Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 10h

As for Cox, I'm a bit surprised to see him acknowledge that solar+batteries might be worthwhile. He has very much bought into the talking point that intermittent renewables are "unreliable". In the past he has attacked solar for its land use impacts, or just pretended solar doesn't exist.

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 10h

Seems like even a few feet of water would add a lot onto the cost of installing a wind turbine. Makes sense if there's a shortage of sites on land, but I don't think that's the case around here. Competition from solar would make it even less economical.

And then, as you say, there's the birds.

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 10h

Where do you get the 40% figure? Is there state-by-state data on this somewhere?

Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 12h

I wonder if he knows how much offshore wind China has built.

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Reposted by Dan Schroeder

Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 3d

I've updated this interactive map of US power plants with data from 2024. 🔌💡
physics.weber.edu/schroeder/en...

Interactive Map of U.S. Power Plants

physics.weber.edu

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 12h

I agree that offshore wind would be a bad idea in Utah.

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 13h

the republican governor of utah spencer cox cites my story about esmeralda 7’s apparent cancelation to criticize the trump administration:

“this is how we lose the AI/energy arms race with china”

Spencer Cox: This is how we lose the AI/energy arms race with China. Our country needs an all-of-the-above approach to energy (like Utah). We should be all in on nuclear/natural gas/geothermal and keeping our coal plants open for as long as possible. However, there are innovation/permitting/supply chain issues slowing those down. While intermittent sources have been overvalued in the past (and offshore wind is a disaster and should be discontinued), the incredible leaps in battery technology completely change the value proposition of solar in the right places. Solar with batteries can now be close to baseload power and we should keep these projects rolling until we get the gas/nuclear/geothermal plants we need.

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Reposted by Dan Schroeder

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 17h

MIT's response to the Trump admin's proposed "compact" is excellent and should be a model for other universities. orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

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Reposted by Dan Schroeder

John Smillie @johnsmillie42.bsky.social · 16h

www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/big-green/ca...

A rare reversal! An article about solar thermal where the thumbnail picture is about PV.

California Shuts Down Its Solar Thermal Plant 13 Years Early

The Ivanpah Solar Power Facility is set to shut down in 2026 after failing to meet its energy targets. Ivanpah…

www.instituteforenergyresearch.org

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Reposted by Dan Schroeder

Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 15h

America’s biggest offshore wind farm will be online in six months.
"Dominion Energy’s 2.6 GW project off Virginia’s coast is progressing fast. The utility has a new, more definitive target to plug into the grid: March 2026." Via @canarymedia.com
www.canarymedia.com/articles/off... 🔌💡

America’s biggest offshore wind farm will be online in six months

Dominion Energy’s 2.6 GW project off Virginia’s coast is progressing fast. The utility has a new, more definitive target to plug into the grid: March 2026.

www.canarymedia.com

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 15h

Congratulations! (Lets out long breath in relief.)

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 15h

Now let's do it here in Utah.

M. Nolan Gray 🥑 @mnolangray.bsky.social · 15h

Ladies and gentlemen, we did it. SB 79 has been signed.

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 1d

Retrofit? Are you sure that's not some different project?

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 1d

I hope the Terrapower nuke plant in Wyoming is a success but I don't think it's correct that it "could be completed by the end of 2027". Wonder where Winslow got that idea.

Ben Winslow @benwinslow.bsky.social · 1d

ICYMI, Utah is moving forward with its efforts to have nuclear power in the state. But many community groups still have a lot of questions: www.fox13now.com/news/politic... #utpol #Utah

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 1d

Good job, Logan. Keep demanding transparency!

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 2d

Ask the kid.

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 2d

I realize that solar alone is limited by seasonal variation. But whether the wind that complements it is offshore or local onshore or coming in from the Midwest over thousand-mile transmission lines, y'all are still gonna need more solar!

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 2d

Cheap coal power!

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 2d

I hope you're not saying that New England was putting *all* of its eggs in the offshore wind basket. 😬

Is there no GW-scale planning for onshore wind or solar?

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 2d

The most dangerous part of my bicycle commute is passing the elementary school at drop-off time. But it was getting steadily worse long before the pandemic.

Meanwhile I draw hope from watching my students. They seem to treat each other more kindly than ever. The kids really are (by and large) ok.

Patrick Wyman @patrickwyman.bsky.social · 2d

Watching antisocial driver behavior in the school drop-off line makes it really clear that the pandemic destroyed whatever few shreds remained of the social compact, just pathological selfishness on display every day

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 2d

Offshore wind seems like the obvious thing to do. Yet even during the Biden administration, wasn't it clear that offshore wind was coming along pretty slowly, at pretty high cost, and with no foreseeable date when it would replace even half the region's current gas generation?

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 3d

Looks like there was also a six-month outage in 2015-16. www.eia.gov/electricity/...

Electricity Data BrowserU.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and AnalysisElectricity Data Browser - Data - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Electricity Data Browser

www.eia.gov

Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 3d

Thank you so much for your great work, and best wishes with whatever comes next!

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Reposted by Dan Schroeder

Nathaniel William Horadam @horadam.bsky.social · 3d

It’s a good thing Texas installed so much reliable solar, wind, and battery capacity to shoulder the load in the event the state’s unreliable coal generation suffered a catastrophic failure.

Because apparently it did.

🔌💡

ieefa.org/resources/ne...

Newest big U.S. coal-plant offline until 2027

The newest major coal-fired power plant in the U.S. is expected to be offline until March 2027 after a major failure in April.

ieefa.org

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 3d

A naive extrapolation from the last few years would have Australia hitting 50% renewable electricity by around 2028. Still, I'd like to see a prediction from someone who knows the industry there.

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 3d

Correction: "nearly 42%" is for the most recent 12 months, ending September 2025.

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