Energy production, storage, and future technologies

Really frustrating read on our power grid woes: https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-insane-heat-wave-shows-our-grid-isnt-ready-for-climate-change/

And of course, extreme weather of all kinds endangers the state’s electric grid, which is already stretched to its breaking point. At least one of the six power plants that shut down on Friday had postponed scheduled repairs after ERCOT asked facilities to stay online to deal with the heat wave. Disastrous power outages during Winter Storm Uri last year turned a spotlight on the grid’s flagging capacity. While ERCOT claims to have added more generating power since last year, experts say that’s still not enough.


“They’re not accounting for climate change in these estimates,” said Andrew Dessler, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University who in addition to studying the science of climate change has researched the state’s power grid. To predict demand, officials rely on data from the past 15 years. But given that the climate is changing, “that’s not a good way to predict what the future is going to be like,” he explained.


Dessler urged the grid operator to change its policies and procedures.


“Climate change to ERCOT is like Voldemort in Harry Potter; you can’t name it. They have to be able to say the words ‘climate change,’ they have to understand that climate change is going to be a factor. And they have to include that in their forecasts,” he said.

Like, we know this is all getting more severe. Heat waves, hurricanes, floods, you name it—all getting worse. Yet the issue—as with all the stupidest things in America and especially the dumbest problems in Texas—has been politicized to such a point to where the people who know what they're talking about can't even call "climate change" by its name.

For once in this state's cursed modern era, can someone in power please just put their big boy pants on and do SOMETHING to alleviate the problem, regardless of the political optics?! Grow a damn spine. We're roasting alive out here.
 
Storing heat in sand sound like something a viking in a sauna came up with:

 
 
Carbon +ve tech 🧙‍♂️
Stora Enso and Northvolt have entered into a Joint Development Agreement to create a sustainable battery featuring anode produced using lignin-based hard carbon produced from Nordic forest wood.

Lauri Lehtonen, who is head of innovation at the company's biomaterials division, explains the process and outlines the potential benefits for automakers.
 
Just came to post this. Fucking hell, in other countries they would be executing officials for this.
 
Just came to post this. Fucking hell, in other countries they would be executing officials for this.

Seems like great tech:
China builds the world’s largest lithium-free battery
An 800 MWh redox flow battery has been designed to buffer load peaks, bridge lulls and heat homes
 
I see that was from about 15 months ago. Do we know how it's going, and have/are they completing the expansion this year?
 
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