ERCOT Wind Generation Rates Texas Ice Storm 2021. By U.S. Energy Information Administration – U.S. Energy Information Administration: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=46836, Public Domain, Link
Essay by Eric Worrall
h/t MarkW – President Biden has announced the entire coal industry is shutting down because coal is too expensive and unreliable.
ERCOT Wind Generation Rates Texas Ice Storm 2021. By U.S. Energy Information Administration – U.S. Energy Information Administration: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=46836, Public Domain, Link
Biden argued that it’s ‘cheaper’ to generate electricity from wind and solar than it is from coal
By Andrew Miller FOXBusiness
Published November 4, 2022, 6:22pm EDTPresident Biden said Friday that coal plants are too expensive to operate, and “we’re going to be shutting these plants down all across America” in order to shift to wind power in a comment that drew criticism from the Republican National Committee.
“I was in Massachusetts about a month ago on the site of the largest old coal plant in America,” Biden said at an event in Carlsbad, California, on Friday. “Guess what? It cost them too much money. They can’t count. No one is building new coal plants because they can’t rely on it. Even if they have all the coal guaranteed for the rest of the existence of the plant.
“So, it’s going to become a wind generation. And all they’re doing is it’s going to save them a hell of a lot of money and using the same transmission line that they transmitted the coal-fired electric on, we’re going to be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar power, also providing tax credits to help families buy energy efficient appliances, whether it’s your refrigerator or your coffee maker, for solar panels on your home, weatherize your home, things that save an average, experts say, a minimum of $500 a year for the average family.”
Biden’s comment prompted a response from a Twitter account run by the Republican National Committee, which said, “Joe Biden celebrates coal plant workers losing their jobs.”
Biden added that it is “cheaper to generate electricity from wind and solar than it is from coal and oil.”
“Literally cheaper,” the president said. “Not a joke.”
…
On the campaign trail in 2020, candidate Biden suggested that coal miners facing an economy where their job is potentially phased out should “learn to program.”
WUWT has already covered Biden’s wild claims about coal in Massachusetts.
No amount of wind and solar can reliably supply the USA during adverse winter weather.
Solar power doesn’t work at night, or in winter – Northern states especially simply don’t receive enough sunlight.
Wind alone cannot carry the USA’s energy needs during long periods when solar is unavailable. Wind simply isn’t a reliable source of energy.
Consider the Texas ice storm in February 2021 (see the graph at the top of the page). Solar dropped to almost nothing for over 10 days, and wind wasn’t available for significant periods. Nuclear power and fossil fuel, particularly gas, saved Texas from energy oblivion during that period.
Of course, I don’t believe anybody could reasonably expect President Biden to understand such issues. He doesn’t seem to understand much of anything these days.
via Watts Up With That?
November 5, 2022
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