Re:Texas Power Prices Briefly Surpass $9k Amid Scorching Heat
by humanrebar on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @09:56AM
(#20695576)
The problem in urban Texas is that all the asphalt and concrete acts as a stationary heat battery. Counteracting that is a huge part of the problem.
They could use batteries and air conditioning to do so, but it's likely the return on investment would be higher figuring out how to provide more shade even in non residential areas.
Re:Texas Power Prices Briefly Surpass $9k Amid Scorching Heat
by the8472 on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @12:52PM
(#20697386)
Would it make sense to mix some TiO2 or other whiteners into the asphalt and concrete to increase their albedo?
Edit: Looks like LA is doing something like that https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/blogs/how-...
Re:Texas Power Prices Briefly Surpass $9k Amid Scorching Heat
by bobthepanda on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @12:12PM
(#20696992)
I‘m imagining that Texas has far wider roads than Europe. Would it be possible to plant street trees or other tall native vegetation to provide shade?
Re:Texas Power Prices Briefly Surpass $9k Amid Scorching Heat
by shliachtx on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @12:29PM
(#20697164)
Houston does just that. Streets in Houston are lined with live oak, providing shade to much of the street.
Re:Texas Power Prices Briefly Surpass $9k Amid Scorching Heat
by cylinder on Thursday August 15, 2019 @09:50AM
(#20705161)
Have you been outside the loop? There is no culture of shade protection in Texas the way there is in other not places like Australia or mideast. Massive concrete car parks with no shade structures in sight. No solar panels on the roofs of big box stores. It's pathetic.
Re:Texas Power Prices Briefly Surpass $9k Amid Scorching Heat
by SketchySeaBeast on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @10:05AM
(#20695658)
It's a shame we can't convert that heat to electricity in some efficient way.
Re:Texas Power Prices Briefly Surpass $9k Amid Scorching Heat
by acidburnNSA on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @11:10AM
(#20696346)
Oh we can convert high grade heat to electricity with amazing efficiency. Problem is, this is super low-grade (low temperature) heat. Darn you, thermodynamics.
Re:Texas Power Prices Briefly Surpass $9k Amid Scorching Heat
by imglorp on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @10:39AM
(#20696001)
PV solar roadways are a total bust, but I do wonder about liquid loops under the asphalt. If you need a source of cold to create a temperature gradient vs the road, you could always pull from geothermal next to the roadway collector.
Re:Texas Power Prices Briefly Surpass $9k Amid Scorching Heat
by celticninja on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @12:03PM
(#20696910)
Provide shade by putting up solar panels above the roads.
Re:Texas Power Prices Briefly Surpass $9k Amid Scorching Heat
by todd8 on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @10:23AM
(#20695841)
Does Australia really have a giant ozone hole? It doesn't seem so according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology[1]. Also see [2].
[1] http://www.bom.gov.au/uv/faq.shtml
[2] https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/06/30/australia-never...
Re:Texas Power Prices Briefly Surpass $9k Amid Scorching Heat
by perl4ever on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @09:17PM
(#20701730)
I don't think [2] sounds like a reliable source. It presents a "hole" as a binary thing, which didn't extend to Australia. But even over Antarctica, it was a level of depletion, not literally a hole. There may be a point to be made about the numbers, but the whole article seems to be predicated on the assumption that either there is a hole or there isn't without defining it.
Re:Texas Power Prices Briefly Surpass $9k Amid Scorching Heat
by LifeLiverTransp on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @11:20AM
(#20696455)
Actually, what makes even more sense, is to have a non-conversion storage.. aka.. just pre-freeze a large amount of coolant at solar peak and store that for the next day.
The newly released Tesla Megapack https://www.tesla.com/megapack seems like a slam dunk for this sort of thing. You store that crazy amount of sunshine that is excess in batteries and use them that evening or the following morning. The economics of this approach are becoming more and more realistic due to better technology and better manufacturing.