QUICK NEWS, September 4: Harvey As ‘Global Warning’; Wind Power Served All Through Harvey; About The Solar Stock Flip-Flop
Harvey As ‘Global Warning’ Houston: A Global Warning; The devastation of Hurricane Harvey marks a turning point and raises the terrible possibility that we’ve entered the age of climate chaos
Jeff Goodell, August 31, 2017 (Rolling Stone)
“…[T]he horrific damage wrought by Hurricane Harvey was an almost entirely man-made catastrophe, one fingerprinted by all-too-human neglect, corruption and denial…[Hurricane Harvey’s biblical torrent was] the worst rainfall event ever in the continental U.S…[and] it's wrong to dismiss Harvey as a purely "natural" event…
…[T]hanks to increasing carbon pollution, the waters in the Gulf of Mexico, over which Harvey formed, were about five degrees higher [in temperature] than average…[so] there is more water vapor in the air…[and] the warmer waters tend to intensify a hurricane's gales…[Also, the Gulf’s higher sea levels] mean bigger storm surges… In the 1990s, climate scientist Wallace Broecker said that the Earth's climate was ‘an angry beast’ and that by dumping massive quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere, we were ‘poking it with sticks’…Harvey is the third 500-year flood to hit the Houston area in the past three years…
…Eventually, taxpayers in Kansas will get tired of bailing out people who live on the coast, and disaster-relief funds will dry up. As seas rise, mortgage companies will stop writing 30-year loans for homes by the sea. Bond ratings for cities will fall. Coastal roads will be washed away. Airports will be flooded. And the great coastal retreat will begin…We've spent 40 years denying the risks of climate change, thinking that if we can just get everyone to buy a Prius and recycle their plastic, everything will be OK. The message of Hurricane Harvey is that it will not be OK…Mother Nature is coming for us.” click here for more
Wind Power Served All Through Harvey Harvey Pushed This Texas Wind Farm All the Way to the Max
Brian Eckhouse, August 31, 2017 (Boomberg News)
“…Pattern Energy Group Inc.’s Gulf Wind farm in Texas remained in operation even as Hurricane Harvey devastated the state with a deluge of rain and winds that reached 130 miles an hour. The 283-megawatt power plant…[is about 85 miles from] where the storm crashed into the coast…Fortunately, it’s to the south. Harvey made landfall [to the] northeast...The storm is responsible for at least 30 deaths and estimates for the economic impact have climbed to $90 billion…Too much wind -- usually above 55 miles per hour -- means turbines must be shut down. Gulf Wind experienced gusts of about 50 miles an hour, just below the threshold, and had sustained maximum production for much of the first 36 hours of the storm…Maximum production typically happens when wind speeds reach between 26 and 30 miles an hour…Other wind farms that were forced to shut down are now back online…Wind often supplies about 20 percent or more of the power in Texas during the windiest parts of the day, according to grid operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas. That slipped to about 13 percent on Aug. 26, when Harvey hit…[but most projects were back at virtually full power within days]…” click here for more
About The Solar Stock Flip-Flop Solar energy stocks tanked today, but don't blame the total eclipse, analysts say
Tom DiChristopher, 21 August 2017 (CNBC)
“Solar energy stocks mostly dropped [with increased trading volume during the eclipse] but analysts say this is likely a case of correlation, not causation…[V]olume in the broader market was relatively low…Jinkosolar — a maker of solar cells, panels and mounting systems — fell 10 percent. Canadian Solar was also down nearly 10 percent…The Guggenheim Solar exchange-traded fund was down 2.3 percent...[It is more likely the start of a trade case] that threatens to slap imported solar panels with new tariffs, analysts said…[A petition to federal authorities from U.S. solar panel makers Suniva and World Solar asked for] protection from low-cost panels made overseas…New tariffs would benefit U.S.-based solar panel makers but could hurt the companies that install them and the utilities that draw power from them, as higher prices for the panels crimp demand…” click here for more
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