An Electric Power Industry Evolution – From Provider to Partner
This post was originally published on 8/19/2011 Scientific American’s blog, Plugged In. On February 1, 2011 a sudden cold snap and severe winter storms sent electricity demand in Texas through the roof. In a single hour, temperatures dropped almost 30 degrees. And, as temperatures dropped, the state’s power plants were unable to keep up with the growing demand. The resulting series of blackouts affected... Read More
Wind of Change (the movie)
My friend and fellow Longhorn, Axel Gerdau, is writing and co-producing a movie called “Wind of Change” about how Texas is making energy history – again – with wind power. Click on the picture below to see a teaser trailer for the movie. Wind of Change (Teaser Trailer) from Axel Gerdau on Vimeo. Read More
200 MW Solar Power Tower in Arizona
EnviroMission, and Australian company working in the US, will be constructing a 200 MW Solar Power Tower in Arizona. At a height of more than 800 meters, this tower will be twice the height of the Empire State Building. [Photo by afloresm - found using Creative Commons] Read More
Molecular-Level Energy Storage
This post was originally published on Scientific American’s blog, Plugged In on 7.25.11. When the sun dips below the horizon for the night, most solar panels become interesting roofing tiles, instead of valuable generation resources. During the day, a single cloud can quickly send residential solar power generators back to a fossil fuel-based grid for their electricity. This intermittency in... Read More
Saving Water with Wind
The post below was originally posted on Wednesday 7/6/2011 on Scientific American’s blog Plugged In. This year, residents of Austin, Texas celebrated their 4th of July with plenty of beer and BarBQ – but there were no fireworks over Lady Bird Lake as a burn ban prohibited even sparklers from being sold in the area. Texas has just moved through its driest 8-month period on record.... Read More
The Green Gym Generator(s)
Coming soon to Portland, Oregon – The Green Microgym – where energy spent is not energy lost. At this gym, when members jump on an elliptical machine or stationary bike, their sweat will make them into green gym generators that will supply electricity for the building. Between workouts and solar panels, the gym expects to generate about 36% of its own power needs. According to IEEE Spectrum,... Read More
The Numbers: Saving Water with Wind
Today I published my first post at my new home on Scientific American’s new blogging networt - Plugged In. This post, titled “Saving Water with Wind” explores how using wind power to offset thermoelectric power plants (for example coal, natural gas or nuclear) can lead to huge water savings. In this post I run through a lot of numbers. The calculations behind these numbers are... Read More
Texas Sets New Wind Record
On Sunday, June 19, 2011 Texas set a new record for wind generation. At 10:26pm, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) recorded 7,355 Megawatts (MW) of wind generation on the Texas grid. This generation represented 14.58% of the load at the time, which sat at 50,447 MW. The new record was announced by ERCOT’s CEO, Trip Doggett during last week’s ERCOT June Board Meeting. [Photo... Read More
The Winds of Change are Blowing in West Texas
This video was released in 2007 on CBS Sunday Morning News, but it still speaks today – when more than 10,000 MW of wind power has been installed in Texas. A wind boom that doesn’t seem to be slowing down. A transcript from this video can be found here. [Title photo by Chrishna. Used with permission.] Read More
100 Turbines in 100 Days – 300 MW of installed offshore wind
Wind power is generally discussed in two main applications – onshore or offshore. In Texas, we have worked to expand our onshore capacity, installing turbines (with a capacity on the order of 2 Megawatts) on land in west Texas and the Texas Panhandle. But, we have largely ignored offshore capabilities, where turbines would be installed on platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. There are many advantages... Read More
