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Tuesday, July 30, 2019

The Potential Huge Cost of "Deep Decarbonization"

The Green New Deal
( aka "Green Ordeal" )
reads like a new
communist manifesto.

Read about it here,
if you don't believe me:



Since the announcement 
of the Green New Deal (GND), 
several studies attempted 
to quantify the energy-cost of 
forced, near-term decarbonizing 
of the electric grid:

Decarbonizing 
the electric grid 
is part of the GND’s 
overall energy plan. 

The GND intends 
to decarbonize 
transportation 
and buildings too.

Black & Veatch study for SoCalGas: 
= $3 Trillion just for CA; 
= $25 Trillion extrapolated to entire U.S. 
( not adjusted for different weather
in states outside of Califoprnia )    

ICF study for AGA: 
= $0.6 to $1.2 Trillion;
= $14.8 to $30 Trillion extrapolated 
for remaining 96% of the U.S,
per EPA’s “Inventory of U.S.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions 
and Sinks"

And $25 to $30 trillion 
might not be a worst-case 
scenario. 

The estimates do not account
for cold weather emergencies, 
such as “polar vortexes” and
“bomb cyclones,” both causing 
huge peak loads that could not be
supplied by renewables plus batteries.

Wind turbines ice up when it gets 
polar vortex-level cold, and 
then are routinely shut down.

Solar photovoltaics 
have lower efficiency 
when covered with 
dust and dirt,
and perform less well 
when covered in snow.

Battery storage capacity 
is measured in hours 
-- a polar vortex 
can last for days.

Batteries also lose 
their storage capacity 
as the temperature 
gets colder.

Charging batteries
(especially lithium batteries ) 
can cause problems
when it’s freezing cold.




And what would it cost 
to transform a typical
private residence 
from gas appliances
to electric? 

Retrofitting electric panels 
and wiring to accommodate 
electric appliances., 
is another potential cost.

A recent study funded by 
the California Building Industry 
Association (CBIA), “Cost of 
Residential Electrification”. said:
"Homeowners would 
need to pay roughly $4,600 
to upgrade their wiring 
and electric panel" 
[ in addition to the cost 
of buying new electric appliances ].

"Deep decarbonization, 
through electrification"
would have huge costs,
especially for batteries
required to maintain 
an electric grid, where
there would otherwise
be no electricity available

during a windless night.