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Re:Texas Is About to Create OPEC’s Worst Nightmare by hnphillipj on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @04:34PM (#18506286)
You should know that oil is hardly used for elec. gen in developed countries. They are only indirect competitors - through the automobile.
Re:Texas Is About to Create OPEC’s Worst Nightmare by munk-a on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @04:50PM (#18506394)
You in fact shouldn't know this as the EIA reports that 3,239,699 barrels of petroleum products were consumed in august of this year alone for electrical generation in the US (source https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/browser/index.php?tbl=T... )
Re:Texas Is About to Create OPEC’s Worst Nightmare by hnphillipj on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @05:08PM (#18506502)
I'll change my comment from not -> hardly.

https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3

While your number seems like a lot, it's really just a drop in the bucket. The US consumes close to 8 billion barrels of oil annually. I was, however, surprised that it was still as high as 0.5%.

Re:Texas Is About to Create OPEC’s Worst Nightmare by tropo on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @11:55PM (#18507942)
Hawaii likes to generate power that way. Northern parts of Alaska do too.
Re:Texas Is About to Create OPEC’s Worst Nightmare by technofiend on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @04:52PM (#18506408)
>You should know that oil is not used for elec. gen in developed countries.

Eh? When I worked for a United States generation company our coal-burning plants could and would be switched to bunker fuel if the price was right. To be fair it's not much (less than 5%) depending on how you slice it, but in their 2016 annual report [1] Dynegy reported 2.6 TWh (terawatt hours) sold into the wholesale market and .7 TWh into retail.

Be careful about blanket statements unless you're an expert in the area because other HN readers are experts.

[1] = https://www.dynegy.com/sites/default/files/Dynegy_2016_Annua...

Re:Texas Is About to Create OPEC’s Worst Nightmare by hnphillipj on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @05:14PM (#18506529)
> To be fair it's not much (less than 5%)

https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3

Here's a better source. It's 0.5%. I felt that was enough to warrant using "not used in developed countries," but fair enough.

>Be careful about blanket statements unless you're an expert in the area because other HN readers are experts.

Easy there hotshot

Re:Texas Is About to Create OPEC’s Worst Nightmare by gonzo on Thursday November 22, 2018 @01:16AM (#18508224)
> You should know that oil is hardly used for elec. gen in developed countries.

Visit Hawaii sometime. Oil on Oahu. Diesel on the other islands.

Re:Texas Is About to Create OPEC’s Worst Nightmare by seanmcdirmid on Thursday November 22, 2018 @01:57AM (#18508364)
You’ll see diesel generators powering islands in Southeast Asia as well.

Diesel is a useful option for places not connected to a larger grid.

Re:Texas Is About to Create OPEC’s Worst Nightmare by lykr0n on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @04:44PM (#18506350)
I do know that. I'm commenting on the fact that Texas is investing in renewables while at the same time investing nonrenewables at the same time.
Re:Texas Is About to Create OPEC’s Worst Nightmare by kthejoker2 on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @05:24PM (#18506591)
Renewables are primarily for domestic consumption, oil is an export good.