in heavy equipment and drill to bury a loop of flexible piping several hundred feet deep in your yard. Water flowing through the loop takes advantage of the underground temperature, a pretty stable 55 F.

DeSantis Says No Thanks to $377 Million in US Energy Funds - Florida governor and Presidential candidate

 

[lpetrich]

Biggest offshore wind farm in the US gets the go-ahead | Canary Media - "The Biden admin approved a project off the New Jersey coast that will generate enough renewable power for up to half a million homes. It could be online by 2025."

Republican donors are funding misinformation about offshore wind | Canary Media - "There’s no evidence that offshore wind development harms whales, but fossil-fuel-backed groups have latched onto the claim as a way to hamper the industry. "

China and Latin America's renewable energy boom | Fortune

The story of renewable energy’s rapid rise in Latin America often focuses on Chinese influence, and for good reason. China’s government, banks and companies have propelled the continent’s energy transition, with about 90% of all wind and solar technologies installed there produced by Chinese companies. China’s State Grid now controls over half of Chile’s regulated energy distribution, enough to raise concerns in the Chilean government.

China has also become a major investor in Latin America’s critical minerals sector, a treasure trove of lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements that are crucial for developing electric vehicles, wind turbines and defense technologies.

China has a lot of earnings from its exports of manufactured goods, and that nation's banks are putting that money to work financing infrastructure projects over much of the world -- including Latin America.

 

[lpetrich]

Rooftop solar was overlooked. Now it's closing a New England power plant. - E&E News by POLITICO

The expansion of rooftop solar in New England is keeping the lights on during winter, surprising the region’s grid operator and challenging long-standing assumptions that the growth of renewable energy could destabilize the power system.

Officials at ISO New England, which oversees the six-state power market, concluded after months of research that the region’s power grid has been strengthened by cold-weather sunlight, an unanticipated finding that adds fuel to a growing debate over the impact that renewable energy has on the nation’s labyrinth of power plants and transmission lines.

The findings stand to alter regulators’ view of rooftop solar, which many had seen as a small and unpredictable source of energy.

...
The influx of solar has paved the way for the retirement of one of New England’s dirtiest power plants. Mystic Generating Station, the third-largest power plant in the region, is slated to close next summer. New England electric customers have been paying a subsidy in recent years to keep the 1,413 megawatt gas plant from shutting down.

A future filled with free and abundant energy is just around the corner - if you want to see it - IO - "OPINION - Yes, we're facing major difficulties in this era of energy transition. But don't be fooled by what we can see now - the signs that a world with limitless energy is within reach are overwhelming."
Excessively optimistic? Maybe.

But it's hard to compete with this level of optimism:
This Day in Quotes: “Too cheap to meter” – the infamous nuclear power misquote…

 

[lpetrich]

As solar capacity grows, duck curves are getting deeper in California

That's from the demand curve looking something like that water bird.

A big dip in daytime followed by an evening peak then a decline to early morning, just before sunrise.

The article discussed the challenges it makes for electricity-grid management -- one has to ramp up natural-gas generation fairly quickly in the evening.

The duck curve, however, has created opportunities for energy storage. The large-scale deployment of energy storage systems, such as batteries, allow some solar energy generated during the day to be stored and saved for later, after the sun sets. Storing some midday solar generation flattens the duck’s curve, and dispatching the stored solar generation in the evening shortens the duck’s neck. Battery storage is swiftly being constructed in California; it’s grown from 0.2 gigawatts (GW) in 2018 to 4.9 GW as of April 2023. Operators plan to build another 4.5 GW of battery storage capacity in the state by the end of the year, according to our Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory.

 

[Tigers!]

Wind and solar unbeatable for low cost new electricity in Australia, at least.

That might explain why my electricity price jumped ~30% on 01/07/2023.
Imagine what high cost renewables would be like.

 

[bigfield]

In 5exas, renewable hydrogen power projects are already underway.

....
In September 2020, Frontier Energy, in partnership with the University of Texas-Austin and the DoE, launched the project in Texas to design, build and operate the state’s first dedicated renewable hydrogen network.

Supported by the DoE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, along with the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the $10.8-million initiative is set to span three years, with half of funding allocated to boosting power grid resilience and spurring job creation. The model of the project generates zero-carbon hydrogen on site via electrolysis with solar and wind power, as well as reforms renewable gas from a local landfill. H2@Scale represents the first time that both sources of renewable hydrogen are utilized in the same project, and demonstrates the ability of renewable hydrogen to be cost-effective across several applications, including transportation and power generation.
......

Hydrogen: Top Three Texas-Based Initiatives

With a skilled workforce, abundant land availability and a long history of energy innovation, Texas is emerging as a global hub for hydrogen production, storage and distribution.

www.energycapitalpower.com

Why in the fucking hell would you use the electricity created by solar/wind to create Hydrogen to create electricity... when you could just use the electricity created by solar/wind and take the hydrogen out of the process altogether?!

Studies by University of Texas Found it is far cheaper to distribute hydrogen by pipeline than electricity from high voltage lines. If Texas gets large off shore wind farms how do you distribute enegy produced? The expensive way of the way that is half as expensive?

For more info, google - university of Texas, hydrogen pipeline vs high voltage line

The study compares:
1. Making hydrogen next to the wind and solar plants and then piping it across tbe state to consumers and
2. Running power lines to hydrogen plants next to consumers and making hydrogen there instead.

They don't measure the costs of using that hydrogen for electricity generation, because that isn't what the hydrogen is being consumed for.

You've intrepreted the paper as a comparison of ways to transport energy, but the paper doesn't actually make that comparison at all.

https://sites.utexas.edu/h2/files/2021/08/H2-White-Paper_Hydrogen-Pipelines-versus-Power-Lines.pdf

Did you read the articles I linked to? Electricity is expensive to transmit. University of Texas has studied pipelines transporting hydrogen. Wind power to hyroden. Hyrogen piped to remote markets. Hydrogen to elecricity. Your electric blankie is warm. Hydrogen pipelines cost half of high voltage systems. So logically, large scale off shore wind farms in the future will probably see high voltage lines as technologies of the past, like using coal to generate electricity. A technology dying a well deserved death.

You seem to be thinking of a much different acenario than what was studied at UoT.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

The same technology now used to create electricity from natural gas can use hydrogen. Technology wise, there ain't much difference. Texas currently gets most of it's electricity from natural gas. There is another issue. Many planned major renewable energy projects are running into the issue of lacking infrastructure to get their product to their customers.that will have to be built to get electricity to Texas cities. Long term, hydrogen begins to look attractive. But for hydrogen, one needs water. Texas offshore wind farms will have a whole ocean for that. Nuclear has the same issue. Water is needed. This it would seem to make massive off shore wind farms an attractive long term proposition. Put all the pieces of the renewable energy puzzle together and it is not hard to see where logically, it leads long term.

All the technology is here and proven. There is a lot of work to be done, but the basics are not exotic or unproven. The rest of the problem may well be politics and financing.

 

[bilby]

Nuclear has the same issue. Water is needed.

No, it's not. It's cheap and convenient, but it's not needed, at least, not in particularly large quantities.

There are nuclear power plants that use only wastewater from the sewage system if the cities they supply with electricity.

There are nuclear power plants in deserts.

 

[bilby]

Put all the pieces of the renewable energy puzzle together and it is not hard to see where logically, it leads long term.

Yup. it leads to having facilities that are expensive to build and maintain, but which produce electricity only when it's essentially worthless.

Seems like a poor idea to me, but it's amazing what you can persuade people to pay for. Americans spent millions on pet rocks.