Greenies
- Thread starter Caustic Burno
- Start date
" coal-fired power plants need water to stay online. Yet those water facilities froze in the cold temperatures and others lost access to the electricity they require to operate."
There is no way a failure of this proportion was caused by a few frozen wind turbines. Even Texas Power says that they did not winterize any of the facilities as they should have.
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
About the only thing working reliably around here at this point is my solar gate opener and the solar lights outside.....I'm just saying
TennesseeTuxedo
Well-known member
We haven’t seen the sun in 5 days. Recon that’ll be a problem?
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
No solar panels work well with daylight. Doesn't require direct sunlight. Snow or heavy rain can effect. But cloudy and icy weather has little effect. I install a lot of solar panels. A volt meter on a cloudy day will read near full output. I also warranty them for three years. In 25 years~ of messing with solar I've replaced 3 that where bad. Not counting physically damaged ones.
TennesseeTuxedo
Well-known member
Good to know. I think I’ll start bolting them on my house as soon as the ice thaws. Are they affordable?
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
I'm sure you can swing it.
TennesseeTuxedo
Well-known member
I’ll do some research. Thanks.
Seems to me they are getting down to around $1 per watt.
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
Governor Abbott ordered a investigation into ergot and some reports are already coming in.
Windmills freezing up did not have cold weather features that are used in more northern climate's.
2.5 million barrels of crude oil per day is not being refined due to refinery shutting down.
At least one nuclear plant at Bay City is down. Multiple coal and gas plants are down.
Natural gas has been listed as a " stunning failure" in a article listed by texas tribune.
The common cause of failure is lack of water. Nuclear, coal, Ng all require water and everything is frozen.
The finger pointing at renewable energy is a red herring. Fake news comes from all directions.
Windmills freezing up did not have cold weather features that are used in more northern climate's.
2.5 million barrels of crude oil per day is not being refined due to refinery shutting down.
At least one nuclear plant at Bay City is down. Multiple coal and gas plants are down.
Natural gas has been listed as a " stunning failure" in a article listed by texas tribune.
The common cause of failure is lack of water. Nuclear, coal, Ng all require water and everything is frozen.
The finger pointing at renewable energy is a red herring. Fake news comes from all directions.
HDRider
Well-known member
United States of America - Irony at its best
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
The truth will set you free.... even when you don't like it...
sim.-ang.king
Well-known member
Drove past a coal fire plant south of Springfield when it was -6, and had been in the single digits for a week. The coolant pond is 300 acre lake that surrounds the plant. Not a bit of ice on the pond, and some guy was out fishing on it. The plant just kept on running.
Mrcopier
Well-known member
We call them warm water lakes and it’s next to impossible for them to freeze up. We fish them all the time During the winter in the 20’s. Tough to travel on them in the winter from the fog can’t see a thing
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
Yep several lakes like that here. Some a couple thousand acres. I don't know the science behind it but apparently a pool of warm water won't freeze. But when it gets run through some poorly insulated pipes it miraculously gets cold and freezes.....go figure
Mrcopier
Well-known member
Here they are power plant lakes run by coal and they pump it in to keep something cool. There is usually a current as the water is brought in and pumped back out. Sure stops your rod from freezing up.
OP
OP
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
Crude not being refined has nothing to do with the power grid shortage, it actually helps it.
We routinely shuttered units to put power on the grid from refinery power houses in shortages. Big refineries are not buying power but producers that export excess to the grid.
I know that the powerhouses are still up and exporting on a major refinery that was shutdown.
Irony is that Austin, San Antonio and Harris County caught the brunt of the blackouts.
Sometimes you have to trip off legs to save the unit from being overloaded.
OP
OP
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
Not everyone believes it’s fossil fuels. A lot more in the industry believe it’s abiotic fuel than you can imagine. It just doesn’t fit with the narrative you have been sold. Several scientists one that comes to mind was Gold that came up with abiotic oil. The longer you play with it the more sense it makes.
D2Cat
Well-known member
About 20 years ago a severe ice storm came through Kansas/Mo. and there was a lot of damage to overhead power lines. The damage was caused, as you mentioned, by trees not able to handle the weight of the ice, and the limbs broke breaking the power lines beneath them. There were folks without power for up to 8 days while new poles were set and lines run. Folks were burning their lawn furniture to keep warm.
The outcome of that situation was the power companies began a tree trimming process. It's an ongoing battle to keep trees trimmed back off of power lines, and they have several subcontractors who keep them trimmed. It has made a tremendous difference if outages here.
Here's an interesting tidbit.
As ice accumulates on power lines, it forms a teardrop shape. When wind blows, wires can start to move up and down in an oscillating motion. In essence, the wires encased in ice act like an aerodynamic airplane wing. This is known as “galloping.”
Galloping can cause wires to eventually touch, resulting in a fault or subsequent power outage. The increased movement can also cause cross-arms to break, bringing lines to the ground.
1982vett
Well-known member
Always been my understanding hot water freezes faster than cold water when given the chance. Something about the dissolved gas levels in the water.
Actually had the hot water to the kitchen sink freeze the other night when it got down to 8F. It is in a north facing 6 inch insulated brick wall. Cold side stayed open.
