From the NYT: "The problem is not just about power lines. The permitting process and other legal challenges are blocking hundreds of renewable-energy projects, including solar power plants and wind farms, according to the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law."
Fantastic article. Again. Nuclear, Nuclear, Nuclear. The only option ... but the banksters and green-grifters won't make a dime! Keep on fighting and publishing.
I wish all states had sites like the Texas ERCOT site which graphs our daily Texas Wind Production !! The only reliable thing about Texas Wind is it lulls dramatically365 days a year
Texan here. Previously The lack of oversight for big wind and solar was appalling, basically none. Some new legislation is coming but we need the kind of local control Ohio enacted. I don’t trust Austin.
Last year Vineyard Wind, a 160-turbine offshore wind farm under construction near Nantucket, came under fire for threatening the critically-endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. When the Bureau of Offshore Management (BOEM) seemed oblivious to the threat, Sean Hayes, Chief of NOAA's Protected Species Branch, sent a letter to the Bureau urging caution:
"[North Atlantic] Right whales are one of the most endangered marine mammals with fewer than 350 animals remaining in the population...the development of offshore wind poses risks to these species at varying stages including increased noise, vessel traffic, habitat modifications, changes in fishing effort and related increased entanglement risk, and oceanographic changes that may disrupt the abundance of typical right whale food," adding "These impacts should be thoroughly analyzed in any EIS or other environmental reviews associated with offshore wind development."
As it turned out, Hayes's letter arrived too late: Vineyard Wind's Final Environmental Assessment (FEA) had already been completed and the project approved.
But in another one performed only three months later, BOEM virtually ignored Hayes's advice. For Morrow Bay Wind Area in California, located in the migration routes of three whales: Humpback, California Gray, and Blue, BOEM's assessment only considered entanglement among the many concerns on Hayes's list.
If Humpback whales start washing up onto beaches in California, will BOEM and California realize their mistake and begin decommissioning Morro Bay? Of course not. Gov. Newsom will continue his headlong rush to install renewables, if for no other reason than to help secure the shutdown of Diablo Canyon [nuclear] Power Plant. Sure, the power from Diablo Canyon isn't "renewable," but neither are dead whales.
I’m a retired engineer who worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Around 2005 a study was done by TVA that the high maintenance cost of the few wind turbines TVA had at the time was so high (big turbines with a lot of moving parts that break), it concluded that they would never break even and be self supporting due to intermittent operation and low power density. Had reliability improved over the years, or are all wind turbines still losing money???
Great news. At least rural America has some gumption and is standing up to these greedy opportunists. Unfortunately for us, the renewables proselytizers are starting to crawl all over South Africa. Now that our inept government have overseen the demolition of our coal power utilities and we have imminent grid collapse, it has become a wet dream for all the Greenies. People desperate for power are snapping up solar anything (those who can afford it), and the rest of the suffering masses will be only too grateful to take whatever is rammed down their throats by the crony opportunists nuzzling up to the Prez (who loves hobnobbing with the WEF crowd). This includes Ramaphosa's own brother-in-law, Patrice Motsepe, who has preferential stakes in renewables and is poised to add to his already obscene riches. Corruption, through and through.
Great article but it doesn’t even mention the environmental impact to birds that are killed by the windmills. A huge number of birds, including hummingbirds, migrate across the Gulf of Mexico each fall leaving Texas to go to Mexico. Texas has lots of coastal windmill farms and is planning to build more. The windmills seem to be even worse for the environment than the offshore oil wells.
Great reporting Robert! But one very obvious inconsistency in many of these locales and you give extensive coverage to coastal MA and NJ...these are the VERY SAME states whose voters continue to elect as their Congressmen and Senators people whom I can only characterize as “cargo-cult” lunatics that vote these reprehensible subsidies at the federal level. That’s democracy at work isn’t it? Let us see how the wokesters in Edgartown and Siasconset enjoy “getting it good and hard”.
It is a very good, article, yes, but the problem isn't "small town America." The problem lies in the current administration's infatuation with renewables. In the proposed EPA reg that will shut down fossil fuels, "wind" is mentioned over 40 times, with similar shout-outs for solar (I didn't count those).
The way the fed operates sometimes, they can impose the supremacy clause on us and force us to take wind and solar in the interest of "our future well-being." The politics of intimidation has grown stronger over the years, and local voices, however loud, are too frequently lost to the media. Has anyone ever heard of Mr. Bryce's renewable rejection database from the newspapers or televised media? The only place nationally I've seen a mention on the periphery is the Wall Street Journal.
One point that gets little exposure is that wind/solar is completely incompatible with our rather brilliant/resilient Grid Architecture that has grown over the past hundred years.
That architecture is based on power generator sources being located directly into and near-surrounding our larger population centers (90% of US population in cities 200,000 plus people).
It is at this localized level that we get our redundancies in generation sources and transmission/distribution pathways to our homes, almost operating as independent islands. And as the population/industry grows in that area, it is easy to organically grow the power capacity, as power plants are added with minimal new transmission line to hop on to that localized network. (one mile usually included in the Levelized Cost (LCOE) for a new power plant).
