Courtesy of Watts Up With That, here's a little fact of which I wasn't aware.
From the beginning of natural gas pipelines, compressors were powered by natural gas. That made sense because the pipelines were full of natural gas, so pipelines powered themselves. But gradually, compressors were electrified so slowly that, to follow the parable, they, like the frog, didn’t notice what was about to happen.
. . .
The anti-fossil fuel movement started pressuring North Texas cities and towns to require electric compressors on natural gas pipelines based on arguments that the air pollution from natural gas-powered compressors was causing increased asthma and other health problems. In 2012, the Denton City Council invited me to participate in their project to rewrite city ordinances that regulate natural gas drilling and pipelines.
I distinctly recall a public meeting in which I said that electrifying natural gas pipeline compressors was a terrible idea that could affect the availability of natural gas when it was needed most, such as during bad weather events. Unfortunately, I lost that debate, and the City of Denton changed its city ordinances to require electric natural gas compressors within its city limits. Similar ordinances quickly spread to other municipalities within the state of Texas and eventually to other natural gas-producing states that pipelines pass through.
As shown in the map above, the use of electric compressors on gas pipelines has now become so pervasive that the entire interstate natural gas pipeline network is effectively compromised. An interruption in the generation of electricity can cause some natural gas pipelines to shut down, which interrupts other parts of the natural gas pipeline grid and potentially shuts down multiple pipelines.
An early indicator of the problems caused by the electrification of natural gas pipelines was Winter Storm Uri which hit Texas and much of the nation in February 2021. This was detailed in my article “The Texas power grid was minutes from collapsing in 2021 and declaring an emergency in 2022.”
Here’s what happened. The entire state of Texas was hit by Winter Storm Uri, which resulted in all 254 counties in the state experiencing below-freezing temperatures, with much of the state temperatures in the teens and below zero in some areas for almost an entire week. Freezing temperatures affected all forms of electrical generation, starting with frozen wind turbines, freeze-offs at natural gas wells, and even problems with coal-fired generators and nuclear power generation plants.
As the temperatures dropped and people turned up their heat, the demand for electricity exceeded the supply, and rolling blackouts were ordered to maintain the integrity of the electrical grid. The grid operator, ERCOT, ordered rolling blackouts to balance supply and demand. Unfortunately, some local electricity companies did not have good information on the location of natural gas wells and compressor stations, so some blackouts shut down natural gas wells and pipeline compressors. In turn, this reduced the natural gas supply to gas-fired power generators. This caused a death spiral in electricity generation to the point where the Texas grid was within 4 minutes and 37 seconds of completely collapsing.
There's more at the link. I highly recommend that you read the whole thing.
Was this an innocent mistake, where concern about pollution gave rise to a "solution" that inadvertently increased risks to natural gas supply? Or was it a deliberate "stealth" move by anti-energy crusaders that was intended to cause disruptions to our energy supply at a critical time?
I know they say that "correlation is not causation", and I know I should "never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity". Nevertheless, the ongoing campaign against fossil fuels - including natural gas, most recently resulting in the banning of gas stoves in new construction in New York State - suggests that there may be some fire to back up the smoke, if you know what I mean.
Next question: Now that this vulnerability is known, how many municipalities are reversing their previous regulations and allowing gas pipeline companies to use natural-gas-powered compressors on their pipelines within municipal areas? If they aren't, I suggest it would lent additional weight to the "deliberate" argument.
Peter
13 comments:
Next question: Now that this vulnerability is known, how many municipalities are reversing their previous regulations and allowing gas pipeline companies to use natural-gas-powered compressors on their pipelines within municipal areas?
None. I'd say the answer is none.
Emotion and Feelings dominate and win ALL arguments in public these days.
So, there goes our last vestiges of First World comforts and technology.
We have GOT TO STOP electing idiots in our city/state governments as a first step. Being governed by illegals, out-and-out foreigners and immigrants is insane.
"never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity".
It's not an either/or decision. It's entirely possible, and probably is the case most of the time, to be both stupid and malicious.
It behooves a well prepared family to be able to rig for off grid emergencies. A quality sleeping bag for every member of the family will see you through most cold events inside even an unheated house. A fireplace with a couple cords of wood (seasoned, split, stacked, and ready) is good insurance too
There seems to be a fantasy that electricity is magically "clean" as long as the generating facility is out of sight.
IIRC this was mandated by EPA, so Feds, not locals. It's been a known issue in Emgmt and other prepper circles for more than a decade.
Everyone's plans were based around natgas gensets because the gas "would always be on" since shutting it down and restarting it is a huge pain. Remember the pix from katrina showing flares of fire coming out of the water due to ruptured gas lines?
Those plans had to be modified when the compressor replacements became widespread.
Now it's natgas for short term and local issues, but diesel for anything long term or big. Naturally that has its own set of issues, like availability of product, trucks and roads being available, and priorities. If you aren't on the list for diesel, you better have made some other plans.
There were issues with diesel delivery during Harvey, and I'm sure others I'm not aware of.
nick
It is indeed; the common statement for that is "Embrace the power of 'and' ". :-)
SiG:
I think that "Evil and Malicious" should now be the default position, until proven otherwise. It's the safest way to think about it.
The all-electric "green" agenda... 'Hold dissenting views? Point, click, cold & dark... Yeah; it's like that...
Embrace the power of ‘and’.
The movement of everything to electricity must stop. I worked as a plant engineer and then in dispatch for TESCO / TXU in the 1980s for 8 years. We supplied 40% of the electric power in Texas back then. I saw Amoco putting in the first 35,000 hp electric motor for a pipeline compressor in south Texas in 1992 ??? because the EPA would not allow a gas turbine due to NOx (nitrous oxide) issues.
Eventually, your ability to consume electricity from the grid will depend on your social justice score. The new SMART electric meters also have the ability to limit electricity usage. Get the right people in charge and you will be discriminated against.
Denton, Texas is a college town. Most, if not all, college professors are incredibly out of touch with the real world and have zero common sense.
Turning off gas supplies is not as easy as turning off our electricity. Making gas supp!ies dependent on electricity is a method to easily control use of natural gas. Remember...the criminals in power want most odf us dead. Freeze us, starve is, keep us from traveling so we can work. All methods to cull the herd. It's us or them. And so far they are winning.
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