show me your math with links to data. how complex is methane to manufacture from electricity, what is the yield (energy to manufacture compared to released when burned). or are we going to capture methane from cows. the raptor engine has lower specific impulse then RS-25. raptor is full flow which helps efficiency, but the fuel was a compromise to make it reusable.
??? Was I suggesting 'green' methane? That would be nice in the long term but for right now let's just make sure we have enough fools fuel stored where it's readily accessible so it's there when we need it. Use wind and solar to burn less of it. Maybe if the pipelines were properly winterized they could have just delivered what was needed from the wells. Point is that this was a failure of gas capacity and had absolutely nothing to do with wind.
Thank you for this informative and well-written post. This clearly shows that the actual wind power production (in green), EXCEEDED the day ahead forecast (in orange) and the most recent forecast (in blue). Unfortunately, as you correctly pointed out, the actual production is no where near the nameplate capacity. This will definitely be a problem for the future when we have a 100% renewable grid. Along those lines, I would like to propose a far-reaching possible solution, that might actually get many disparate parties to agree. NWdiver got me thinking: How about a HVDC/AC backbone from San Diego to Houston that is used to support a massive wind farm along the US-Mexico border? Just hear me out for a bit. According to Wikipedia, the border is almost 2000 mi, so at 10 turbines per mile (maybe a bit close) and 2MW/turbine (probably a bit small) that works out to 40GW. Using 5MW turbines at 4/mi gives the same total. These turbines could be outfitted with high-resolution video security cameras, all fed into centralized control room, effectively providing a virtual border wall and assist with border protection. Periodic maintenance and inspections will require a human presence. Furthermore, by declaring these as part of a federal “wall”, they are located on federal land thus no state jurisdictions apply. Hmmm, a few folks might like that, others not so much so. Ok, now let’s remember that weather systems move from west to east and are completely different (non-correlated) in San Diego vs Tucson vs El Paso vs Austin vs San Antonio vs Houston (you get the idea) all year round 24/7. So, basically as wind fronts move W-E, taking 2-3 days to traverse the 2000 mile distance, the amount of total power available should be close to constant (at least much closer to constant than a bunch of turbines clustered in West TX). Edit: Look at the different wind profile across that area. Wind Map So now, for our troubles, we get effectively 10-20 GW of constant power, which might be doubled if two rows of turbines are used. Furthermore, adding solar panels underneath, more non-correlated production, at about 1GW per single row, could get the total close to 50 GW constant. That’s not an insignificant amount of Renewable power. Hmmm, a few folks might like that, others not so much so. This project will require lots of labor, generate lots of jobs, and further the goals of the Green New Deal. Texas to California gets a lot on new electricity, maybe even the ability to shift excess back and forth as needed, even hourly (like 10-2 when there’s excess solar in CA). Hmmm, a few folks might like that, others not so much so. Finally, this grid connection will allow/require ERCOT and TX to integrate into the national grid and follow FERC rules/regulations, especially with respect to winterization and reliability. Better, more stable and reliable electricity for TX consumers. This could form the basis of all future grid modernization for national security, electrical reliability, renewable energy, and employment stability. It sounds like a win all the way around but.......Hmmm, a few folks might like that, others not so much so. What do people think? Pie-in-the-sky? Can we compromise, some give and take on either side, and get this done?
Would think might have enough of the right ingredients to appease political interests on both sides. My thought on potential obstacles would be about land rights on the U.S. side of the border. Isn't much of this private land? Eminent domain might be an option in theory, but unpoplular?
EIA Electricity Power Monthly - February 2021 for December 2020 and full year 2020. Wind generation for December 2020 increased significantly compared to December 2019, with 32.5TWh compared to 27.2TWh. That is the second highest month on record, following November's exceptional wind generation. In rolling 12 month generation, wind power is at 337.5TWh and 8.33% of generation, up from 295.9TWh and 7.11% a year ago. An exceptional 6,763.4MW of new capacity was added in December 2020. Planned new capacity for the next 12 months, increased by 4,628.2MW, increasing the planned 12 month total to 16,193.1MW, which would increase total capacity by 13.75%. Included estimated solar, solar plus wind has reached 11.61% of generation. There is 16.2GW of new wind and 16.6GW of new utility scale solar are forecast to be installed over the next 12 months, which could raise the renewable share of generation by another 2%. There's a long way to go. Wind Capacity (MW): PeriodPriorChangeNewChangeMonth109,549.81,425.8110,975.61.30%YTD103,571.27,404.4110,975.67.15%Rolling100,739.110,236.5110,975.610.16%Plan +12mo19,087.6666.518,328.316.52%Capacity Factor (MW): ValuePriorChangeNewChangeMonth Capacity100,791.510,189.2110,980.710.11%Month Factor35.6%1.5%37.1%4.21%Rolling 12mo Factor34.9%0.8%35.7%2.29%Generation (GWh): YearMonthYTDRollingMonth %YTD%Rolling201927,183295,882295,8828.01%7.11%7.11%202032,462337,510337,5109.34%8.33%8.33%Difference5,27941,62841,6281.33%1.22%1.22%