Yes, there is a network of transmission lines that tie these islands together, but the power that can be carried is a small fraction of what the individual city demand is. That transmission line between larger islands usually services rural/small town communities.
1) All AC power transmission lines have a practical limit of 300 miles, regardless of voltage, (St. Clair Curve)
2) The power-carrying capacity of a transmission line drops with distance such that the capacity at 30 miles total length is 3x as high as out to 300 miles.
3) Power transmission lines are exceeding expensive and intrusive on our landscape. A 300 mile 345kV line will carry 400MW peak loading for a cost of $1.65 BILLION dollars. ($5.5 million/mile).
(a 400 MW new combined cycle gas plant costs about $400 million installed in a major population center. Remotely locate that power plant 300 miles away, cost is FIVE TIMES higher at $2.05 BILLION.)
-------------------------------------------
And therein lies the problem with renewables (wind/solar). THEY ARE ALWAYS LOCATED FAR AWAY FROM MAJOR POPULATION CENTERS (like 200 miles plus, and most often exceeding 300 miles).
WIND/SOLAR RENEWABLES ARE FUNDAMENTALLY INCOMPATIBLE WITH OUR FANTASTIC GRID ARCHITECTURE. And there is NO proposed "NEW" architecture that gives the redundancy, and allows for ANY organic growth as our current architecture.
For the most part, most installations of wind/solar utility scale plants TODAY simply serve the rural/small town communities within 50-100 miles of those plants, as, a deliberate, multi-billion dollar effort to build out multiple power transmission lines is ignored. If you review the transmission line routing, you will see that only a small fraction of needed power from wind/solar makes its way to larger cities.
The power companies/operators may sometime fund those transmission line projects, which result in higher per kWh consumer power bills.....
....but more often than not, state taxpayer bills, or federal funding is used on these major transmission line projects to hide the true cost. And the scapegoat is "Our Aging Infrastructure."
------------------------------------
I estimate we will need 3 million miles of new high voltage power transmission lines if we want to hit net-zero from fossil/nuclear sources (we current have about 250,000 installed miles).
Watch the battles begin for taking land to run these lines. The government will eventually intercede with Eminent Domain claims and just start taking the land from people. Scary.
True, I'm not well schooled on geothermal. Thanks for the pointers.
From the NYT: "The problem is not just about power lines. The permitting process and other legal challenges are blocking hundreds of renewable-energy projects, including solar power plants and wind farms, according to the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law."
*Permission to Build*
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/12/briefing/electrical-grid-america-clean-energy.html
This was interesting as well... "To start with, there is no single U.S. electric grid."
*Why the U.S. Electric Grid Isn't Ready for the Energy Transition*
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/06/12/climate/us-electric-grid-energy-transition.html
@RobertBryce, how about writing an article about closed loop geothermal?
Fantastic article. Again. Nuclear, Nuclear, Nuclear. The only option ... but the banksters and green-grifters won't make a dime! Keep on fighting and publishing.
I wish all states had sites like the Texas ERCOT site which graphs our daily Texas Wind Production !! The only reliable thing about Texas Wind is it lulls dramatically365 days a year
Texan here. Previously The lack of oversight for big wind and solar was appalling, basically none. Some new legislation is coming but we need the kind of local control Ohio enacted. I don’t trust Austin.
Last year Vineyard Wind, a 160-turbine offshore wind farm under construction near Nantucket, came under fire for threatening the critically-endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. When the Bureau of Offshore Management (BOEM) seemed oblivious to the threat, Sean Hayes, Chief of NOAA's Protected Species Branch, sent a letter to the Bureau urging caution:
"[North Atlantic] Right whales are one of the most endangered marine mammals with fewer than 350 animals remaining in the population...the development of offshore wind poses risks to these species at varying stages including increased noise, vessel traffic, habitat modifications, changes in fishing effort and related increased entanglement risk, and oceanographic changes that may disrupt the abundance of typical right whale food," adding "These impacts should be thoroughly analyzed in any EIS or other environmental reviews associated with offshore wind development."
As it turned out, Hayes's letter arrived too late: Vineyard Wind's Final Environmental Assessment (FEA) had already been completed and the project approved.
But in another one performed only three months later, BOEM virtually ignored Hayes's advice. For Morrow Bay Wind Area in California, located in the migration routes of three whales: Humpback, California Gray, and Blue, BOEM's assessment only considered entanglement among the many concerns on Hayes's list.
If Humpback whales start washing up onto beaches in California, will BOEM and California realize their mistake and begin decommissioning Morro Bay? Of course not. Gov. Newsom will continue his headlong rush to install renewables, if for no other reason than to help secure the shutdown of Diablo Canyon [nuclear] Power Plant. Sure, the power from Diablo Canyon isn't "renewable," but neither are dead whales.
Great piece, Robert and perfect companion to Doomberg's latest.
Robert,
I’m a retired engineer who worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Around 2005 a study was done by TVA that the high maintenance cost of the few wind turbines TVA had at the time was so high (big turbines with a lot of moving parts that break), it concluded that they would never break even and be self supporting due to intermittent operation and low power density. Had reliability improved over the years, or are all wind turbines still losing money???
