"John A. Weeks III" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@sn-ip.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net:
>
>> Sadly, wind and solar fall into the category of the least desirable
>> of all forms of generation, "intermittent generation." Utility
>> electricity as we know it is entirely on-demand; we don't have to
>> schedule when we turn lights on and off. In contrast, public grids
>> are a remarkably delicate real-time balance of generation, loss and
>> load. Some "peaking" generation must always be held in reserve to
>> maintain the balance, while "base" generation like coal, nuclear and
>> hydro provide the cheaper electricity to meet the expected minimum
>> demand. As used today, solar and wind do not fit into this at all.
>> If base generation is like public transportation and peaking
>> generation is like private cars, intermittent generation is like
>> hitchhiking. Maybe it will get you where you are going, but you can't
>> count on it. Worse, factors that affect one wind or solar site will
>> likely affect all the neighboring sites in the same way at about the >> same time.
>
> Your entire argument would be correct if there was no way to store
> electricity. That is what makes Ethanol so attractive--you use this
> otherwise wasted intermittent and off-peak power to produce Ethanol,
> then use the Ethanol when needed. It isn't that Ethanol is cheaper
> or more efficient than gasoline, but rather, it allows us to make
> use of cheaper night time and seasonal hydro power that might
> otherwise go unused.
>
> There are other ways of storing electric power. For example, at the
> Coolie Dam in Washington, they use unsubscribed power to pump water
> from the dam up into a former river channel that is at a higher
> elevation. When they need extra power, they use the force of water
> falling from this lake to run generators. Plans for similar such
> electric storage operations have been planned along the Mississippi > River.
>
> -john-
>
Here in Hurricane country,we often pump DOWN lakes and reservoirs to have capacity for incoming storms.Other areas have water shortages year round.
And there's no way to convert electricity into ethanol. Maybe hydrogen,but not ethanol or other hydrocarbon fuels.
And for hydrogen conversion,the efficiencies are terrible.
You want reliable electric power,nuclear is the way to go.