TN Note:Â Sustainable Development and Green Economy (aka Technocracy) was supposed to save the world from global warming. Alternative energy sources like solar and wind, were touted as global salvation for cheap energy. Obviously, it was not well thought out as solar and wind companies are in a state of collapse. The power grid requires a steady and predictable stream of energy in order to operate properly; both solar and wind are unpredictable and depend on weather conditions to perform.Â
Solar power is causing damage to California’s electrical grid and could lead to blackouts this summer, but the state’s plan to solve the problem is vehemently opposed by The Sierra Club.
The state was forced to shut down its solar farms on March 27 because they were producing more electricity than Californians needed. Grid operators say this damaged the power grid, and the system will be incredibly vulnerable to damage and blackouts this summer because of excess solar power.
The operator’s proposed solution is to merge its power grid with PacifiCorp, Oregon’s electrical utility, which has access to many more reliable coal power plans that could offset the unreliability of California’s solar systems.
“It’s constantly solving a constant problem, meaning you’re always trying to balance,” Nancy Traweek, who directs system operations for California’s electrical grid, told KQED Science Monday. “All of a sudden you have a major cloud that comes over a solar field. That [power] needs to come from somewhere else immediately. When it gets really bad, now we really got to start cutting as much as we possibly can. If that’s not done, then you could have a blackout.”
The country has already dialed down coal power plants and solar farms to their minimum load requirements in an attempt to advert disaster, but there has already been damage to the grid and, subsequently, power interruption
In order for the power grid to function, demand for energy must exactly match supply. Solar power runs the risk of providing either too much energy or not enough, as it cannot easily adjust output. Adding green power, which only provides power at intermittent and unpredictable times, makes the power grid more fragile, especially in developing countries. Power demand is relatively predictable, and conventional power plans, like nuclear plants and natural gas, can adjust output accordingly as they put out a steady and predictable supply of electricity.
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