Naas: Xcel acknowledges massive cost of 100 percent renewables

https://pagetwo.completecolorado.com...nt-renewables/

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In what can only be described as revealing (and unsurprising), a 2019 March presentation by Xcel Energy supports our concerns about the cost of transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy.

To prevent ratepayers from curtailing their daily electric usage, Xcel believes it will need eight to sixteen weeks of storage capacity. Keep in mind, this projection is based on its current footprint of 3.6 million electric customers living in service areas throughout eight states. Nevertheless, if Xcel Energy is to build enough storage to cover peak demand (2020 projections from Northern States Power, Public Service Company, and Southwestern Public Service) and last at least eight weeks (which is the low-end estimate) it will need to have close to 27 million megawatt hours of battery storage installed and online to prevent curtailment and maintain the status quo.

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Well.......No shit!

Or they could just randomly cut off service to paying customers like they do in California.

Last time I checked about 87% of electricity in the United States is still generated from coal. Almost 13% is from natural gas and less than 2% is generated from Nuclear sources. With big government having their hands all over energy production I don?t see any huge changes coming in my lifetime.

I recently saw a study that shows it costs me money to buy new tires and upgrade my laptop every two years. There is a study coming out soon about the potential cost of me moving into a bigger house on a larger piece of land. I have my fingers crossed that the results will be an overall cost savings.

Food was way cheaper in 1776. So was housing. You could even have three wives.

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Originally Posted by ray1970

Or they could just randomly cut off service to paying customers like they do in California.

Last time I checked about 87% of electricity in the United States is still generated from coal. Almost 13% is from natural gas and less than 2% is generated from Nuclear sources. With big government having their hands all over energy production I don?t see any huge changes coming in my lifetime.

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It's time for a refresher:
U.S. electricity generation by source, amount, and share of total in 2018

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Energy source Billion kWh Share of total
Total - all sources 4,171
Fossil fuels (total) 2,653 63.6%
Natural Gas 1,469 35.2%
Coal 1,146 27.5%
Petroleum (total) 25 0.6%
Petroleum liquids 16 0.4%
Petroelum coke 9 0.2%
Other gases 13 0.3%
Nuclear 807 19.4%
Renewables (total) 703 16.9%
Hydropower 293 7%
Wind 273 6.5%
Biomass (total) 58 1.4%
Wood 41 1.0%
Landfill gas 11 0.3%
Municipal solid waste (biogenic) 7 0.2%
Other biomass waste -1 <0.1%
Solar 64 1.5%
Photovoltaic 60 1.4%
Solar thermal 4 0.1%
Geothermal 16 0.4%
Pumped storage hydropower3 -6 -0.1%
Other sources3 13 0.3%

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A recently unearthed 2007 United States Geological Service survey appears to have discovered nearly $1 trillion in mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself.

https://www.mining.com/1-trillion-mo...n-afghanistan/


I just wonder if with solar and a big enough battery storage unit, could I go off the grid economically?

"Renewables" are bull manure.

Particularly when you're talking about things that man doesn't have the control to "renew".