What do the new CAFE standards mean for the Z?

FlashBazbo · 05-21-2009, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wstar

I don't think it's as bad as you think. New nuke plants are already getting traction, you can google about it, it's happening. If demand starts spiking due to electric cars (which will be gradual anyways), power companies will simply make their rates more progressive, charging more for peak than off-peak usage, encouraging people to charge their cars overnight when demand is typically lower. A lot of metro areas are also looking at incentive programs to start making the grid more resilient. Think solar panels on everyone's house to feed the downtown office buildings during the day, etc.

You don't understand the grid. (I work in the industry.) Our antiquated grid NEEDS off-peak to keep the equipment together. It can't take peak load around the clock. And accepting tiny amounts of power from multiple sources is a lot bigger physics problem than people realize. You don't just plug in a new source. It impacts the balance of the entire system. And if something goes wrong, it gets ugly in a hurry. (The major U.S. blackouts of the last couple of decades have almost all been minor small-source issues that took big grids out of balance, and off-line.)

And the last nuke plant permitted in the U.S. took (hold your breath) THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS just for the permitting process. $78.5 million JUST FOR THE PERMITTING (with no money coming in)! Then, they shut down the project.

Power generation is a lot harder than the bureaucrats realize.