A Reliable, Pure New Energy Power System

U.S. can get to 100% clean energy with wind, water, solar and zero nuclear, Stanford professor says

Catherine Clifford, December 21, 2021 (CNBC)

“…Transitioning to a clean-energy grid should happen by 2035, [according to Mark Jacobson, a Stanford professor of civil and environmental engineering and the director of its Atmosphere/Energy Program]…with at least 80% of that adjustment completed by 2030…[His newest work includes] granular data for how much heat will be needed in buildings in every state for the coming two years in 30-second increments…[It also makes use of] battery-storage technology to compensate for the inherent intermittency of solar and wind power generation…

click to enlarge

The Achilles’ heel of a completely renewable grid, many argue, is that it is not stable enough to be reliable. Blackouts have become a particular concern, notably in Texas this year and during the summer of 2020 in California…[Jacobson argues four-hour batteries are] a way to generate grid stability…To get more than four hours of charge, multiple four-hour batteries can be stacked to discharge sequentially. If a battery needs more charge output at one time than the battery can provide, then the batteries need to be used simultaneously…[This makes it] possible to transition to a fully renewable system without any blackouts or batteries with ultra-long-duration battery technology…

click to enlarge

…Planning, of course, is also key to keeping the grid stable…Also, there needs to be changes in pricing structures to motivate customers to do high energy demand activities at off-peak times…[There is stronger support for including other technologies like advanced nuclear in planning but Jacobson argues] the timeline for getting some of these technologies to commercialization is too long to be useful…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet