I wish I could say that this post was about the song by Jackson Browne….sadly it is not.

America is running on empty with our electrical supply.

The so-called experts are saying that climate change and other factors will cause the demand to rise significantly and there is the transition to electric vehicles that will rise.

It was bound to happen. An aging American infrastructure system, powered to some extent by coal and hydroelectric power, has faced rising needs for electricity for houses, businesses, AI, and Bitcoin. There is no short-term solution, and when one does occur, it is likely to be political.

There are several examples of how climate change has compromised electricity supply. One is how drought has affected one of the largest energy suppliers in the Western US- the Hoover Dam. According to NewsNow, “At full capacity, the turbines at the dam can produce 2,074 megawatts, but as the water level has declined during the drought, power production has been affected and efficiency of the power plant is down 33%.” At peak production, this electricity powers one million homes.

Coal’s use as a source of electricity has environmental problems. The EIA puts the percentage of electricity from coal at 16%. They would need to drop sharply to cut greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, but what happens to the goal to lower this, at least in the short term?

(climatecrisis247.com)

Could the US return to the days of massive nuke power policies?

Many world powers have sped-up plans to introduce new nuclear power plants in a bid to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and decarbonise. Due to the high energy demand, many countries around the globe view renewable energy as insufficient in the mid-term to provide enough energy to meet the needs of the growing world population. However, nuclear power could provide a low-carbon alternative, offering abundant energy and low emissions. However, experts now worry that the global reliance on Russian uranium to power many of these projects could put many world leaders in a quandary, having already introduced sanctions on Russian energy and attempted to reduce their reliance on Russia.  Earlier this year, the U.S. announced a $6 billion bailout for its existing nuclear plants. The government and the Department of Energy (DoE) partnered on a scheme to help nuclear plants across the country facing severe economic challenges to support the longevity of U.S. nuclear power, as part of the country’s green transition. Despite being controversial, nuclear power is considered carbon neutral, and therefore key to transitioning away from fossil fuels. Since then, the launch of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has encouraged greater investment in the nuclear energy sector. It offers a variety of subsidies, including a production tax credit to help preserve the existing fleet of nuclear plants and tax incentives for the development of new nuclear reactors.  

(oilprice.com)

Our electrical grid is falling apart it is old and getting tired….and it is getting overtaxed year by year….

What to do?

Let me float this idea….take some of the money we throw at every war in every corner of the world and use that to upgrade the system.

I mean come on….the War Department gets about $900 billion this year alone…..cut that by 20% and get the grid up to snuff….or as close to snuff as possible.

It is only a matter of time people.

Or if that idea is not to your liking….how about another one?

The US added just 251 miles of high-voltage transmission lines last year, another in a series of declines, though the nation greatly needs more power. The process is slowed by as much as a decade by the need for approval from various governments and agencies, as well as to address lawsuits over potential damage to views and ecosystems. Two reports issued Tuesday suggest the US is overlooking a technique used in other countries that could double the electric grid’s capacity in many parts of the country, the New York Times reports.

“Advanced reconductoring” basically refers to replacing old power lines with newer models that have smaller, lighter cores such as carbon fiber and hold more aluminum. These lines can carry twice the current that older lines do. The change is being made in Belgium, the Netherlands, and other nations to provide room for more wind and solar power. “We talked with the transmission system planners over there and they all said this is a no-brainer,” said Emilia Chojkiewicz of the University of California, Berkeley, who cowrote one of the reports. “It’s often difficult to get new rights of way for lines, and reconductoring is much faster.”

The other report, from GridLab and Energy Innovation, a nonprofit, looked at why more US utilities aren’t already doing this. An executive for Southern California Edison, one of the largest utilities in the US, said there are questions about how much of the need this approach will meet but said, “We agree that advanced conductors are going to be very, very useful.” A Berkeley scientist called reconductoring a start, per the Times. “It’s not the only thing we need to do to upgrade the grid, but it can be a major part of the solution,” Amol Phadke said.

The point is we need to do something before it is too late.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”