"Alfalfa" (alfalfa-romeo)
01/05/2015 at 08:18 • Filed to: None
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"Alfalfa" (alfalfa-romeo)
01/05/2015 at 08:18 • Filed to: None | 0
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We're all pretty familiar with the recent study about coal producing electricity for electric cars and air pollutants, etc. But here in Salt Lake City, experts have basically said it !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
A little background here first, so you can understand where they're coming from, because they do kind of have a point:
Colder weather means denser air, and denser emissions. With all of the people in the Salt Lake Valley, this means a lot of emissions clouds that don't get as high as they do in the summer. Which means they can't get over the surrounding mountains, which means that sometimes, you get a dismal grey cloud over everything, until it either warms up or rains. This is known as an inversion. What they're saying in this article is for people not to worry about air quality, because all of the coal producing plants (from which Utah gets about 80% of its energy) are outside of the valley.
Now, I do believe that they have a point. The air doesn't gather in clouds and effect your health as much in open areas. But the article really comes off as saying "Don't worry, it's not our problem."
The Transporter
> Alfalfa
01/05/2015 at 08:30 |
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Greenhouse gases ain't care what valley you're in.
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Alfalfa
> The Transporter
01/05/2015 at 08:33 |
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They don't believe in greenhouse gasses here in Utah. It was invented by liberals to keep Americans down.
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The Transporter
> Alfalfa
01/05/2015 at 08:42 |
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Maybe not, but greenhouse gases believe in them.
deekster_caddy
> Alfalfa
01/05/2015 at 08:55 |
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It's up to the people to vote in lawmakers who are interested in pursuing energy cleanup to make a change to the coal plants.
What's nice about EVs is that as soon as the energy production gets cleaner, the EV gets 'cleaner'. The amount of electricity EVs are using is still negligible compared to people's air conditioners, etc. Most EV drivers charge overnight during off peak and high waste production hours, so that helps too.
PowderHound
> deekster_caddy
01/05/2015 at 10:25 |
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not here. Church run government!
BaconSandwich is tasty.
> deekster_caddy
01/05/2015 at 12:14 |
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Not only that, but there are relatively clean ways of making electricity - e.g.: solar, geothermal, and to a certain extent, nuclear. I don't really know of any clean ways of making/processing hydrocarbon based fuels.
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deekster_caddy
> BaconSandwich is tasty.
01/05/2015 at 12:21 |
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Yup. In a couple years, once my car and recent house construction is paid off, I'm going after a large solar array for my house. If I can get my electric bill into the negative, I can look at changing things like my hot water heater from gas to electric too. The town I'm in won't approve a system that provides larger than 20% more than my current total (average annual) usage, so I'll have to leave a lot of lights on for the next couple years ;)
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BaconSandwich is tasty.
> deekster_caddy
01/05/2015 at 12:29 |
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Gotta love how lobbying has stifled things. I'd love to live out in the country for that reason - less regulations. I'm not sure if my city has any sort of regulations on solar installations. It wouldn't surprise me if they did, though.
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deekster_caddy
> BaconSandwich is tasty.
01/05/2015 at 12:43 |
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It's usually controlled by the electric department or power company. In our case, the electric utility (a local 'municipal' provider) has to approve any solar system plans as well as the building inspector. The oversizing limit is a restriction from the power company so they don't have to make big changes to their transformers, etc because the houses along the supply routes are turning into suppliers... The power company also won't pay more than they pay their 'regular' wholesale providers back to the customer for oversupply.
The municipal power provider does a lot of good things, so I can't complain too much about this detail. They paid for my 220V charger, their rates are much more reasonable than the large statewide provider, they make repairs quickly... lots of good things about this small company, so I have no complaints about their solar policy!
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BaconSandwich is tasty.
> deekster_caddy
01/05/2015 at 12:57 |
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Ah, that makes a bit more sense. I was thinking that they wouldn't let you install a solar setup that would provide more than 20% of your average power consumption (i.e.: you would not be legally allowed to reduce your own power bill by more than 20%). It makes sense that they wouldn't want to upgrade a bunch of infrastructure if they can help it.
Last summer, here in Alberta we set a new record-high for the amount of electricity used. We had a few days of +30 C weather, and everyone was running their air conditioners. On a perfect sunny day like that, solar makes an insane amount of sense. I'd love to buy a good chunk of land and set up a solar farm between two remote towns - Hanna and Brooks. The land out that way is very arid, so it's not even that great for letting cattle graze on it. Of course I don't have a spare few million to throw at it, and no one around here seems to like the idea of an investment that doesn't turn a profit for 10+ years. Really though, it's just a matter of time before someone with the foresight and money does it. They could totally sell the electricity back to the grid at those peak times and make a killing.