Wind power surpasses nuclear and coal (for a day)

[EbS-P]

It happened but just for a day.

For the first time, wind power eclipsed both coal and nuclear in the U.S.

For a single day at the end of March, wind was the second-largest source of electricity generation, the Energy Information Administration says. Natural gas is still the nation's largest power source.

www.npr.org

Evan

 

[stoveliker]

Nice. I'm surprised we already have a decent amount of wind that that is possible (or maybe it's possible because we have a diverse set of inputs: gas, coal, nuclear, wind, solar, water, so that each contributing source has only a small piece of the pie).

 

[EbS-P]

We still need to policies to make sure we have enough nighttime winter generation capacity that is as low carbon emissions as can be. All these heatpumps and BEVs are going to really make the peak wintertime demand to near peak summer levels. And you won’t be getting any solar during their peak period. So wind. Yeah bring on some more. But it’s killing lots of eagles. So…….

 

[stoveliker]

Nuclear isn't...

 

[EbS-P]

Nuclear isn't...

I think nuclear should should be an expanded part of the mix.

 

[begreen]

This will continue. There are new, large-scale wind and solar projects being planned or going up around the country.

 

[woodgeek]

This stat was a bit overblown. Wind didn't surpass Coal+Nuclear in daily energy. It surpassed Coal, AND it surpassed nuclear. All three were about 20% of the total.

 

[SpaceBus]

How do you stop the wind turbines from killing birds? I can't blame the eagles, or other large raptor, for wanting to nest on them. It's a perfect nesting site when the blades aren't moving.

 

[woodgeek]

I thought bigger machines killed fewer raptors, and most of the bird kill stats were from the 90s, with tiny machines packed close together.

Got any good sources?

 

[stoveliker]

This stat was a bit overblown. Wind didn't surpass Coal+Nuclear in daily energy. It surpassed Coal, AND it surpassed nuclear. All three were about 20% of the total.

That's what I figured indeed.

 

[EbS-P]

I thought bigger machines killed fewer raptors, and most of the bird kill stats were from the 90s, with tiny machines packed close together.

Got any good sources?

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...ny-pleads-guilty-to-killing-eagles-180979898/

The settlement hit the news. Bald eagles didn’t concern me as much as the golden eagle deaths.

 

[SpaceBus]

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...ny-pleads-guilty-to-killing-eagles-180979898/

The settlement hit the news. Bald eagles didn’t concern me as much as the golden eagle deaths.

That's the one from recent memory. If it's happening in NY, then it's happening elsewhere, and not just Bald Eagles. Those towers are just perfect nesting sites for large raptors.

 

[woodgeek]

That's the one from recent memory. If it's happening in NY, then it's happening elsewhere, and not just Bald Eagles. Those towers are just perfect nesting sites for large raptors.

Digging into the article, is says 150 raptors in 10 years, on a population of over 300,000. Seems like <0.01% pop/year. The article then goes on to say that lead poisoning is a bigger threat (which I guess leads to the banning of lead shot for bird hunters?). And that the population has been booming.

If the birds are nesting on the nacelles, it seems that there would be a number of tech solutions to that.

I've heard that bats can be injured by the pressure changes in the blase wakes, without even hitting the blades.

Songbirds also get disoriented and fly into solar panels. I wonder how much that happens.

 

[SpaceBus]

Digging into the article, is says 150 raptors in 10 years, on a population of over 300,000. Seems like <0.01% pop/year. The article then goes on to say that lead poisoning is a bigger threat (which I guess leads to the banning of lead shot for bird hunters?). And that the population has been booming.

If the birds are nesting on the nacelles, it seems that there would be a number of tech solutions to that.

I've heard that bats can be injured by the pressure changes in the blase wakes, without even hitting the blades.

Songbirds also get disoriented and fly into solar panels. I wonder how much that happens.

Don't get me started on lead contamination... I wrote some short college papers and recorded some presentations.

 

[stoveliker]

Lead shot for any hunter. Because any animal that survived has lead in it, and raptors or other carnivores will eat it. And lead should not be in the environment, period

 

[SpaceBus]

Lead shot for any hunter. Because any animal that survived has lead in it, and raptors or other carnivores will eat it. And lead should not be in the environment, period

I've been experimenting with casting my own pure tin ammo to avoid using lead. Any lead ammo I use is very carefully collected and I've yet to shoot at an animal. I'm pretty sure California has partially or entirely banned lead shot/ammo for hunting use.

 

[stoveliker]

I've eaten feasants (?) shot with lead shot when I was younger. I guess that explains my lack of social skills etc. now...

 

[SpaceBus]

I've eaten feasants (?) shot with lead shot when I was younger. I guess that explains my lack of social skills etc. now...

Pheasant, but if you spit them out you should be ok and only experienced trace lead intake. Lead is pretty slow to dissolve, so you probably passed the majority of any that you ate. It's mostly a problem for birds because their physiology retains small hard objects in their gizzard (ventriculus) to help with grinding up food stuffs. You also don't eat shotgun harvested game birds on a regular basis, and the lead doesn't stay in our systems forever, assuming you don't keep adding to it. Lead (PB2+) absorbed by our bodies takes the place of calcium for cellular processes, which is not good as it causes cell death. Lead mostly builds up in teeth and bones.

 

[stoveliker]

I was (partly) joking.
I wondered about it being roasted with the shot in there. Including the acid of some seasoning.

It certain cracked a molar though...

 

[woodgeek]

WaPo columnist clearly lurking in this thread:

(broken link removed)

 

[old greybeard]

How do you stop the wind turbines from killing birds? I can't blame the eagles, or other large raptor, for wanting to nest on them. It's a perfect nesting site when the blades aren't moving.

You can’t, and they won’t because they’re hypocrites. One company was just fined, killed over 150 eagles . Not fined for killing them, but fined for not applying for a permit. Bet the permit cost $$

Wind farm operator paying $8M following eagle deaths

CHEYENNE – A leading wind farm operator has agreed to pay fines and other fees totaling just over $8 million, plus potentially spending millions of additional dollars, because its operations

www.wyomingnews.com

That’s one company that didn’t get the permit. Nukes are greener than anything. But we’re too self centered and fearful of nimby to put the waste where it belongs.
Wind turbines are inefficient, highly polluting, destroy birds and bats, waste land.

 

[SpaceBus]

You can’t, and they won’t because they’re hypocrites. One company was just fined, killed over 150 eagles . Not fined for killing them, but fined for not applying for a permit. Bet the permit cost $$

Wind farm operator paying $8M following eagle deaths

CHEYENNE – A leading wind farm operator has agreed to pay fines and other fees totaling just over $8 million, plus potentially spending millions of additional dollars, because its operations

www.wyomingnews.com

That’s one company that didn’t get the permit. Nukes are greener than anything. But we’re too self centered and fearful of nimby to put the waste where it belongs.
Wind turbines are inefficient, highly polluting, destroy birds and bats, waste land.

I disagree with most of what you've said.