California moves towards 100% carbon-free electricity after landmark vote

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

California moves towards 100% carbon-free electricity after landmark vote

• Legislators vote for complete shift to clean energy by 2045
• Bill heads to state senate and then to Governor Jerry Brown

Oliver Milman in New York
Wed 29 Aug 2018 17.10 BST

California has given fossil fuel-derived energy a hefty shove towards obsolescence after legislators voted to require that 100% of the state’s electricity come from carbon-free sources.

The bill, which will need to be approved by the state senate and Governor Jerry Brown, will require a complete shift to clean energy such as solar and wind by 2045. It would also demand that electric utilities source 60% of their power from renewable sources by 2030, up from the current target of 50%.

California ridding itself entirely of carbon-intensive energy has been a politically vexed proposition for the past two years, with state Republicans arguing it was unfeasible and would drive up electricity prices.

But the state has emerged as a bastion of defiance to the Trump administration on climate change, among other issues, as it has been scorched by record wildfires and a prolonged drought. A report released this week warned that the state is on course for punishing heatwaves, thousands of additional deaths and the erosion of two thirds of its coastline due to rising temperatures, wildfires and sea level rise.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/29/california-electricity-fossil-fuels-wind-solar-vote

[kysrsoze]

1. I love my state. 🙂

[NNadir]

2. As is typical, this is a vote to insist that future generations bear the responsibility for our...

...garbage.

When I lived in California these kinds of votes were common place; with the result that this kind of contempt for future generations has become routine.

Guess what? Despite loads of this shit over the decades, California spent much of this year on fire.

It's disgusting. We are leaving future generations with a destroyed atmosphere, depleted resources, vast destroyed oceans, vast piles of waste - including our so called "renewable waste" - while blithely claiming that they will do what we have been too lazy and too ignorant and too cheap to do ourselves.

This kind of stuff should be beneath contempt, and because of it, those babies born today - who will be 27 in 2045 - will be living in a climate controlled by at least, bare minimum, 450 ppm of carbon dioxide.

History will hold everyone who bought into this crap with extreme disgust and said disgust will be well deserved.

The problem with so called "renewable energy" is the laws of physics. It didn't work; it isn't working and it won't work. The ignoramuses in legislatures anywhere cannot repeal the laws of physics.

[ROB-ROX]

3. LYING TURD CRAPPER

I have lived in California my whole life. This state has many dams which produce power which is totally RENEWABLE. The amazing support with WIND power is FANTASTIC renewable power source. The documentation of current SOLAR is an AWESOME renewable power source. I remember when nuclear was the so called "solution." I think the fires which have been burning in this state may have been started by someone who is associated with conservative thinking. ...... This posting may be another RUSSIAN TROLL POSTING, because it sure does not make SENSE!!!!!!

[NNadir]

4. There's posting smileys and delusional nonsense, and then there's data.

Last edited Fri Aug 31, 2018, 03:26 AM - Edit history (1)

California's electricity is available on line from the California Energy Commission.

It's right here for any idiot to read, not that idiots actually read all that much: California Electricity Generation

In my experience, rather than read, most idiots - and let's be clear idiocy is a huge factor in climate change - would rather chant slogans. Since they don't give a shit about future generations these slogans often begin with "By [such and such year] the world will be running on 100% renewable energy."

Except it never does.

The largest source of electricity in California is dangerous natural gas, according to um, data. The generation of electricity using dangerous natural gas results in the dumping of about 500-600 grams of the dangerous fossil fuel waste carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

According to the government of California - which is hardly a "Russian Troll Organization" - the largest single source of electrical power is natural gas, which produced, in 2017, 89,564 GWh of electricity, exceeding slightly California's electrical imports, which provided 85,703 GWh.

The amount of carbon dioxide thus indiscriminately dumped by the citizens of the State of California to generate electricity using dangerous natural gas was thus - choosing 550 g/kwh, the mean value for the range, was 49 million tons, not counting the source of imported electricity.

That's over a 1.1 tons per person, just for electricity never mind cars and trucks.

Carbon dioxide, according to most people having a brain, including the overwhelming majority of scientists, is responsible for climate change.

The complete destruction of the Hetch Hetchy Valley and the complete erasure of the Colorado River Delta ecosystem produced the most electricity in its history in 2006, when it produced 48,559 GWh. It never again produced that much electricity. In 2015 it produced 11,569 GWh because of the drought, almost certainly caused and/or exacerabated by climate change. From all evidence, 2018 isn't going to be too pretty.

There is an incredible amount of evidence, as opposed to chants, that climate is very much involved in fires of 2018 as opposed to little right wing bogeymen running around as arsonists.

Now, of course, right wing right wing hatred of science and scientists coupled with marketed denial is very much involved in climate change. Anyone with a brain and a sliver of honesty knows that. Nevertheless, right wing bullshit differs very little in quality and effect on climate than the refusal to face facts by people who think wind and solar power will save the day, which they haven't, aren't and won't. My general impression of these "By [such and such year] the world will be running on 100% renewable energy," types is that they exhibit in general pure contempt for science and scientists (and engineers) as do partisans on the far right. I see no evidence whatsoever that any of them have ever opened a science book in their lives.

Solar and wind facilities are just more consumer garbage. In 20 to 25 years all of this solar and wind junk will be landfill, littered with remains of extinct bats in the wind case, and they'll another thing that the poor people of 2045 will need to clean up along with a destroyed atmosphere, destroyed bodies of fresh water, destroyed rivers and destroyed oceans.

A conservative is merely a person who believes that there is no value whatsoever in changing one's thinking and actions, that everything is fine if we merely repeat ourselves over and over, irrespective of any information that contradicts the things we repeat.

I'm an old man, completely disturbed and disgusted by the contempt that my generation has shown to all future generations.

I've lived my whole adult life hearing this "By [such and such year] the world will be running on renewable energy" crap. It's not connected with reality. It's about as conservative as one can get, since no amount of information, including the statistics on energy in California which any idiot could (but won't) read. It's just a fucking tired and fraudulent sloganeering, the reified paradigm of what conservativism actually is, the lie that everything is fine and nothing needs to change.

When I left California in the early 1990's, there was a law on the books that 10% of the cars there would need to be ZEV's "by the year 2000." How'd that work out?

Oh well, we didn't really mean "by 1995"

I am so glad I don't live in California anymore. I'd throw up when I heard more of this idiot shit.

[defacto7]

5. This is a great definition...

A conservative is merely a person who believes that there is no value whatsoever in changing one's thinking and actions, that everything is fine if we merely repeat ourselves over and over, irrespective of any information that contradicts the things we repeat.

Perfect.

[hunter]

7. Zero Emission Vehicles were difficult...

...so we have Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicles, I kid you not.

https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/zevprog/factsheets/driveclean.pdf

We will without doubt have Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission natural gas power plants when these "100% carbon free" goals prove difficult.

Anti-nuclear activists and wind enthusiasts always turn to gas.

[defacto7]

6. I think you replied to the wrong post.

If you're talking about NNadir, he's more intelligent than you or I could ever hope to be. I hated his guts until I checked up on his data, links and scientific studies over the last couple years. He may be crass, blunt and in the minority.. but he's not wrong about the data. Unfortunately for all of us, he is not wrong.

Be well

[NickB79]

8. I wouldn't bet big on dams

In a state rocketing towards becoming more desert than forest