1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

General News EPA shutting down electric power plants.

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by Bi in MD, Jun 8, 2015.

  1. PerfectlyNormal

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2014
    Messages:
    437
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    North Carolina
    Gender:
    Female (trans*)
    Sexual Orientation:
    Lesbian
    "Global warming does not exist"
    "Global warming is the exact opposite of what is happening"
    "It is not a problem"
    "It causes itself"
    - Liars

    It is good it was shut down, but where are the ten renewable plants to replace it?
     
  2. Andronas

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2014
    Messages:
    125
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    North Carolina
    +1. Necessity is the mother of all invention.
     
  3. Bi in MD

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2015
    Messages:
    417
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Annapolis MD
    Gender:
    Male
    Out Status:
    A few people
    And that right there is my point. global warming caused by man or not, is not the argument I have with shutting the plants down.
    I want to know what has been done to maintain the level of energy production when they were closed.
    face it, if you have a room full of engineers and task them with designing a better more efficient light bulb, you dont give them their goal, then turn the current lights out on them.
    you let them use the current wasteful lights to work under, then when they come up with the new bulb, you change them.
    same with power, don't cut the power needed to fuel the industries while they are developing the next era of energy production.
     
  4. AKTodd

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2013
    Messages:
    3,190
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    Norfolk, VA
    The U.S. Energy Information Administration tracks various aspects of the energy picture in the US, including capacity added, among other things.

    From various articles on their site:

    Half of power plant capacity additions in 2013 came from natural gas

    This article breaks down new capacity by type for 2013, and mentions that another 9210MW were added from natural gas in 2012.

    EIA projects modest needs for new electric generation capacity

    This article is technically a projection of future energy capacity (from the perspective of 2014) but the first several paragraphs include information on the average amount of capacity that was being added each year from 2000 to 2012. Note that the article talks in terms of tens of GW (giga-watts). For anyone who isn't familiar with the terminology, multiply these numbers by 1000 to get the amount in mega-watts (MW) that is used in the article referenced at the start of this thread.

    There's also this article that talks about electrical generating capacity across a number of years, including new plants started and plants retired from 2003-2011. Retiring power plants is not a new thing that is just starting up now.

    The site also includes an annual projection of future energy development, with the 2015 version including an estimate of the impact of the new clean air laws that are also discussed at the start of the thread. I also came across a study requested by Lamar Smith, Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology about the impact of the same clean air laws to be found here.

    I haven't had a chance to read the thing, but an interesting bit is the section on the impact of increased efficiency, which is not something we normally think of re power. Sometimes total energy use or creation of new capacity may decline for economic reasons, sometimes due to things like increases in efficiency among consumers or (as mentioned in one article), due to a boom in building wind turbines in order to meet a Federal deadline to get a tax credit or the like.

    Some interesting stuff.

    Anyway, to go back to the question at hand, new capacity has been being built on an ongoing basis (as have power plant retirements) for quite some time. In recent years, most of this has been in the natural gas sector, which I've seen mentioned in other articles on the web as having a very negative economic impact on coal.

    The upshot being that this is not a case of nothing new being built (even including a few new coal plants, presumably cleaner and more efficient since they would be new and use current technology) and suddenly a bunch being taken away. The overall process has not been static, but is continually in flux.

    Todd