Portugal just ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row
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Portugal just ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row
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Re: Portugal just ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row
#2If you need the gas plants ready to dispatch at any moment, can you still say you are running on 100% renewables?
Re: Portugal just ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row
#3If you need the gas plants ready to dispatch at any moment, can you still say you are running on 100% renewables?
For those six days they could. But even if we need fossil fuel as backup for some time, burning a lot less of it means we don't cook the planet as much.
Re: Portugal just ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row
#4If you need the gas plants ready to dispatch at any moment, can you still say you are running on 100% renewables?
People like these small wins.
Population of Portugal is 10.5 million people.
We have such a long way to go.
Global fossil fuel will hopefully peak by the end of the decade.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/world-oil-gas-coal-d...
Re: Portugal just ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row
#5If you need the gas plants ready to dispatch at any moment, can you still say you are running on 100% renewables?
Yes? If you’re not burning gas, there’s no issue.
Re: Portugal just ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row
#6If you need the gas plants ready to dispatch at any moment, can you still say you are running on 100% renewables?
Yes - the plants are on standby, not consuming much beyond a "pilot light" worth of natural gas and not putting energy into the national grid.
This is quite different to coal fired power generation which doesn't have low energy standby mode with rapid online to full generation ramping up in the manner of gas fired turbines.
During the six day period the national grid was supplied only with energy from renewable sources.
Re: Portugal just ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row
#7If you need the gas plants ready to dispatch at any moment, can you still say you are running on 100% renewables?
As long as the gas plants aren't burning any natural gas, I would say that's fair.
Standing by to supplement power on load spikes is one of the primary roles of gas plants (together with pumped hydro), and that they didn't need to supply any electricity over those six days is noteworthy.
From a climate standpoint there also isn't much wrong with having generating capacity in fossil fuels, what matters is how many greenhouse gases and how much pollution they put out. Which isn't much if they are just standing by.
Re: Portugal just ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row
#8Huge waves in Portugal, when I visited. I'm guessing it's the wind coming off the Atlantic Ocean is strong and steady. And somewhat not common.
Where I live, for most of the Winter the sky is overcast with clouds. So that somewhat limits solar panels. But I'm sure California is great place for them.
Re: Portugal just ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row
#9If you need the gas plants ready to dispatch at any moment, can you still say you are running on 100% renewables?
If I have a hybrid car and I make a trip that doesn’t use the engine, are you saying I can’t say I didn’t use the engine because I could have?
Re: Portugal just ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row
#10- Portugal electricity prices: ranks top 30% of EU
- Portugal per capita GDP: ranks bottom 30% of the EU