DailyDirt: Thanks For The Free Energy, Sun
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
The world economy still largely depends on fossil fuels for energy, and nuclear energy isn't exactly popular after decades of use. Until we figure out nuclear fusion, if we want to reduce our dependence on hydrocarbons, we're going to need to ramp up renewable energy sources from solar and wind. Solar energy capacity seems to be growing robustly, but apparently, there are still some bugs to work out.- Solar farms in California are producing "too much" electricity in the spring and fall -- and the solution so far is to just turn them off. This problem of "excess" renewable energy isn't expected to get better as more solar energy is added to the grid, but hopefully, the state of California will figure out a better way to balance the electrical supply and demand (such as exporting the solar power to nearby states or storing the energy in large batteries). [url]
- Los Angeles might have some problems with blackouts this summer due to that enormous gas leak that was only somewhat recently plugged. That natural gas leak shut down one out of 17 natural gas facilities in the area, but the other facilities may need to be taken offline for safety inspections -- and unfortunately, renewable energy sources and other power plants can't handle the peak electricity demands during hot LA summers. [url]
- China has become the nation with the highest amount of solar energy producing capacity -- 43.2 gigawatts -- compared to 2nd place Germany at 38.4 gigawatts and the US with 27.8 gigawatts. Solar capacity numbers don't exactly translate into how much energy is expected to be produced (or actually will be produced), but more is presumably better. [url]
Filed Under: blackouts, energy, fossil fuels, natural gas, renewable energy, solar, solar farms
