No, Wind Farms Aren't the Main Cause of the Texas Blackouts

ViaCrucis said:

I haven't decided if people like this underestimate the intelligence of the American people, thinking we're too dumb to figure out that they're lying; or if they have accurately estimated the stupidity of the American people, because enough actually do believe the obvious lies they tell.

It's probably both column A and column B.

-CryptoLutheran

Click to expand...

You can't fool all of the people all of the time, but fooling all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time is good enough to get you elected.

Albion said:

IN FACT, the 'culprit' was the overreliance on wind power, as the Wall Street Journal explains:

The Political Making of a Texas Power Outage - WSJ

Click to expand...

The WSJ is flat wrong. Texas has never, ever, ever depended on wind energy for 42% of its power. Not ever.

Wind power has been the fastest-growing source of energy in Texas' power grid. In 2015, wind power generation supplied 11% of Texas' energy grid. Last year it supplied 23% of the system's power, surpassing coal as the second-largest source of energy.

But natural gas still leads the way in the state. An ERCOT report on generating capacity listed the top sources of power in the state:

• Natural gas (51%)
• Wind (24.8%)
• Coal (13.4%)
• Nuclear (4.9%)
• Solar (3.8%)
• Hydro, biomass-fired units (1.9%)

Click to expand...

Texas energy: How much power comes from wind turbines, natural gas? (statesman.com)

timothyu said:

Which has become partisan? lol

Click to expand...

The motivations behind Texas' choices that lead up to their abject unpreparedness for this event may be driven by partisanship and certainly are driven by ideology (or donor money).

There is no reason for an analysis of the current disaster to be partisan, and frankly pinning this on "wind farms" or "green energy" is incorrect. There does seem to be a partisan (or ideological) drive to make this claim.

SkyWriting said:

Any dependency on wind farms and solar energy should include methods for storing energy. Also energy diversity should become the norm instead of hoping for one source of power or heat.

Click to expand...

Wind and solar farms are regularly operated in some of the coldest and harshest conditions on the planet.

The problem in Texas is that they along with a bunch of natural gas plants weren't winterized and are now being subjected to record cold.

Not to mention pretty much every other state is hooked up to a larger power grid so that they can get power in emergencies.

Hans Blaster said:

The motivations behind Texas' choices that lead up to their abject unpreparedness for this event may be driven by partisanship and certainly are driven by ideology (or donor money).

There is no reason for an analysis of the current disaster to be partisan, and frankly pinning this on "wind farms" or "green energy" is incorrect. There does seem to be a partisan (or ideological) drive to make this claim.

Click to expand...

Given that Texas's drive to deregulate their power generation, isolate their grid and rely on lax regulation resulted in a problem during an emergency, it's simply easier to blame windmills than question how they do things.

Hans Blaster said:

The motivations behind Texas' choices that lead up to their abject unpreparedness for this event may be driven by partisanship and certainly are driven by ideology (or donor money).

There is no reason for an analysis of the current disaster to be partisan, and frankly pinning this on "wind farms" or "green energy" is incorrect. There does seem to be a partisan (or ideological) drive to make this claim.

Click to expand...

The Fossil Fuels industry is paying lawmakers to lie and people are believing it. I'm telling you if the horse and buggy industry and the gaslamp industry had as much influence as these guys we never would've gotten automobiles or electric power systems.

A practical solution for Texas


or refrain from complaining

timothyu said:

A practical solution for Texas

or refrain from complaining

Click to expand...

I see you're with the "think outside the box and come up with a gameplan" crowd.

I think there's an opening for a mayor in texas. Why don't you gear up your husky sled and go apply?

variant said:

Wind and solar farms are regularly operated in some of the coldest and harshest conditions on the planet.

The problem in Texas is that they along with a bunch of natural gas plants weren't winterized and are now being subjected to record cold.

Not to mention pretty much every other state is hooked up to a larger power grid so that they can get power in emergencies.

Click to expand...

Those really are the two key issues. Ten years ago, and twelve years before that, Texas had very similar events, but they don't seem to be learning from their mistakes. Not only have they isolated themselves from everyone around them that could help them, they've also never bothered to prepare for the inevitable repeat of a major cold snap. If Wyoming can keep it's wind farms and energy infrastructure operational in those those conditions, then Texas should be able to do so as well. To blame "green" energy for their current plight is just adding insult to injury in terms of their reputation.