Great news. At least rural America has some gumption and is standing up to these greedy opportunists. Unfortunately for us, the renewables proselytizers are starting to crawl all over South Africa. Now that our inept government have overseen the demolition of our coal power utilities and we have imminent grid collapse, it has become a wet dream for all the Greenies. People desperate for power are snapping up solar anything (those who can afford it), and the rest of the suffering masses will be only too grateful to take whatever is rammed down their throats by the crony opportunists nuzzling up to the Prez (who loves hobnobbing with the WEF crowd). This includes Ramaphosa's own brother-in-law, Patrice Motsepe, who has preferential stakes in renewables and is poised to add to his already obscene riches. Corruption, through and through.
Robert, I want to apply for your job after you retire, but being 79 years old I will have to vicariously admire your work. Steve
Great article but it doesn’t even mention the environmental impact to birds that are killed by the windmills. A huge number of birds, including hummingbirds, migrate across the Gulf of Mexico each fall leaving Texas to go to Mexico. Texas has lots of coastal windmill farms and is planning to build more. The windmills seem to be even worse for the environment than the offshore oil wells.
Great reporting Robert! But one very obvious inconsistency in many of these locales and you give extensive coverage to coastal MA and NJ...these are the VERY SAME states whose voters continue to elect as their Congressmen and Senators people whom I can only characterize as “cargo-cult” lunatics that vote these reprehensible subsidies at the federal level. That’s democracy at work isn’t it? Let us see how the wokesters in Edgartown and Siasconset enjoy “getting it good and hard”.
Great stuff Robert! Sending it to others.
It is a very good, article, yes, but the problem isn't "small town America." The problem lies in the current administration's infatuation with renewables. In the proposed EPA reg that will shut down fossil fuels, "wind" is mentioned over 40 times, with similar shout-outs for solar (I didn't count those).
The way the fed operates sometimes, they can impose the supremacy clause on us and force us to take wind and solar in the interest of "our future well-being." The politics of intimidation has grown stronger over the years, and local voices, however loud, are too frequently lost to the media. Has anyone ever heard of Mr. Bryce's renewable rejection database from the newspapers or televised media? The only place nationally I've seen a mention on the periphery is the Wall Street Journal.
Great article.
One point that gets little exposure is that wind/solar is completely incompatible with our rather brilliant/resilient Grid Architecture that has grown over the past hundred years.
That architecture is based on power generator sources being located directly into and near-surrounding our larger population centers (90% of US population in cities 200,000 plus people).
It is at this localized level that we get our redundancies in generation sources and transmission/distribution pathways to our homes, almost operating as independent islands. And as the population/industry grows in that area, it is easy to organically grow the power capacity, as power plants are added with minimal new transmission line to hop on to that localized network. (one mile usually included in the Levelized Cost (LCOE) for a new power plant).
Yes, there is a network of transmission lines that tie these islands together, but the power that can be carried is a small fraction of what the individual city demand is. That transmission line between larger islands usually services rural/small town communities.
1) All AC power transmission lines have a practical limit of 300 miles, regardless of voltage, (St. Clair Curve)
2) The power-carrying capacity of a transmission line drops with distance such that the capacity at 30 miles total length is 3x as high as out to 300 miles.
3) Power transmission lines are exceeding expensive and intrusive on our landscape. A 300 mile 345kV line will carry 400MW peak loading for a cost of $1.65 BILLION dollars. ($5.5 million/mile).
(a 400 MW new combined cycle gas plant costs about $400 million installed in a major population center. Remotely locate that power plant 300 miles away, cost is FIVE TIMES higher at $2.05 BILLION.)
-------------------------------------------
And therein lies the problem with renewables (wind/solar). THEY ARE ALWAYS LOCATED FAR AWAY FROM MAJOR POPULATION CENTERS (like 200 miles plus, and most often exceeding 300 miles).
WIND/SOLAR RENEWABLES ARE FUNDAMENTALLY INCOMPATIBLE WITH OUR FANTASTIC GRID ARCHITECTURE. And there is NO proposed "NEW" architecture that gives the redundancy, and allows for ANY organic growth as our current architecture.
For the most part, most installations of wind/solar utility scale plants TODAY simply serve the rural/small town communities within 50-100 miles of those plants, as, a deliberate, multi-billion dollar effort to build out multiple power transmission lines is ignored. If you review the transmission line routing, you will see that only a small fraction of needed power from wind/solar makes its way to larger cities.
The power companies/operators may sometime fund those transmission line projects, which result in higher per kWh consumer power bills.....
....but more often than not, state taxpayer bills, or federal funding is used on these major transmission line projects to hide the true cost. And the scapegoat is "Our Aging Infrastructure."
------------------------------------
I estimate we will need 3 million miles of new high voltage power transmission lines if we want to hit net-zero from fossil/nuclear sources (we current have about 250,000 installed miles).
Watch the battles begin for taking land to run these lines. The government will eventually intercede with Eminent Domain claims and just start taking the land from people. Scary.