Thoughts on mega wind and solar projects

[WM75Guy]

Possibility of a new gas-fired power plant in West Texas to feed data centers. Would be one of the largest in the United States. Electricity wouldn't be sent to the commercial grid so it shouldn't impact consumers. I don't doubt that it will be built. Lots of new pipelines being put in the ground to carry the natural gas from our wells in West Texas.

Chevron and Microsoft Team Up for Giant Texas Gas Power Plant | OilPrice.com

 

[jyoutz]

BLM had a standoff with a rancher over grazing rights. That made news b/c militias came out with rifles and spotters. Just as they did. Surprisingly nothing happened but I wouldn't give BLM a pass.

If a congressman or any political figure is pushing certain agendas. You can dang near tie it to campaign contributions. The FDA is a disaster. Those guys just get hired by the corporations for the their contacts. There is a reason why we are the most unhealthy country in the world.

We have a problem when the president before trump talks about blowing up the nordstrom pipeline on TV. Then suddenly it blows up and nobody knows who did it? Astounding... What came after that. Higher prices for the american people since we then put our gas on the global market to then sell to europe.

In my eyes..... nothing is done for the people. ITs all about propping up corporations. They run the show. Certainly not us in our jacked up system.

That so-called “rancher” didn’t pay his grazing lease fees for many years, overgrazed the land with more head than permitted, and was such a bad operator that the state cattlemen’s association would not support him. BLM pulled his lease as they should have.

 

[jyoutz]

Possibility of a new gas-fired power plant in West Texas to feed data centers. Would be one of the largest in the United States. Electricity wouldn't be sent to the commercial grid so it shouldn't impact consumers. I don't doubt that it will be built. Lots of new pipelines being put in the ground to carry the natural gas from our wells in West Texas.

Chevron and Microsoft Team Up for Giant Texas Gas Power Plant | OilPrice.com

Makes sense. West Texas has gas pipelines every 500 feet across the land.

 

[ponytug]

Possibility of a new gas-fired power plant in West Texas to feed data centers. Would be one of the largest in the United States. Electricity wouldn't be sent to the commercial grid so it shouldn't impact consumers. I don't doubt that it will be built. Lots of new pipelines being put in the ground to carry the natural gas from our wells in West Texas.

Chevron and Microsoft Team Up for Giant Texas Gas Power Plant | OilPrice.com

There's the small fly in the ointment about how long the current back order list for gas fired turbines is at the moment, but as they say, "where there's a will, there's way", and both Chevron and Microsoft have deep pockets, so anything is possible.

Personally, I think that there is a lot of "planned data center" spaghetti being thrown at walls, but we will see how it all shakes out, and how it looks when the tide goes out.

All the best, Peter

 

[Phil Timmons]

There's the small fly in the ointment about how long the current back order list for gas fired turbines is at the moment, but as they say, "where there's a will, there's way", and both Chevron and Microsoft have deep pockets, so anything is possible.

Personally, I think that there is a lot of "planned data center" spaghetti being thrown at walls, but we will see how it all shakes out, and how it looks when the tide goes out.

All the best, Peter

Texas is where Really Big (and often) Really Dumb Projects come to die.

Texas Super Collider.
Last (New) Coal Plant(s).
More Gas, Please (Winter Storm URI)
Harbor Bridge.
High Speed Rail.

Project Matador.

 

[Phil Timmons]

I knew a guy that worked at a solar project on 20,000 acres of prime farmland not far from me. I was kidding him about how electric rates should go down with this free energy. He said the starting pay there was $45/hr and they were leasing the farm ground for $1,000/month. They were anticipating electric rate increases of 10%/year to pay for it.
That's not cheap in my book.

That is Corporate Utilities. Not a fan, btw.

Seems like sad comedy in a country that has been programmed and Pavloved into practical worship of Top-End Concentrated Wealth, Corporatism, and Capitalism . . .

is surprised when that same . . . Top-End Concentrated Wealth, Corporatism, and Capitalism . . .

bites US in the butt.

What is up with that? Is the AM Talk Radio and FUD really that brain-damaging that normal folks cannot figure who is kicking them in @ss?

Really. What is up with that?

 

[ponytug]

Texas is where Really Big (and often) Really Dumb Projects come to die.

Texas Super Collider.
Last (New) Coal Plant(s).
More Gas, Please (Winter Storm URI)
Harbor Bridge.
High Speed Rail.

Project Matador.

Yes, that is sadly an impressive list.

Do you know happened to the half built tunnel for the SSC? Do you know if Magnabond is using it?

All the best,

Peter

 

[tradosaurus]

If you're concerned about that, wait until you hear about the effects of releasing energy from the sun that was stored a few hundred million years ago.


"People wore clothes made of cotton picked by slaves. But that did not make them hypocrites when they joined the abolition movement. It just meant that they were also part of the slave economy, and they knew it. That is why they acted to change the system, not just their clothes." - Harvard historian Naomi Oreskes

Not buying into the millions of years fantasy.
You do know that white people picked cotton also?

 

[Phil Timmons]

Yes, that is sadly an impressive list.

Do you know happened to the half built tunnel for the SSC? Do you know if Magnabond is using it?

