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Originally Posted by ViperTomcat
Wind and Solar power simply are not reliable enough to sufficiently supply a fleet of plug in hybrids. To fully charge a plug in car could potentially draw as much power as a small house.
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Not potentially...it will draw as much as a house. Just not all at once. But that's only about 9KWh. Where the 'bargain basement' windmill today can produce about 1.2MWh during average conditions.
Solar......has lots of room to grow when we're talking about things like PV panels and reflective dishes. Where I was referring to it is in residential applications. Passive solar power to do things like heat our houses, and grow plant-life for fuel harvesting. These applications would help take a strain off the grid.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ViperTomcat
Ideally what should be done is advance clean coal technology and nuclear power to beef up the power grid so that it doesnt crumble beneath the burden of the plug in hybrid group. California and other large urban centers are already having problems with the power grid, it will only get worse unless something is done to dramatically increase power output. Until then cars like the Leaf and others will only cause problems for the current situation, not solutions.
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Not necessarily, because the cars are presumed to be charging at night. During off-peak hours. What could happen is the draw may increase powerhouse efficiency, because they don't need to manipulate generation levels so much.
Many of the problems that plague the grid have to do with infrastructure. Poor transmission lines and plants, dead draws, etc. Wasted electricity....goes right into the dirt. It's a one-way trip out of the plant. This is one of the things the "smart grid" hopes to decrease dramatically...feedback from substations will help regulate output so there is no loss.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ViperTomcat
The US has enough domestic oil reserves (off shore, Alaska, etc) to be nearly 100% self sufficient for the next 75 to 100 years, but politics are standing in the way.
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Which is great for a rainy day...but if we use it for day-to-day usage and 50-60years rolls by.....then what?