The Ongoing Super Mega Weather Thread v3

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by chedder

Scientists are saying the warming of the planet (and subsequently less polar ice) is causing these polar vortices to dip down into where they haven't before instead of staying up north where they traditionally have.

They don't really know at this point:
https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2...20less%20solid.

Some scientists suggest this stretching is happening more often as the climate warms. And data gathered over two decades initially supported that theory.

“One school of research has found that warming in the Arctic may be causing weather weirding or torquing of the jet stream to pull cold air down more often and perhaps intensify cold and snow,” Henson says.

But he says over longer time scales, the connections are a little less solid.

“So that tends to argue for what we call natural variability,” he says.

So scientists are still debating the role of climate change in polar vortex disruptions. But Henson says no matter what, people should expect occasional extreme cold waves.

More info about the events:
http://www.climate.gov/news-features...c-polar-vortex

[Buff]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

https://twitter.com/user/status/1746357292075983008

There’s a little bit of good news, society coordinated towards a common goal

Flatten the curve!

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Acey

I'm sure Alberta's lack of nuclear is bureaucratic, have we ever been close to anything getting approved? Is there a tldr?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ener...ta_Corporation

[btimbit]

Can't find the tweet to link here since stupid xtwitter won't let me log in, but I just saw on reddit that the grid alert ended an hour ago

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Can't find the tweet to link here since stupid xtwitter won't let me log in, but I just saw on reddit that the grid alert ended an hour ago

Looking like another one tomorrow if the Supply Forecast is accurate.

[Acey]

Sask will bail us out again, no worries.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1746358945290019025

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Acey

Sask will bail us out again, no worries.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1746358945290019025

I have no problems with renewable energy. But you've gotta make it work.

If you have to fall back on the old stuff? That seems like a problem the Government has to sort out.

Oh! But they need to figure it out in advance, not when its too late like when its -36.

You cant electrify everything and then not have a plan to deliver that electricity.

Unless we all plan on adopting a British Orphan to shovel coal into our boilers.

[Acey]

The Twitter debate has been wild. I don't really have a dog in the fight, but the fans of green power claim that we're only here from not committing to green in the first place, oblivious to the fact that there is zero wind across the province currently, and the sun doesn't shine at 7 pm in Alberta in January.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Acey

The Twitter debate has been wild. I don't really have a dog in the fight, but the fans of green power claim that we're only here from not committing to green in the first place, oblivious to the fact that there is zero wind across the province currently, and the sun doesn't shine at 7 pm in Alberta in January.

And the obvious solution that they refuse to accept is to open a Nuclear plant.

No? Welp. Start shoveling coal.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Locke

I have no problems with renewable energy. But you've gotta make it work.

If you have to fall back on the old stuff? That seems like a problem the Government has to sort out.

Oh! But they need to figure it out in advance, not when its too late like when its -36.

You cant electrify everything and then not have a plan to deliver that electricity.

Unless we all plan on adopting a British Orphan to shovel coal into our boilers.

Originally Posted by Acey

The Twitter debate has been wild. I don't really have a dog in the fight, but the fans of green power claim that we're only here from not committing to green in the first place, oblivious to the fact that there is zero wind across the province currently, and the sun doesn't shine at 7 pm in Alberta in January.

Well we were/are in this position because two natural gas plants are offline. No one thinks we’re producing solar when it’s dark, or wind energy when it’s not windy. This isn’t because of Trudeau or NDP politics. It’s two natural gas plants that are offline, and obviously a lot of demand (because it’s both dark and cold).

And yeah, let’s get some nuclear power going. I hate that all this has become political though, because it really shouldn’t be. It’s a basic function for the province and there’s no opinion on this. We need heat/electricity and that’s that.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Slava

Well we were/are in this position because two natural gas plants are offline. No one thinks we’re producing solar when it’s dark, or wind energy when it’s not windy. This isn’t because of Trudeau or NDP politics. It’s two natural gas plants that are offline, and obviously a lot of demand (because it’s both dark and cold).

And yeah, let’s get some nuclear power going. I hate that all this has become political though, because it really shouldn’t be. It’s a basic function for the province and there’s no opinion on this. We need heat/electricity and that’s that.

I hate to be 'Captain Obvious' but its January in Alberta.

"Dark and Cold" sorta comes with the territory.

So...who decided that now was a great time for scheduled maintenance?

[PepsiFree]

The level of ignorant you have to be to look at Alberta in 2024, hear about power grid issues in January, and say, “So much for green energy, HUH?” is wild.

[Ozy_Flame]

Has Alberta tried capturing lighting through copper? Some people in Ottawa have some thoughts on this.

[Acey]

Am I right in assuming that, even with big investment, there's not a lot of additional power to be had from hydro in Alberta? If not hydro, trying to understand how we move forward for the bulk of power without gas.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Acey

Am I right in assuming that, even with big investment, there's not a lot of additional power to be had from hydro in Alberta? If not hydro, trying to understand how we move forward for the bulk of power without gas.

Last night was hilarious to me. Just shows how energy obese we are. One text that says, 'oh hai guys, can you shut off some lights?' and our problem was solved.

Clearly there are two aspects to our energy needs: generation and use. The less we use means the less we have to generate. I think we've all become absolutely ridiculous with the amount of power we use. Half my neighbours have really cute patio lights strung up all around their backyards they leave on 24/7/365.

We talk a ton about renewables vs natural gas vs coal vs hydro vs nuclear, but we really need to just stop wasting so much to figure out a baseline of what we actually need.

Wouldn't it be great to retrofit all light switches in office towers, homes, bathrooms...everywhere with motion activated lights, as a small example? Like, there are a bazillion things we could do at very little cost that we just won't do. Last night proves how fkn easy it is to slow our roll.

[Slava]

^The most obvious “dad solution”. The amount of time I must spend in a year going around after my family members turning off lights and such must be staggering. And then you factor in closing windows “so we’re not heating up the great outdoors!” And I could probably get back a week a year!

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Slava

Well we were/are in this position because two natural gas plants are offline. No one thinks we’re producing solar when it’s dark, or wind energy when it’s not windy. This isn’t because of Trudeau or NDP politics. It’s two natural gas plants that are offline, and obviously a lot of demand (because it’s both dark and cold).

Which two plants are you thinking were offline yesterday?

[Acey]

If "oh hai guys, emergency power crisis" forced onto every phone in the province only dumped around 100-200 MW, i.e. 1% of Alberta's capacity, it sounds like the problem is not solved.

[Acey]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Last night was hilarious to me. Just shows how energy obese we are. One text that says, 'oh hai guys, can you shut off some lights?' and our problem was solved.

If "oh hai guys, emergency power crisis" forced onto every phone in the province only dumped around 100-200 MW, i.e. 1% of Alberta's capacity, it sounds like the problem is not solved.

[psyang]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Which two plants are you thinking were offline yesterday?

The article I read said Sundance 6 and Milner were offline last night. One was an emergency outage and one was scheduled maintenance. Looks like they combine for a max of 700MW