Silicon Valley goes dark again
Summary: Here in California, we're famous for our Tech Industry and our rolling blackouts. In an area that's supposedly one of the technology leaders of the world, we can't seem to get reliable electricity.
Here in California, we're famous for our Tech Industry and our rolling blackouts. In an area that's supposedly one of the technology leaders of the world, we can't seem to get reliable electricity. It isn't just the Government's fault, a large portion of citizens in this state hate the production of energy but they're more than happy to consume it. This unfortunately leads to the situation we have now where it feels like we're in the Banana Republic of California when it comes to power reliability even though we're the most populous and probably wealthiest state in the Union.
About a year ago we had a nasty power outage in the heart of Silicon Valley that lasted for more than 2 days during the hottest time of the year. This week we've had a couple of blackouts including a 4 hour power outage last night. Fortunately it's back now (though I don't know for how long) so I won't need to go fill up a tank of gas for the mini-generator I got during last year's outage. What I will have to get is a small UPS so my computer doesn't keep bouncing up and down with hard shutdowns. It's off to the Computer store I guess.
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Talkback
Stunning
Greetz from the Netherlands,
Pjotr.
Yes, it is very stunning
Apparently . . .
Wither that or they're wondering why other states don't just 'give' them the power they need simply 'cause they're Californians and they deserve it . . .
#-o
Europe just had a big outage last Fall
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6117880.stm
But Im sure our governments will fix the problem! I have nothing but infinate faith in the power of new regulations to cure all ills!
Europeans are afflicted with same disease
Ironically the French are there to bail them out Nuclear power.
Hey George - 100% total agreement!
There is also the "environmental" factor where the "greens" don't want nuclear (CO2-free) power but won't let you build gas or coal stations either. They can't have their cake and eat it too!
The other favourite is that nuclear power stations are expensive to build - like any other power is cheap to build. They all cost money. Over the long haul the nuclear stations might be cheaper to run (TCO) given the cost of the fuel to run them compared to coal and gas. All the Uranium and Plutonuim we need as already been mined and paid for by the military. Converting 98% pure weapons grade to 3% civilian grade makes a LOT of fuel. It gets rid of nuclear weapons too!!
:-)
Can't have no nukes
The joys of overkill
At present the US and Russia have enough nukes to flatten the world about 5 times over. Flattening the world just once will do for dommsday. The other 80% are "garnish" and we might as well use them for something else.
It's all relative
They're a lot more common here, but that's mainly from weather damage to distribution systems and they're usually fixed in a couple of hours. NL has a bit milder climate than we do; 100 kph winds are pretty common during our summer storm season.
Of course, we [b]did[/b] have a major transformer farm go out a couple of summers ago when an eagle found a way to suicide by HT electricity and the flaming eagle remains took out a monster transformer. Getting a replacement from the Coast took several days of shutting down a major highway while the heavy-lift hauler crawled along.
A key difference is that NL is livable w/o electricity. When the power goes out here in the summer, people die. This week we got close enough to 45 degrees that it depended on where you measured it, and a few years back the official temp went over 50 -- airplanes were grounded for that one.
Are you in C or F?
Socialist Republic of Cali
Demand has grown as government has held down the rates charged to consumers while at the same time it prohibits new power plants from being built.
This causes increased demand and no increase in supply. The result is shortages.
True the power companies are protected monopolies but government has set it up that way and the so called "public utilites commissions" are a joke.
It's all a matter of priorities
Well, then, it follows that if your priorities are fresh air, no power plants or refineries, and a year-round shirtsleeve climate then power blackouts are no big deal. They certainly weren't for the hunter-gatherer societies that occupied the area right up until the Spanish arrived, and the Spanish Californios were headed to a similar state of lotus consumption when the Yankees showed up.
Now it's the "Yankee's" turn. Relax, George. Enjoy the nice weather.
Thats right relax
The solution is simple
Common sense there buddy. INVEST IN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES THAT WILL REDUCE YOUR RELIANCE ON PG&E AS WELL AS REDUCE YOUR CARBON FOOT PRINT! It's simple economics... how much does it cost a corporation to install solar / wind power sources? Now how much does it cost when all there data centers or workers are sitting in the dark doing squat on the clock? It's a no brainer.
]:)
Problem is that alternative sources aren't close to being enough
You are right but the problem is manmade.
California has so much sun in Death Valley that CIGS solar panels would eliminate North America's electrical needs and make bullet trains a reality. They say both Dakotas combined would do the same if occupied by windmills. Then there is NIMBY. We just can't win. There are so many cannot be dones in this country that it is a self fulfilling prophesy. I guess the oil has to run out before necessity sparks creativity.
huh?
There is more than one.
Here is a picture of the machine. Not exactly small.
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/assets/images/story/2006/8/31/1332_REPower5MW.jpg
Also check out the rest of this website while you are there.
Maths mistakes, etc...
Your maths is wrong. 150,000MW = 150GW. It sounds good but not all your windmills will be blowing at any given point in time so you will need a lot more than 30,000 of them.
Chernobyl put out 1000MW per reactor and it had 4 of them so that is 4000MW. A modern PWR can put out 1600MW per reactor, so two dozen, four reactor PWR stations would provide the same power output as 30,000 of the 5MW windmills (which are still in prototype in Germany).
So the alternative is - cover the country in windmills or build some nuc stations. Remember that we don't all have two Dakotas to stick windmills in. In the last 24 hours the UK used 39GW (see http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Electricity/Data/Realtime/Demand/demand24.htm ) and it is summer time with long days and a weekend. 30,000 windmills would leave us nowhere to live. 24 nuclear stations would never be noticed.
Yep the first one in a long time.
None of Chernobyl reactors put out 1000MW for the reactors would be red lined. 1&3 were only putting out 1800 while 4 was sealed forever. Doesn't do you much good to blow them up due to inept Russians and a design flaw. Not to mention the tens of thousands that died and radioactivity covering a larger area than those windmills will. Cannot believe you brought up Chernobyl for it was an engineering disaster. The rest of the RBMKs built are being phased out starting in Lithuania in 2010.
Nukes are not an alternative. Besides the uranium will be mined out in 90 years. Not to mention that nukes have a lot of down time also. You have offshore places for it. No one is expecting you to put one on the front lawn of Buckingham Palace. Plus the Germans plan on making larger ones anyway in the future you can buy from. Look at Scotland.
Yes you are a NIMBY guy. You don't want to see them. Put those reactors in poor neighborhoods like Liverpool. Then when they fail and you taste metal, it is all over. Ukrainian tech telling the west what went down.
Lets see 39GW in 24 hours and those windmills will deliver 4 times that in 24 hours. You need 7500 @ 100% x 2 for safety factor for 15000 units. 3/4 of them at sea the remainder on land plus solar ought to keep your pubs open mate. Of course you will need more in the future as your transportation goes electric.
But you guys will complain, I don't want to see the bloody blades. They say the same thing here. By the time you figure in the overhead and oil industry assist in the infastructure and the storage area of spent fuel and area roped off for safety, plus national security, nukes are a loser.