Russ Steele
Willis Eschenbach in a Guest Post at Watts Up With That on the challenges of balancing the energy produced by the wind and the water.
To met legislative demand of wind and solar, we will have to throw away the hydro that is available from our 61 foot snow pack. Only in California do we consider hydro power as not renewable, because the global warming nut's and flake's computer models told them that Sierra snow pack, as we know through out 80 years of history will never happen again. Willis has the details here, but he concludes:
Of course, since regional planners all bought into the “we’ll never ever see winter again” mantra sold by the AGW alarmists, nobody was planning for a winter like this one. There was 61 feet of snow at some points in the Sierras, the reservoirs are full and over, we’re going to have more than enough water to generate plenty of power.
But none of that waterpower, not a drop, counts towards the California 33% renewables quota. So despite having already reached the 2020 goal of 33% renewables, here we are “between wind and water”. The utilities will all have to buy expensive wind power in preference to cheap water power … and then we can’t just release the water because it’s low in oxygen and will harm the fish, so then we’ll have to generate the power anyway and give the power away … that’s hell of a resource-management and conservation plan there, guys. Gotta love California.
Exit Question: Are you really proud of our legislative idiots in Sacramento, who declared that hydro is not a renewable and snow packs are history?
