By: Diane Benjamin
Saturday when I was driving across Bloomington my vehicle said the temperature was 92. When I passed the airport it jumped to 94. At my country house it was only 89. What that proves is “record temperatures” depend on where the temperature is taken.
This story is in the latest issue of Country Living Magazine which I get as a Corn Belt customer: https://icl.coop/the-difference-between-baseload-and-intermittent-power/
Businesses and homes depend on electricity, when a switch is flipped we expect it to work. The article explains why wind and solar are not capable of reliable energy.
Excepts:
Renewable power sources are increasingly used to supply electricity. Wind and solar provide intermittent power since the electricity generated depends upon cooperation from nature. Solar panels can’t generate electricity when there’s not enough sunlight, and large wind turbines generally don’t produce power until the wind speed reaches 13 mph.
Because wind and solar depend on unpredictable weather conditions, they can’t be relied upon to deliver predictable and constant baseload power. This is why changes in electricity demand are usually met with intermediate or peak generation powered by more traditional sources like natural gas.
Electric co-op consumer-members who are concerned about climate change may wonder why power suppliers aren’t rushing to replace fuels such as coal and natural gas with renewable energy alternatives. If co-ops and other electric utilities switch completely to intermittent sources, they cannot meet consumers’ needs for reliable power.
Last paragraph:
While electric co-ops are working to shift to renewable energy sources, the realities of differing power needs are why most maintain a diverse mix of energy sources and fuels. Co-op members can help by taking steps to reduce their own energy use. The less power we all use, the less the power producers will have to generate.
Third world countries aren’t capable of producing the electricity that businesses and people need. The attacks on fossil fuels, with nothing but computer models to justify them, are turning us into one. Why would businesses, and therefore jobs, locate in a state where insufficient electricity can shut down operations? Since the Illinois unemployment rate is higher than that of all surrounding states, could Pritzker’s attacks on fossil fuels be partially to blame? How is he planning on charging the electric vehicles he wants you driving?
On Saturday these were the turbines close to my house. They were generating ZERO electricity because there wasn’t enough wind. According to the article, the wind has to be at least 13 miles an hour. Barely turning turbines mean it wasn’t.
A good article Diane! Thanks.
There is a very low probability that the world can reach the climate alarmist’s required goal of net zero by 2050. It has been estimated that the cost could be as high as $250 trillion dollars with poor countries not being able to cope with the requirement of no fossil fuels.
We need to abandon this foolish agenda now and start over. As you say we should focus our time and money on conservation and rewarding innovation, but not shutting down fossil fuel production as if this thing will work.
Democrats do a great job of wasting taxpayer dollars on problems that don’t exist. You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time. However these days, seems like you can fool all of the Democrats all of the time! What happens when we run out of other people’s money???
Government prints more!
Its why the Byron, IL nuclear power plant has not been closed despite bloviating politicians. It is too critical for the grid in Northern Illinois. Illinois politicians stick their noses in to everything except their basic responsibilities.
Taxing bodies, farmers, politicians and land owners LOVE em $$
ughh – exonomic development my foot
CO2 causing climate change is one of their BIG lies. CO2 is such a small percentage of the atmosphere that reducing it isn’t going to affect climate. If CO2 was such a problem, the climate alarmists like Bill Gates and Al Gore wouldn’t be flying private jets. They try to justify their private jets by claiming they are buying carbon offsets like that is going to do anything. Also, if rising sea levels were a problem, they wouldn’t be building beachfront homes. They really think everyone is stupid and will believe whatever lies they come up with.
Wind and solar farms are simply folly. They are not consistent or dependable, and will never match the output of conventional electrical generation. I have been contacted several times about having solar panels installed on the roof of my house. Each time, the answer is no. They still keep calling and have become increasingly belligerent when I say no. It won’t surprise me in the future if they give me an ultimatum of either installing the solar panels or disconnecting my service.