"Jack May" wrote:
>
> "David Nebenzahl" wrote:
>
>> Indeed. And to answer another poster up yonder, how is it that a
>> train (or for that matter any other kind of conveyance) powered by
>> electricity cannot use juice produced by photovoltaics, wind, or any
>> other non-fossil fuel and non-nuclear source?
>
> Not practical to select where the energy comes from since it is all
> added together on one grid for the western states.
Ah, yet another concept that you don't understand.
You are making the common mistake of confusing energy transportation with
energy production. Industrial users of electricity don't necessarily buy
their power "from the grid", taking a pot luck marketbasket of
production. Instead, they can contract with specific companies to provide
power, and pay the local utility to transport it.
In many states, with power deregulation, individuals can do the same
thing, and contract with specific suppliers rather than accept the deal
offered by their local utility.
If a company draws power from the grid, it has to be produced somewhere.
They can specifically contract with a supplier to provide power produced
at a certain power plant, using a certain type of basic energy. The
price they negotiate will reflect the cost of that energy.
A case in point is Calgary Transit, which powers their light rail system
entirely with wind energy. They pay a wind energy company for the power
that is produced, and pay the grid operator for transporting that energy
to their vehicles.
Yes, the electrons that pass through the transit vehicles aren't
necessarily those that came directly from the wind generators themselves,
but the equivalent production came from those wind generators.
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