Renewables 2025

[Hamloc]

You are really reaching, the outhouse costs ZERO, your phucking solar/bird grinders are crazy expensive....PLUS PLUS we need gas/coal/nuke to backstop the intermittent unreliable green SHYT!

The most ridiculous part is Chuck2 thinks that wind farms are a technological advancement. Yesterday morning Alberta’s windmills were producing at less than 10% of capacity, by mid day the windmills were up over 40% of capacity but by evening they were down to about 12% of capacity and this morning under 10% capacity. Modern plumbing on the other hand is a technological advancement as it is available 24 hours a day. Wind generation is more like a party line, to meet demand 2 sometimes 3 sources are required to meet the demand.

[chuckChuck]

Every body knows they are intermittent!

So why do North Dakota and Texas have so much wind energy if they are not technologically advanced there Hamloc?

Have heard of storage and backup sources?

Try to get over your mental block that you can have wind and and other sources!

It's not one or the other!

[blackpowder]

Texas Net Electricity Generation by Source, November 2020^{[1] ([url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_Texas#cite_note-EIA-1[/url])}

1. Petroleum - fired (0.01%)
2. Natural gas - fired (44.8%)
3. Coal - fired (19.0%)
4. Nuclear (9.90%)
5. Renewable - Hydroelectric (0.40%)
6. Other renewable - solar, wind, etc. (25.9%)

Sources of North Dakota utility-scale electricity generation in gigawatt-hours, full-year 2024:^{[1] ([url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_power_stations_in_North_Dakota#cite_note-eiaco-1[/url])}

1. Coal: 23,171 (53.6%)
2. Wind: 15,030 (34.8%)
3. Natural gas: 2,869 (6.64%)
4. Hydroelectric: 2,074 (4.80%)
5. Petroleum: 44 (0.10%)
6. Other gases: 28 (0.06%)

In 2023 Alberta produced 74% of its electricity through natural gas ([url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas[/url]).^{[1] ([url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generating_stations_in_Alberta#cite_note-:8-1[/url])} Alberta has a deregulated electricity market^{[2] ([url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generating_stations_in_Alberta#cite_note-2[/url])} which allows a large number of private companies to participate in electricity production, particularly in the cases of cogeneration and renewable energy. Alberta's electricity mix is changing towards lower carbon intensity. As of 2013, Alberta's electricity was 52% coal, 38% natural gas and 10% renewable. Ten years later in 2023, this had changed to 74% gas, 8% coal, and 18% renewable.^{[1] ([url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generating_stations_in_Alberta#cite_note-:8-1[/url])} As of June 18, 2024, Capital Power announced that the last coal capable generator was now 100% natural gas-fueled and coal was no longer a source of electricity in Alberta.^{[3] ([url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generating_stations_in_Alberta#cite_note-3[/url])} Alberta has a legislated goal of achieving 30% renewable electricity by 2030.^{[ ([url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generating_stations_in_Alberta#cite_note-4[/url])}

[Hamloc]

Every body knows they are intermittent!

So why do North Dakota and Texas have so much wind energy if they are not technologically advanced there Hamloc?

Have heard of storage and backup sources?

Try to get over your mental block that you can have wind and and other sources!

It's not one or the other!

Why do North Dakota and Texas have so much wind energy? Pretty simple, they have lots of wind..I remember my Dad and Mom went to North Dakota to visit relatives when I was a kid. All Dad talked about when he got home was the relentless wind. So really has nothing to do with technology, it is about maximizing available resources. I have nothing against wind and solar. What gets my back up is government subsidizing the less economic source, at the same time taxing, penalizing, and legislating against the more affordable and abundant source.

In 2023 China’s GHG emissions increased by 565 megatonnes, for a total of 12.6 gigatons In 2023 Canada’s total GHG emissions was 694 megatonnes. It takes almost 18 years for Canada to produce as many GHG’s as China does in 1 year. We better triple our Carbon tax to save the earth! What a ridiculous joke.

[blackpowder]

Some of our coal plants were allowed to fall into disrepair.
If I remember, others were paid by us to shut in early.
It would look very different if we didn't have the abundance of gas.
We might be the only NA jurisdiction that paid to prematurely shut in coal while subsidizing wind/solar.
Properly done it shouldn't have cost us anything. Lack of foresight by Cons and lack of brains by NDP.
Reliable fossilized solar will carry the load until a reliable, affordable technology is developed to replace it.
Govt meddling always costs more in the end. Hopefully the facts I posted counters the lazy mention of ND and TX to prove anything at all.

[blackpowder]

TX power bills don't look any cheaper than ours.
ND with 54% coal comes in at half.
Large modern facilities with low population.
Administration and distribution costs vary.
QC (hydro) cheapest in NA and they export it and still collect a huge transfer payment.

[shtferbrains]

"Why do North Dakota and Texas have so much wind energy? Pretty simple, they have lots of wind."

Chuck, this pretty well sums up why all the different energy sources are installed where they are.
You love to point out that Alberta pays more into Equalization because the have what is referred to as a "Geographic gift". They have an advantage that others don't have and never will.
Canada has been blessed with many geographic gifts, but they haven't been distributed equally.
Some regions have hydro that was developed 50+ yrs ago by some forward looking, strong willed provincial premiers. Notably Robert Bourassa, W.A.C. Bennett, and maybe Joey Smallwood, who pushed through huge Hydro projects that faced lots of controversy in the early 70's. Borrassa came in ahead of schedule and more or less on budget that was huge at that time.
Bennett built 6 big dams. Even Site C was pert of his plan, but took from 1981 till now to complete.
Those geographic gifts would never happen now, and for sure we don't have any politicians with the will to expend the political capital to take them on.
Clear policy decisions that were unpopular even when shown to be successful.

Canada is not in any geographic gift location for solar development,
That is all located below the 35th parallel in desert areas where sunshine is uninterrupted and totally predictable.
Any solar here is a policy decision, not due to any natural advantage.
We have many natural advantages in other geographic gifts,

I could go into many more examples of the logic that about everyone recognizes, but already to much.

Chuck will come back with his Whatabout Texas rebuttal.

[blackpowder]

Chuck should Google Malcolm Caldwell. There are lessons about reality and ideology.
One can break away from the other.

[chuckChuck]

In Republican Texas and update for 2025

By late 2025, Texas's renewable energy share (primarily wind and solar) was around
36-40% of its electricity generation, with estimates suggesting it hit 28% for the full year, as the state rapidly expanded solar and battery storage, becoming a leading US renewable energy developer. This growth significantly increased renewables' role on the grid, with solar even briefly surpassing coal in generation for a period, according to recent data.


Key Figures & Trends for Texas in 2025:

• Overall Share: Wind and solar combined met nearly 36% (through September) to 40% (through June) of ERCOT's (Texas grid) demand, notes Inside Climate News ([url]https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01112025/texas-grid-increasingly-meets-growing-demand-with-renewables/[/url]) and U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) (.gov) ([url]https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=66464[/url]).
• Solar's Rise: Solar farms captured a record 14% of the ERCOT generation mix from January to November, exceeding coal's 13% share, reports Reuters ([url]https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/texas-makes-clean-power-breakthrough-solar-output-overtakes-coal-2025-12-09/[/url]).
• Capacity Growth: Texas led the nation in adding new renewable and battery storage capacity, installing far more than California in 2024, according to this YouTube video ([url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZIE-78UZS0[/url]) and the Advanced Power Alliance ([url]https://poweralliance.org/2025/01/09/texas-tops-us-states-for-renewable-energy-and-battery-capacity/[/url]).

[fjlip]

Ya sure..