I was thinking this as well.
But you have to be careful with this approach as if your retention lake is not built and maintained:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taum_Sauk_Hydroelectric_Power_Station
Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: Shrubitup
Originally Posted By: MolaKule
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
After the weenies killed coal here they started in on gas pipelines, protesting their expansion and calling gas "another dirty fuel". Without pipeline capacity you can't run big gas plants. Of course, you CAN run a plant formerly fueled by coal on gas, which has stopped many a weenie from doing a victory dance.
One half bleep result of the wennie meddling in pipeline construction is a big city power plant south of here which has gas TRUCKED in to it 24/7. Gas, in tanker trucks, on the city streets, a NIMBY delight.
The "weeniegreenies" work on a feel good ideology called the, "Precautionary Principle" which says if this might happen, let's do this, while dismissing any scientific basis for doing so, or without having any realistic scientific alternatives.
The "weeniegreenies" are ignorant and devoid of any energy education or knowledge of the physical principles of energy production.
Sources with high energy density, such as distributed nuclear reactors, is the answer until solar and wind plants can improve in terms of efficiency and lower cost.
An energy plan, in which you gradually switch over to other forms of energy generation, is the only way to approach energy demand.
Today, one cannot just say, "We will switch over immediately to wind and solar," because the efficiency, cost, and infrastructure is not there.
Ideology is one thing, scientific realism is another.
Wind in the Pac NW blows best at night. Demand is during the day mostly. No good batteries yet.
Infrastructure problems prevent adding in huge new generation facilities. People don't like ugly transmission lines whether they carry green or "dirty" electrons. Most electrons here are from hydropower with stored energy in reservoirs behind dams unlike wind.
Problem with converting coal plants to gas is the NIMBYs who oppose the gas pipelines.
Someone mentioned railroads going broke because they can't haul coal. Out west they're hauling oil tanker cars to port because we're too dumb to build oil pipelines.
Candlewood Lake in CT is an example of a lake owned by the power company where they can pump water into the lake when there is excess electricity and let it run out via hydro-electric when they need power.