Nithavela said:

I see you're with the "think outside the box and come up with a gameplan" crowd.

Click to expand...

Actually I'm more concerned for a continent that in 60 years has lost the ability to cope in natural situations. What we call civilization today will be the end of us while those we look down upon will continue to thrive. Time for people to get over the notion the power companies, whatever they may be (green or soot), have the right to make us dependent and take away from us the means to carry on where they may not profit, whether or not the power goes out and the fuel stops flowing.

timothyu said:

Actually I'm more concerned for a continent that in 60 years has lost the ability to cope in natural situations.

Click to expand...

Actually, people in this thread are advocating for a heightened ability for being able to cope with natural situations. Their solution is less "go back to a hunter gatherer state" and more "buy frost-resistant grease".

But you do you.

Grease is useless when the power goes out. It is the greatest weakness of the most powerful nations. Even the power wielded by the Tech giants is instantly destroyed with the flick of a switch (which more should consider doing with their services).

timothyu said:

Grease is useless when the power goes out. It is the greatest weakness of the most powerful nations. Even the power wielded by the Tech giants is instantly destroyed with the flick of a switch (which more should consider doing with their services).

Click to expand...

Meanwhile, most places outside of Texas have more than enough power.

Your reaction of "because texas has no electricity, we must stop using electricity" seems a bit overblown.

Impeach Biden for using the Obama Weather Dominator against the Free People of Texas!

Nithavela said:

Your reaction of "because texas has no electricity, we must stop using electricity" seems a bit overblown.

Click to expand...

I'm not saying stop using it. I'm saying stop being so dependent on these power moguls.

TLK Valentine said:

Never claimed they were perfect, but they're not the reason Texans are freezing their spurs off... just saying.

Click to expand...

It seems a good alternative source on the surface ( wind is free right), I think they need to redesign the rotor configuration. I'm no engineer by any means but I do know the current rotor design is prone to wear and damage. And you don't realize how big these things are till you see a crane stretched out as far as it can go up next to one. Just sayin. I agree there is more to the story though.

timothyu said:

It gets cold every winter there. What's changed?

Click to expand...

I'm guessing the wide spread ice storm. We get winter weather here every year but we don't always get ice storms. Ice and especially freezing rain is just bad, then if you get a skim of heavy wet snow on top of that it's like this impossible entity to deal with if not prepared for that. You can't even walk on the stuff till the snow freezes up, then you can't plow under it down to pavement without severe chemical treatment. It's just plain nasty. It's easy to talk about from an arm chair position though.

Dave G. said:

It's just plain nasty. It's easy to talk about from an arm chair position though.

Click to expand...

Yes it is nasty but this certainly isn't their first rodeo with this kind of weather in a winter season. And the people seem to have lost their ability to cope like their forefathers once did.

Dave G. said:

It seems a good alternative source on the surface ( wind is free right), I think they need to redesign the rotor configuration. I'm no engineer by any means but I do know the current rotor design is prone to wear and damage. And you don't realize how big these things are till you see a crane stretched out as far as it can go up next to one. Just sayin. I agree there is more to the story though.

Click to expand...

Well, in the case of Texas, the wind turbines, like the rest of their power grid, were never designed for extreme cold.

On the one hand, this is Texas we're talking about; blizzards aren't the kind of thing you'd expect. I'm sure Kansas doesn't have any contingency plans in the event of a tsunami, for example.

On the other, this was a direct result of Texas' decision to be separate from the national power grid in order to avoid federal regulations -- regulations which include winterizing all your systems.

Case in point: I've got friends who live in Texas: my friends with their two daughters just outside of Austin are in trouble, but they should get by as long as their personal generators hold out.
My other friend in El Paso is doing fine, because El Paso is connected to the National Power Grid, meaning that not only is their equipment up to federal standards, but they can get power from other states when their own systems break down.
Now, my experience with Texans is that they're a friendly but proud people, always more willing to give help than ask for it. The folks in El Paso may not be too thrilled about knocking on New Mexico's door and asking to borrow a little wattage, but it beats the alternative.