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North Central Illinois | The Texas governor and conservatives in general were quick to blame windmills and solar panels for the debacle in Texas. I was one of those who initially assumed that renewable energy was to blame. While it probably played a very small part it was far from one of the main culprits. It sounds like a combination of thing lead to this train wreck. First off, when Texas deregulated and basically formed their own grid independent of the rest of the country that created some unintended vulnerabilities. Operators of power plants were unprepared for this type of cold and thus had equipment troubles that they have rarely experienced. Moisture in gas lines, freezing valves, and coal plants having issues getting coal into the burners were just a few of the problems that have come to light. I am told that windmills in southern areas have different turbine cooling systems than those in colder climates so that was an issue. Solar panels obviously had snow and ice on them too. It all added up to a big mess but renewable energy was not really the main cause or really even a secondary one. It does raise a good question though. What would it look like if everybody was also trying to charge their electric cars while this was going on? I guess gas was hard to come by also but it still poses a pretty legitimate question. | |
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alternate energy sources
