Environment & Energy

NeoGreen

(4,031 posts) Fri Feb 2, 2018, 01:40 PM Feb 2018

Arizona looks at 80% clean power target, 3-GW storage goal

https://renewablesnow.com/news/arizona-looks-at-80-clean-power-target-3-gw-storage-goal-600345/

Arizona looks at 80% clean power target, 3-GW storage goal
February 1 (Renewables Now)

A proposal for energy policy reform in Arizona would set a goal for the state to generate 80% of its electricity from clean energy sources by 2050 and a 3-GW energy storage target by 2030.

The Energy Modernization Plan was presented this week by Arizona Corporation Commissioner Andy Tobin with the hope it would be considered by the commission at a meeting on February 6-7.

The proposed storage target is the largest in the US. "Living in a desert like we do, our goal has to be to address peak demand," Tobin says. "Reducing usage in these peak windows will save Arizonans millions of dollars, but we also think we can do it in a way that is clean and maintains grid reliability," he adds.

The Corporation Commission passed the state's Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff (REST) more than a decade ago and according to Tobin it is time for a change as the energy landscape is totally different now. "It’s no longer enough to just install solar panels as quickly as possible. We need to pair these resources with new technology to maximize their effectiveness and maintain stability," Tobin says.

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Arizona looks at 80% clean power target, 3-GW storage goal (Original Post) NeoGreen Feb 2018 OP

We've had 50 years of "by 'such and such a date'" predictions for so called "renewable energy." NNadir Feb 2018 #1

NNadir

(33,520 posts)

1. We've had 50 years of "by 'such and such a date'" predictions for so called "renewable energy."

Reply to NeoGreen (Original post)

Fri Feb 2, 2018, 08:36 PM

Feb 2018

I'm an old man. My whole adult life there's been one "such and such a date" predictions about so called "renewable energy"

Here's one from 1995 predicting that "by 2020" the world will be producing 4900 TWh of solar energy: Diffusion and Learning Curves of Renewable Energy Technologies

That would have been 17.6 exajoules, had it happened, still a trivial amount, but almost twice as much as solar and wind combined are producing right now.

From 2000 to 2016 solar and wind combined grew to a total of 9.4 exajoules out of 576 exajoules humanity is consuming.

In the same period coal energy rose by more than 60 exajoules to 157 exajoules.

More than two trillion dollars was spent on solar and wind in the same period.

The carbon dioxide concentration of the atmosphere is now roughly 409 ppm, whereas it was in the low 380's 10 years ago. It will be well over 410 by May of 2018, well over.

Still we hear "by such and such..." renewable energy will be great.

It hasn't been great, it isn't great and it will never be great. It's a dangerous fantasy, that is great at generating predictions, wishful thinking and soothsaying, but poor at producing energy.

It won't even be "renewable" since the world can't sustain the mining that low energy to mass systems require.

Unless we stop lying to ourselves about this, the rapid disintegration of our environment - now underway - will accelerate to even higher levels that the unbelievable levels we now observe.

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