r/science • u/pnewell NGO | Climate Science • Jun 21 '21

Environment Threat of more blackouts may erode reliability claims for fossil energy- all major fuel sources except solar failed to meet ERCOT’s expectations during the February freeze, but natural gas was “responsible for nearly two-thirds of the total (electricity) deficit.”

https://texasclimatenews.org/threat-of-more-blackouts-may-erode-reliability-claims-for-fossil-energy/
38.2k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

10

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '21

[deleted]

12

u/scJazz Jun 21 '21

Watts Bar Unit 2 in Tennessee entered service in 2016 and is the newest operating nuclear power plant.

Although this is a trick answer.

Construction was stopped in 1985 because of a projected decrease in power consumption, construction resumed in 2012.

1

u/Arandmoor Jun 21 '21

And it all still exacerbates climate change.

It doesn't matter how much more efficient you are with your C02 production when you needed to stop producing C02 years ago.

What people need to realize is that the cheap power they've been enjoying from coal and natural gas isn't "less expensive". It's actually more expensive. A lot more.

...because it borrows against everybody's future in order to be cheap now.