#electricity generation

[stone-cold-groove]

I’m born in plants like this... Reddy Kilowatt’s Coloring Book. The Wonder-World of Electricity - 1966.

[thezimster]

Bonneville Lock & Dam, Bonneville, OR

photo by

Walt Zimmer

[thoughtlessarse]

Gas in decline: Solar power surpasses coal in EU for first time

Solar power surpassed coal in the European Union's electricity production in 2024, as renewables climbed to nearly half of the bloc's energy

Solar power surpassed coal in the European Union's electricity production in 2024, as renewables climbed to nearly half of the bloc's energy mix, according to a report by climate think tank Ember. Solar overtook coal in the European Union's electricity production in 2024, with the share of renewables rising to almost half the bloc's power sector, according to a report released Thursday. Gas generation, meanwhile, declined for the fifth year in a row and fossil-fuelled power dipped to a "historic low", climate think tank Ember said in its European Electricity Review 2025. "The European Green Deal has delivered a deep and rapid transformation of the EU power sector," the think tank said. "Solar remained the EU's fastest-growing power source in 2024, rising above coal for the first time. Wind power remained the EU's second-largest power source, above gas and below nuclear." Overall, strong growth in solar and wind have boosted the share of renewables to 47 percent, up from 34 percent in 2019. Fossil fuels have fallen from 39 to 29 percent.

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[rjzimmerman]

Oil Majors Flirt With Electricity. (Wall Street Journal)

Excerpt from this Wall Street Journal story:

Artificial intelligence has suddenly made electricity a hot commodity. No wonder major oil companies want a piece of it. 

Both Exxon Mobil XOM -0.76%decrease; red down pointing triangle and Chevron CVX -2.00%decrease; red down pointing triangle said last month that they are talking to potential data-center customers on deals to supply natural-gas-fired power paired with carbon-capture technology. Exxon is working on a power-plant design with at least 1.5 gigawatts of capacity—enough to power more than a million homes. TotalEnergies TTE -0.93%decrease; red down pointing triangle, which has a power business, last year bought 1.5 GW of natural-gas-fired power plants near Dallas and Houston in Texas.

Exxon and Chevron have shied away from the wind and solar business for good reason: They have no experience in it and the expected returns are too low. But gas-fired power seems like a natural fit.

Major oil companies have plenty of experience in building and operating natural-gas-fired power plants to support their own energy-intensive operations, such as refining, natural-gas liquefaction and petrochemicals. Exxon said in its latest corporate update that it has developed 5.5 GW worth of power projects since 2001. Major oil companies might, in some cases, have more recent experience building power plants than large independent power producers: Many of them haven’t built power plants from scratch since the early 2000s, notes Hugh Wynne, co-head of utilities and renewable energy research at SSR.

Major oil companies also are able to move fast—something tech giants value. They can site power plants near the source of fuel—near their own oil and gas fields—and sell electricity directly to data centers without needing to connect to the grid. And oil companies have lots of experience building off-grid power to support operations in far-flung places. That means they can bypass the lengthy process of connecting to the grid or building out a pipeline. In fact, it would be a natural fit for places with a lack of pipeline capacity—such as the Waha hub in Texas—where natural-gas prices often turn negative.

Adding the ability to capture the carbon and bury it could command an extra premium, though the technology hasn’t yet been proven at scale. There are generous subsidies for the technology under the Inflation Reduction Act. Carbon-capture technology has been used with some success at coal-fired power plants, but it hasn’t been deployed at a commercial scale for natural-gas-fired power plants, according to Wynne of SSR.

[skylobster]

Elon Musk dismissed hybrid vehicles as a ‘phase’ while Toyota doubled down on them. Now they’re a ‘smoking-hot market’ as EV demand chills

Toyota's chairman, who's long resisted EV hype despite pressure, is feeling vindicated, with hybrid sales surging this year.

