Spain’s Green Energy Grid Failed. We Could Be Next.
Hey there friends! Below are the videos and articles I referenced in preparation for this week’s video commentary. Enjoy!
What Happened in Spain and Portugal?
Excellent Explanations About Monday's Spain/Portugal Blackouts - David Blackmon
An excellent explanation of how extreme levels of “renewable” energy sources, with their inherent lack of physical inertia to provide stability, created the fragility of the European grid.
Did Over-Reliance On Solar & Lack Of Grid Inertia Cause Spain’s Blackout? - Robert Bryce
Fellow Austinite Robert Bryce offers some accessible analogies for the issue of inertia in our power system.
The People Climate Activists Leave Behind - Robert Bryce at ARC
The Basics
A terrific beginner’s overview of the grid.
Transformers are super important and a major source of vulnerability in our power grid. This video explains how they work, getting nerdier, but no worse than high school physics.
Unreliable Renewables
A very accessible explanation of the current mix of energy sources and what it would take in theory to transition 100% to zero-carbon energy sources. His biggest blindspot is underplaying the unreliability/intermittency of Wind and Solar.
Great explanation of how wind turbines work, and why wind energy is such a problem for electrical grids.
David and Robert are great and I can confirm as someone who works in the industry you did a great job at explaining!
John - I recently viewed the following YouTube video about a decentralized energy grid as a possible energy grid solution. It seems really heavy on the solar panel side of the argument, but the decentralization aspect intrigued me. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on it, or could even consider it in a future update to this great video you did on our aging grid. Thanks. Here's the link to the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLIatO-RA1c
I'm a big fan, wish you had been around when my two boys were younger.
- Brian in San Diego