As long as it's actually competitive for rate payers I'd think some significant political cover could be provided by the old sales pitch of "this project will generate thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of full-time jobs for decades to come." Towns all over MO and Southern Illinois have happily embraced some pretty unsavory industries in the name of investment and employment.symphonicpoet wrote: ↑Dec 26, 2020^I more or less entirely agree with you, but the political cost to the first person that pushes to license more plants would be so absurdly enormous . . . I can imagine a truly unholy alliance of anti-vaxxers, coal rollers, greens . . .
I completely agree with you that nuclear power can be and should be a part of the solution. But how to sell it so people don't lose elections is beyond me.
I think the power companies realize but won't discuss in open for a lot of different reasons is the massive retention ponds handling the end result of burning coal. These are nothing but huge long term liabilities as it is very evident at this point on exactly what is in these ponds and Feds/States/Local governments rightfully so will not give a free pass. Everyone talks carbon out of the stacks but believe coal fired power plants demise for the better is really coming on two fronts, in the air and on the ground.flipz wrote: ↑Dec 28, 2020I think the biggest problem is the cost. In Missouri I think the public would be mostly on board because we would be getting rid of massive coal plants.
Interesting. From looking at the wind resources maps we don't have much going on.symphonicpoet wrote: ↑Jan 22, 2021A bit of energy news that actually has a pretty strong upside for St. Louis from an unexpected quarter: Jobs, the carbon spike and the COVID-19 cliff by Jesse Jenkins and Benjamin Strauss in The Hill. I'm a little surprised at this as The Hill is usually pretty conservative. The piece basically discusses the lessons the Covid crisis has for us in climate change; that action now saves pain later. (And also mentions that Covid might be a cake walk when you consider the sheer astonishing magnitude of the carbon spike we've created and the length of time it will take for said to recede to zero by natural means whenever we finally quit making it worse.)
While there's not a whole lot on Missouri and nothing on St. Louis in particular, it does point out that we stand to be one of the biggest gainers by percentage from a move to a sustainable energy future. The study they cite, by Princeton's Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment with the help of some folks from U of Colorado and a few energy research firms, suggests Missouri's energy sector employment could go from about one percent of the workforce to six and one percent of wages to seven moving us from being a nothing in the energy sector to being almost middling. Some of that would be from electric transmission connectivity, but they seem to think we could also play a non-trivial roll in wind generation. (I suppose we are in tornado alley, so there's some evidence there. Even if most of the state isn't in the heart of it and only a small portion enjoys the sorts of sustained wind that is more typical of current day windfarms.) Here's what looks to be the powerpoint presentation if you're curious: Net-Zero America: Potential Pathways, Infrastructure, and Impacts. Lots of graphs, charts, statistics, and glorious AP-defying Oxford commas.
Just browsing the news as of late -- Callaway is still at 0% output.moorlander wrote: ↑Jan 15, 2021Speaking of.... the Callaway plant is currently shut down (since late December).
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.stltod ... b.amp.html
It's not demand; a giant part apparently had to be manufactured and installed.Trololzilla wrote: ↑Jul 28, 2021Seems dumb - even if there isn't necessarily local demand, surely Ameren could export the capacity unless MO law forbids it?
Ameren said Monday that the newly planned Huck Finn Solar Project, with a capacity of 200 megawatts, will be 25 times larger than any existing solar facility in Missouri.
The project will be built on the border of Audrain and Ralls counties, roughly a two-hour drive northwest of St. Louis. It will be capable of powering approximately 40,000 homes, and could be operational by 2024.
Its scale is similar, however, to a separate, 150-megawatt facility planned in Southern Illinois that the company unveiled in February.
The group — which includes Ameren, Spire, engineering firm Burns McDonnell, energy infrastructure owner MPLX LP, Mitsubishi Power, the Marquis Industrial Complex in Illinois, Alton Steel and Greater St. Louis Inc. — says it expects by next spring to apply for federal funding through an $8 billion competitive program that's part of the infrastructure law passed in 2021 and requires a 50% match in local funding. The feds are looking to fund six to eight hydrogen hubs across the country, officials said.
Airplanes also_nomad_ wrote: ↑Aug 08, 2022It would complement the goal of becoming a regional freight hub. I'm not sure what modes of transportation could be powered by hydrogen, but St Louis seems like an ideal node for powering trucks, trains, and river traffic. Also I'd guess the presence of the Wood River refinery means there may be a local base of knowledge/talent in energy logistics and distribution even if the fuel type is different.
Nice, one of United's regional carriers has their HQ at Lambert, it would help St Louis's case as I would think hydrogen engines would roll out on smaller planes first.jshank83 wrote: ↑Aug 09, 2022Airplanes also_nomad_ wrote: ↑Aug 08, 2022It would complement the goal of becoming a regional freight hub. I'm not sure what modes of transportation could be powered by hydrogen, but St Louis seems like an ideal node for powering trucks, trains, and river traffic. Also I'd guess the presence of the Wood River refinery means there may be a local base of knowledge/talent in energy logistics and distribution even if the fuel type is different.
The two projects are part of Ameren’s Neighborhood Solar program, which features solar installations in parking lots and other “underutilized” spaces, including the property of partnering organizations. One of the new projects will be in north St. Louis, at an Ameren facility at Interstate 70 and Union Boulevard. The other will be at a company facility in House Springs, in Jefferson County.
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While still in the early stages of that push, the company has made a steady drumbeat of recent solar announcements — including plans for a list of progressively larger, industrial-scale solar projects that will dwarf its relatively modest installations that are currently in service. For example, the planned Huck Finn Solar Project, announced in June, will be able to power about 40,000 homes, and will be 25 times the size of any existing solar farms in Missouri, the company said.
