California moves towards 100% carbon-free electricity after landmark vote
32 replies, posted
California has given fossil fuel-derived energy a hefty shove towards obsolescence after legislators voted to require that 100% of the state’s electricity come from carbon-free sources.
The bill, which will need to be approved by the state senate and Governor Jerry Brown, will require a complete shift to clean energy such as solar and wind by 2045. It would also demand that electric utilities source 60% of their power from renewable sources by 2030, up from the current target of 50%.
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California becomes the second US state, after Hawaii, to call for carbon-free electricity by 2045. The clout of the Californian economy could help spur some other states, such as Massachusetts and New Jersey, to do the same.
Environmentalists hailed the vote as a landmark moment.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/29/california-electricity-fossil-fuels-wind-solar-vote
My favorite feature of our desert solar farms (the giant circular ones with all the mirrors) is that birds routinely fly into them and explode midair when they cross the beam of solar radiation.
This was fixed by changing the focus of the mirrors afaik. But I imagine the vast majority of solar will be PV rather than CSP.
no love for nuclear
It's not ruling out nuclear. Nuclear would be acceptable under this bill.
Reduced, but not fixed.
The farms are actually horrible to be around now (Which is fine since they're in the middle of the desert) due to the chemical respiration irritant, and these wonderful boxes
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/249570/86f5225f-4797-4844-82b5-24176d596e6d/image.png
I'm fully expecting some red states to start pushing for 100% coal targets any day now
Yeah watch Indiana be one of the first. The reds are so stuck up coal and oil ass they add taxes to anything they can.
you know how it's going to turn out though.
Meanwhile in Washington: did someone say they wanted more mercury in their coal fumes? Coming right up!
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-coal/trump-administration-reconsiders-rule-on-coals-mercury-pollution-idUSKCN1LE2TV?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=twitter
What I don't understand is why Trump and others say wind farms and solar arrays are eye-sores. I personally think wind turbines, especially in an array, look beautiful and majestic. Solar city things also look organic in a pleasant way.
While a bit of a nit pick I'll play devils advocate a little bit, wind farms can be considered an eye sore if you live near them partially due to them casting shadows at certain times of the day causing flickering (imagine the shadow a ceiling fan casts, but gigantic and all over your house). I can't really think about solar being an eyesore, because I personally think it looks cool and they also just kinda sit there and are silent. Large solar farms can take up quite a bit of room though. Wind makes this weird wooshing noise, which is supposedly quiet but very noticeable if you're near them.
Both of these are easy fixes though, in that you can simply build wind farms a ways away from residential communities much as traditional power plants are, same thing with solar if not mounting them on roofs. As well as the fact that these are a far cry away from the issues arising from fossil fuel power plants, with possibly the exception of natural gas plants, as burning coal coats nearby buildings in soot, ruins air quality and creates massive health problems for anyone living for miles around. Burning oil isn't much better either.
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/237427/579aea5b-d37e-4513-a10b-a9c640031ec5/image.png
I think we need to call up California and tell them to build a couple more nuclear reactors because what they plan on doing is impossible.
I am one of the people who thinks wind farms are fucking ugly and here's why:
It looks like a bunch of giant, de-grilled desk fans plopped into an otherwise lovely backdrop.
I'd rather we go for more nuclear than clutter up the countryside with giant fans.
We got there eventually though.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-44681278
Now I just need to bleach a dickbutt into this golf course final green when I go home. I've been planning it for years as it's in my hometown.
Because Vanity > cleanliness obviously. Im all for more nuclear, but saying we need more nuclear because fan/solar farms are ugly is dumb. Its as bad as trump not wanting the wind farm off the coast next to his "beautiful" golf course.
We need better clean energy transportation. Here in CA, the areas that use the most electricity don't produce enough of it for themselves and the areas that produce the most of it can't use all of it. This leads to people overpaying while others get paid to use electricity
While it's acceptable under the bill, it's a meaningless gesture given they're shutting down every plant.
Personally I'm not too bothered about how they go about getting to 100% carbon free power as long as its done. They are investing a lot in energy storage.
While I'm an all of the above kind of guy for dealing with climate change, I'm doubtful they'll get there without it. Intermittency might not be an issue with half your grid on renewables, but once you get past that it becomes a serious problem.
I feel very definitely that the [Nixon] administration is absolutely correct in cracking down on companies and corporations and municipalities that continue to pollute the nation's air and water. While I am a great
believer in the free competitive enterprise system and all that it entails, I am an even stronger believer in the right of our people to live in a clean and pollution-free environment. To this end, it is my belief that
when pollution is found, it should be halted at the source, even if this requires stringent government action against important segments of our national economy.
-Barry Goldwater, the face of American conservatism before Reagan. A few more beliefs of his
As a passionate defender of personal liberty, he saw the religious right's views as an encroachment on personal privacy and individual liberties.[84]
He said that "Everyone knows that gays have served honorably in the military since at least the time of Julius Caesar"[97] and that "You don't need to be 'straight' to fight and die for your country. You just need to
shoot straight."
In a 1994 interview with The Washington Post, the retired senator said, When you say "radical right" today, I think of these moneymaking ventures by fellows like Pat Robertson and others who are trying to take the
Republican party and make a religious organization out of it. If that ever happens, kiss politics goodbye.
In 1996, he told Bob Dole, whose own presidential campaign received lukewarm support from conservative Republicans: "We're the new liberals of the Republican party. Can you imagine that?"
I'd rather put in a new NPP. They don't look any better than a fan farm but they can generate power in all wind conditions.
If you're gonna build a fucking eyesore, at least build one that can earn its keep. Wind farms look like ass and only work in certain conditions. Wind too weak? Power output goes to hell. Wind too strong? Turbines have to feather their blades and shut down or they'll overrev and fly apart. NPPs don't have either issue...
Fission nuclear is not something I have much of a problem with, but those plants are extremely expensive and take years to build. A combination of the two is the best bet.
Wind turbines have very little impact on the bird population if you take into account bird migration paths and such when placing them. If you place them without proper oversight then yes you can have an impact, and there are a few in the US placed poorly. The same has to be taken into account for nuclear power stations, and fossil fuel power stations as well. Far more birds are killed by cats, cars, and fossil fuel power plants and the impacts of climate change.
Nuclear power is great but it's politically very difficulty due to NIMBY. It's also far more expensive than nuclear or wind now, even when you account for energy storage. Hydro power works well for some countries as well, such as Norway being almost 100% powered by hydro. Tidal power seems to still be in its infancy but looks interesting. Sure the majority of renewable sources don't have 100% uptime, but wind is getting close to 40% now with recent developments. Nuclear isn't completely absolvent from external factors either with France temporarily shutting down several reactors this summer to stop the heat from killing off all the fish in the river, seaweed entering the cooling system forced a shutdown of a reactor over here during the "Beat from the east" storm.
Pretty sure California already has some nuclear plants.
Next step: chimney's will shoot out ACTUAL drone strikes to just kill all the people once and for all
Windmills are large enough rust they actually disturb the air to a point that they cause rattling for windows and substructures. Also lots of bat bodies, they're lungs literally explode due to the air pressure difference.
My main concern is mainly with solar because it requires large pieces of real estate. Nuclear is really our best source of power but everyone is terrified of it.
I like robots and Rene Descartes is pretty fly so I gave him aviators.
They only have one left, and it's being shut down. To no one's surprise, environmental groups were a big factor in this decision - they are absolutely the biggest non-corporate opponents to nuclear in this country, and they will not stop until every fucking plant in all 50 states is decommissioned.
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