All the best,

Peter

No idea. I suppose I should look into that.

Attached is a screenshot of the Names and Dates involved with Project Matador. From a Project Management perspective, I figure those should be taken for what they are and as Fair Warning. More sad comedy.

Here is the larger document.

https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2516/ML25169A396.pdf

 

[ponytug]

 

[edgarrian]

That so-called “rancher” didn’t pay his grazing lease fees for many years, overgrazed the land with more head than permitted, and was such a bad operator that the state cattlemen’s association would not support him. BLM pulled his lease as they should have.

He stopped paying it bc he thought the government lacked the authority. As of two years ago his cattle were still roaming the same areas and still not paying. So maybe he's onto something. There is two sides to every story. Is he snake or is the government trying to over step? who knows

 

[jyoutz]

He stopped paying it bc he thought the government lacked the authority. As of two years ago his cattle were still roaming the same areas and still not paying. So maybe he's onto something. There is two sides to every story. Is he snake or is the government trying to over step? who knows

It’s not in question. He is leasing land he doesn’t own. He needs to pay the lease fees like every other responsible rancher. As a renter, he doesn’t get to decide the terms. Regardless, the state cattlemen’s association views him as a trash rancher and don’t support his perspectives.

 

[Hay Dude]

He stopped paying it bc he thought the government lacked the authority. As of two years ago his cattle were still roaming the same areas and still not paying. So maybe he's onto something. There is two sides to every story. Is he snake or is the government trying to over step? who knows

Usually the gubmit is wrong lol

 

[jyoutz]

Usually the gubmit is wrong lol

Do you know how leasing public lands works? You have to abide by the lease terms and pay your annual lease fees. Like 99% of other ranchers do. That Bundy guy is a nutbag.

 

[otlski]

Texas is where Really Big (and often) Really Dumb Projects come to die.

Texas Super Collider.
Last (New) Coal Plant(s).
More Gas, Please (Winter Storm URI)
Harbor Bridge.
High Speed Rail.

Project Matador.

Going a little off topic but I have a specific questions regarding the super collider.

I assume all that you listed is in the really big category. That said, was the Super Collider in your mind in the really dumb category? If so, is it dumb because you think it was not beneficial, a waste of money, or dumb because it was started then canceled?

 

[Phil Timmons]

Going a little off topic but I have a specific questions regarding the super collider.

I assume all that you listed is in the really big category. That said, was the Super Collider in your mind in the really dumb category? If so, is it dumb because you think it was not beneficial, a waste of money, or dumb because it was started then canceled?

If chatting in Texas-ish, I would say it was half, half, and half, but did not add up to a quarter.

Half-baked, half-assed, and half-done.

If chatting with the local Baptists, would probably be this:
==============================
(Matthew 14:28)
Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it? Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’

 

[otlski]

If chatting in Texas-ish, I would say it was half, half, and half, but did not add up to a quarter.

Half-baked, half-assed, and half-done.

If chatting with the local Baptists, would probably be this:
==============================
(Matthew 14:28)
Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it? Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’

Interesting. For the record, I think it was a great project and failing to complete it was the dumb part. Doing basic long-term science with decades long and unknown returns, is exactly the sort of thing our government should fund. Kind of weird within the context of the tangent-topics of this thread; that kind of commitment is exactly the sort of project that the Chinese authoritarian strategic long view is particularly good executing on. And yet, although it is not pure science, somehow with our industrial military complex focused R&D, we here in the U.S. seem to keep up quite well in almost all technological areas.

 

[Phil Timmons]

Interesting. For the record, I think it was a great project and failing to complete it was the dumb part. Doing basic long-term science with decades long and unknown returns, is exactly the sort of thing our government should fund. Kind of weird within the context of the tangent-topics of this thread; that kind of commitment is exactly the sort of project that the Chinese authoritarian strategic long view is particularly good executing on. And yet, although it is not pure science, somehow with our industrial military complex focused R&D, we here in the U.S. seem to keep up quite well in almost all technological areas.

Back in the day . . . more than a few days now -- I was in school near there. Arlington. At the time, the Collider was recruiting heavy into Engineering.

I suppose I have become an anti-fan of hype. Which has become a major product of US -- not just Texas, per se. So whether folks are hyping US Weapons or Technology, or "Energy Independence" nonsense, Or Data Center and wish-believe Nukes . . . it all just becomes tiresome.

Just do what you say, say what you do, (they should match), with Long-Term Good Intent for ALL -- and things are better for everyone. However if US continues hyping make-believe over measurable, knowable fact -- we are going to continue to just have BS and More Debt. That was the thing that sunk the Collider by the end, right? The Money?

 

[rontaki]

Food for Thought -

https://www.agweb.com/news/business/farmland/solar-panel-plague-or-progress-controversy-explodes-farmland-disappears

 

[jyoutz]

Food for Thought -

https://www.agweb.com/news/business/farmland/solar-panel-plague-or-progress-controversy-explodes-farmland-disappears

I do hate to see farmland converted to other uses, be it houses or solar installations. But these are privately owned lands and we do live in a country with a free market economy. Another thing to consider is that the gross acres of agricultural lands in production far exceeds the food needs of the U.S. A considerable portion of farm lands are strictly planted for export crops.