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by dublin 2855 days ago
Your face may be dry, but it will be in the dark. There is quite simply NO KNOWN TECHNOLOGY that can cost effectively meet peak demands other than fossil fuel plants. The people that build the natural gas peaker plants that California will MUST have for grid stability will make a fortune, and be painted as the "bad brown energy guys" even though they'll actually be saving the entire grid from collapse.
2 comments
toomuchtodo 2855 days ago
PG&E is replacing peakers with batteries: https://electrek.co/2018/06/29/tesla-pge-giant-1-gwh-powerpa... (Tesla and PG&E are working on a massive ‘up to 1.1 GWh’ Powerpack battery system)

Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Storage Analysis backing up the financial viability: https://www.lazard.com/media/450338/lazard-levelized-cost-of...

Citation of how much quicker utility battery storage can react to frequency response needs: https://electrek.co/2018/04/09/tesla-giant-battery-system-pr... (Tesla’s giant battery system gets praised by energy market operator: ‘rapid, accurate, and valuable’)

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village-idiot 2855 days ago
I'll never understand people that worship fossil fuels.
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toomuchtodo 2855 days ago
In America, there is a perception that our self-worth is dependent on our jobs. To you, fossil fuels are filthy and environmentally dangerous (they are). To those who work in the industry, it's a way of supporting themselves, their families, and it's a craft (and associated skills) they might be proud of (roughnecks on an oil field, product pipe installers/maintainers, coal/steam/natural gas installers/maintenance techs/operators).

So, like all issues, it's not black and white, but many shades of gray. Our jobs are not who we are, and we need systems in place to help transition those who are in industries that are harmful and in their sunset period to industries that have a future, while ensuring these new jobs provide enough compensation that people can live.

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village-idiot 2855 days ago
See, as a software engineer I just can't quite identify with this.

On one hand, I understand taking pride in your work. I view what I do as a craft, and I take pride in being good at what I do.

On the other hand, there's nothing better than taking a weak and hobbled system out back and finishing it off.

If my opinions applied to power production, I'd be proud to help decom a coal plant and install a brand spanking new nuclear or solar plant.

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toomuchtodo 2855 days ago
> If my opinions applied to power production, I'd be proud to help decom a coal plant and install a brand spanking new nuclear or solar plant

Would you feel the same way if you went from making $100k /year to $50k/year doing this? That's part of the problem. You have to be okay taking a substantial paycut, or losing your job entirely, when you decomm the previous system. Not that same as doing so when you're a software engineer.

Single income in your family and having to start out from scratch? Of course people are going to cling to their chance at a middle class life by their fingernails in a fossil industry job.

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village-idiot 2855 days ago
That's fair.
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