I actually side with Toyota on this one, in spite of my passion for electric cars. Both our battery technology and our infrastructure need to be improved before we can go with a 100% electric automobile fleet. Meanwhile, I prefer plug-in hybrids as a bridge technology. Our plug-in charges at home, and handles most of our driving as an EV, carrying about 1/8 as much battery payload as a similar-sized full electric. And I don’t require major infrastructure changes in order to take a trouble-free vacation trip. And at least 75% of our miles are pure electric.

In terms of battery cost and resources used, 1 Tesla = 8 plug-in hybrids, for the same amount of lithium-ion batteries.

Or for fossil fuel consumption, 4 plug-in hybrids = 1 conventional automobile (assuming most of your electricity comes from non-fossil fuel sources)

Or for purchase cost, 1 Tesla = 1.5 - 2 plug-in hybrids. (Some other electric cars are quite a bit cheaper though)

NOTE: These are my own back of the envelope statistics. If you take repeated long trips, or your electricity comes largely from fossil fuels, a plug-in hybrid may not be much help. But the pure EV could look even worse by comparison.

[chaunceymansanleandro]

Chauncey Man San Leandro: Electricity Generation Methods

Electricity can be generated through various processes, each with its own advantages, disadvantages, and applications. Here are some common types of electricity generation processes shared by Chauncey Man San Leandro:

Fossil Fuel-Based Generation:

Coal Power Plants: These plants burn coal to produce steam, which drives turbines connected to generators.

Natural Gas Power Plants: Natural gas is burned to spin turbines and generate electricity.

Oil Power Plants: Similar to natural gas plants, but they use oil as the fuel source.

Nuclear Power Generation:

Nuclear reactors use controlled nuclear fission reactions to heat water and produce steam that drives turbines connected to generators.

Renewable Energy Generation:

Solar Power: Photovoltaic (PV) cells convert sunlight into electricity.

Wind Power: Wind turbines capture kinetic energy from the wind and convert it into electricity.

Hydropower: Water flowing through dams or turbines generates electricity.

Geothermal Power: Heat from the Earth's core is used to produce steam that drives generators.

Biomass Power: Organic materials like wood, crop residues, and waste are burned or converted to biogas to generate electricity.

Hybrid Systems:

Some power generation systems combine renewable sources (e.g., solar and wind) with energy storage systems (e.g., batteries) to provide continuous power.

Tidal and Wave Energy:

Tidal and wave energy generators harness the kinetic and potential energy of ocean tides and waves to generate electricity.

Fuel Cells:

Fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, with water as the only byproduct.

Cogeneration (Combined Heat and Power - CHP):

Cogeneration systems produce electricity and useful heat simultaneously, improving overall energy efficiency.

Thermoelectric Generators:

These generators convert heat directly into electricity using temperature differences, often in remote or small-scale applications.

Microgrids:

Microgrids are localized electricity generation and distribution systems that can incorporate various energy sources, including renewables, to provide reliable power to specific areas.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC):

OTEC systems use temperature differences between warm surface water and cold deep water to generate electricity.

Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs):

RTGs use the heat generated by the radioactive decay of isotopes to produce electricity, often used in space probes and satellites.

Piezoelectric Generation:

Piezoelectric materials generate electricity when subjected to mechanical stress or vibration, used in some specialized applications.

Chauncey Man San Leandro's final words, The choice of electricity generation method depends on factors such as resource availability, environmental impact, cost, and energy demand. Many regions are transitioning to cleaner and more sustainable energy sources to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change.

[intelligentliving]

How Building Façades And Pavements Are Being Used To Generate Electricity

Solar panel on rooftops is a common sight in Europe. But many other human-made city surfaces could be used to generate clean energy. In Italy and the Netherlands, pavements and building façades are being turned into smart energy-harvesting surfaces equipped with sensors. Dr. Bart Erich leads a project called ENVISION...

[robbybirdy]

Lucky Legacy-Chapter 12: Baby Elle

Alisha’s idea came to be true, she was pregnant. She went to go to tell Peter, and he could not be happier. He told her that he wanted a baby girl, that was just like Alisha. Alisha laughed at that and told him he did not want two versions of her. 

A few months later, they welcomed a healthy baby girl named Elle. 

Her parents could already tell that she was a brave loner, and they couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Peter was excited to have a baby girl.