2014-11-18

The Fall of Germany

I came across this video looking at various problems Germany has with its economy. The part about energy starts at 25:20.



Germany, like Spain and California, is going down the tubes because instead of adding solar power along with coal, nuclear, natural gas, wind, hydro, biofuels, etc., they're replacing efficient power sources with more expensive solar. The result is rising energy costs destroying the competitiveness of the economy.

This is the latest on the boneheaded strategy in California: HUGE SOLAR PLANT LAGS IN EARLY PRODUCTION
The largest solar power plant of its type in the world - once promoted as a turning point in green energy - isn't producing as much energy as planned.

One of the reasons is as basic as it gets: The sun isn't shining as much as expected.

Sprawling across roughly 5 square miles of federal desert near the California-Nevada border, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System opened in February, with operators saying it would produce enough electricity to power a city of 140,000 homes.

So far, however, the plant is producing about half of its expected annual output for 2014, according to calculations by the California Energy Commission.

.......Additional natural gas could also be needed to operate boilers when clouds thicken or to maintain output at the end of the day and extend the capability for power production, the company said.

"Because the plant requires sunlight to heat water and turn it to steam, anything that reduces the sunlight will affect steam conditions, which could damage equipment and potentially cause unsafe conditions," said the commission, which approved the request for increased gas use.

Fromer said it was surprising that so much additional gas is needed, adding that it "signals to me they have some very large problems that they are going to need to sort out."

Plants owners said they are learning on the fly to some extent.

"For some aspects of operation, the only way to fully understand how the systems work has been through the experience of operating," plant owners wrote in the request to increase gas use.
With any new technology there are bumps in the road, which is why it is insane to be replacing existing energy sources with alternatives such as wind and solar, instead of adding them. All it does is increase the use of other energy to make up for the shortfall, which in this case is natural gas. Further, the plant is most likely using natural gas less efficiently than one designed for natural gas.

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