Tech News

Clean energy operations should be promoted from the Biden hurricane system

United States’ resistance to power grid finally he finds some great promotions. Last week, Biden officials he announced a plan that, among other initiatives, will seek to bring more clean energy sources to the internet and install high-speed transmission lines across the country to carry power where it is needed.

On top of that, it can be seen that the system is simply building on the foundations Biden laid down for him he signs bipartisan law of construction in November. Some of the programs released last week focus on nitty-gritty colors that can make you look eye-catching, such as how you can improve the performance of re-cleaning white-collar services in public places and vague statements to help improve sanitation in rural areas. . But what is worth paying attention to is Biden’s goal of offshore wind energy, which is an important source of electricity in areas such as the northeastern US where there is no land and solar energy dependent on solar energy. This is where the new system goes from basics to ambitions, and it can be an indication of how governors want to address issues related to climate change, energy, and performance at the same time.

The production of offshore wind turbines works in much the same way as wind turbines operate on land (the wind turns the turbine leaves around the rotor, which rotates the generator to generate electricity) – coastal turbines only are located at sea several miles from the shore , where they can control the strong winds of the sea. These winds are some of the North Atlantic storms, which is why Biden’s authorities are looking forward to its first coastal experiments there.

To date, the US has only seven marine turbines – five on the inside windmills Block Island of Rhode Island, and two others were established as a test in Virginia. But on February 23, the federal government said so to sell storm surges lend to support facilities or offshore wind turbines in New York Bight, off the coast of New York and New Jersey. Owners of these rental properties will be able to set up wind farms in an area that produces 7 gigawatts – enough for about 2 million households – which would cost 600 to 700. electric generators.

“The coastal winds in the Western Hemisphere have never seen anything like it,” Mike Jacobs, an energy researcher at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Recode.

Coastal wind power has been used in Europe for a long time bound 25 gigawatts of high seaside power over the last few decades. The upcoming 7-gigawatt lease sale will bring renewable energy to the northeast in a profitable manner, and is the first of many: Biden government wants to increase coastal winds. 30 gigawatts by the year 2030. Although this is still a small fraction of the nearly 1,000 gigawatts Americans use each year, it would still be a boon that could help the country change from coal or gas power.

Most importantly, the Biden system does not only increase energy efficiency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; it also opens the door to a wealth built around pure power. Those 600 or 700 wind turbines will require people to build turbine equipment, ship it to the sea, and maintain it once installed. To that end, the White House and Transportation department plans to create about 80,000 wind turbines by 2030 by selling ports on the Eastern Seaboard – some as far away as Albany, New York, where parts of the turbine will be shipped. down the Hudson River to New York Bight.

“Supervisors seem to understand that power is the source of the integrated problem,” said Alexandra von Meier, director of electronics development. California Institute for Energy and Environment at UC Berkeley. “It has to do with people’s lives and work.”

It is also a politically correct move: Building the future of 80,000 jobs (approx twice the amount of coal in the country) going to the coast could hinder the process, say, a Republican victory in 2024. However, Biden’s plans may fail to take into account the outcome of the upcoming elections. Although the rental sale will take place in February, the permissive process alone may take three years, after which the construction of the turbines will take another two years. This is a good time for the anti-climate secretary with various political agendas to adopt and launch the policy.

Wind turbines at Block Island Wind Farm in Rhode Island, generating enough energy for 17,000 homes.
Don Emmert / AFP via Getty Images

Coastal winds have no rivals, either. In New England, local fishermen agreed by a group of oil companies in December to protest Vineyard Wind, an 84-turbine wind turbine in Cape Cod, Massachusetts; a lawsuit filed by a fishing industry. My turbines, fishermen say, can endanger marine life. They are also concerned that turbine towers could disrupt the radar, while protected areas near the turbines could jeopardize their ability to reach fishing grounds. The long-term effects of wind turbines on marine life are still unknown, but a learning in the North Sea in Europe they have shown the beginnings of turbines can be like rocks that make animals like mammals. Late last year, the Department of Energy given Duke University’s $ 7.5 million grant to study how oceanic winds affect marine ecosystems, the results of which should provide a more complete picture of how turbines can affect fishing. Currently, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is reviewing workarounds, which is why sales information The New York Bight includes facilities designed to help fishermen, such as the 2.8-mile (2.8 km) fishing line.

The problem does not end there: Even when wind turbines are built, and even if the impact on aquatic life is reduced, there must be somewhere to release the energy. Shipping cables – the strongest wires you see wrapped around metal cylinders in many parts of the country – are often built by regional shipping agencies, and Jacobs says it may not be enough to carry all the power generated by these new turbines. .

This is what Germany experienced in 2020, when a lack of transmission power Northern Germany means that the region has to send its wind power to neighboring countries instead. “He had a lot of storms that hit the beach,” Jacobs said. “Then the German production companies said, ‘Oh, we didn’t really plan this.’

The Biden government seems to want to prevent such things from happening in the United States. This is why Bipartisan Infrastructure Law incorporates funding for shipping methods, and supervisors announced that the Electricity Department is launching a project called Building a Better Grid that will serve as a kind of central authority in grid design. But it is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. These are often built in the US with local weapons, said Kyri Baker, an assistant professor of technical studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, and are often modified as soon as they fail to work.

“You can have all the clean power and all the power lines as high as you want,” Baker told Recode via email, “but without the regular distribution team, we still face the problem of dangerous power outages due to increasing weather events.”

However, von Meier still has hope. The combination of green energy and activity as well as new transmission technologies that can withstand climate change, he says, is an exciting first step. Biden’s management “understands the three-dimensional need for climate change, resilience, and justice. And I think they understand it as an opportunity to have the power to tackle all three together.”

The article was first published in the newspaper Recode. Sign in here so don’t miss the next one!


Source link

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button