The greatest obstacle to fusion supplying the world with limitless electricity is learning how to maintain a balance between magnetic confinement and the severe heat.
via CFACT
July 17, 2025 at 05:05AM
Month: July 2025
By Paul Homewood
There are inevitably comparisons of this summer with 1976’s.
In reality, there is no question that the heatwave in 1976 was far more intense than anything experienced this year.
The daily data from CET tells the story:
.
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcet/graphs/index.html
There has just been one day over 30C so far this summer. In 1976 there were nine, all in the space of ten days between 29th June and 9th July.
In 1976, temperatures peaked at 33.1C, whereas the hottest day this year was 30.7C.
The forecast suggests temperatures will be around normal for the next week or so.
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
July 17, 2025 at 04:23AM
From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KN
By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Cunningham
Oh dear!
Mad Miliband’s Clean Power plans lie in tatters:
From the Telegraph:
Ed Miliband has opened the way for a fleet of new gas-fired power stations to back up Britain’s wind and solar farms.
He has told the National Energy System Operator (Neso) – the UK’s grid operator – that by the end of the decade it must keep 40 gigawatts (GW) of spare generating capacity on standby for days when wind and solar cannot keep the nation’s lights on.
The request is part of a system known as the capacity market, where companies are paid to keep generating capacity on standby for days when renewables output plummets or demand surges.
The capacity market already costs British consumers about £1.3bn a year – but this will surge to £4bn by 2030 as reliance on renewables increases, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has said.
Mr Miliband’s letter to Neso has told it to ensure it has 40GW-worth of back-up generating capacity on the system, roughly equating to the output of 35-40 large gas-fired power stations. About two thirds is expected to come from gas and the rest from batteries, interconnectors and other sources.
Full story here.
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via Watts Up With That?
July 17, 2025 at 04:06AM
By Paul Homewood
Kathryn Porter has a detailed analysis of the concise but informative report produced by Red Eléctrica de España (“REE”), the Spanish Transmission System Operator on the Spanish blackouts.
It’s way beyond my pay grade, but it can be neatly summed up by this comment from Kathryn:
The Iberian grid was already in a weakened state, owing to insufficient synchronous generation and excessive reliance on inverter-based renewables. The system failed to withstand a fault that originated with a single solar inverter. This was not an unavoidable technical event – it was the result of systemic underestimation of voltage control risks, poor compliance enforcement, and REE’s failure to schedule or deploy sufficient dynamic voltage support.
This blackout would not have occurred in a conventional, high-synchronous grid. The rush to decarbonise the power system without adequate attention to resilience and enforcement has created an atmosphere of complacency. That complacency – shared by policymakers, regulators, and parts of the renewables industry – led directly to a system-wide collapse that cost eleven lives.
I have seen many media reports which have tried to deflect from the role of intermittent renewable energy in the disaster. They have usually highlighted various failings by grid operators and lack of “investment” in the grid.
But such reports miss the point. It is only because of the inherent instability of wind and solar power that all of these investments and safety measures become necessary.
Maybe in a perfect world the Spanish grid would have worked as intended, and there would have been no blackouts.
But we don’t live in a perfect world.
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
July 17, 2025 at 03:47AM
Iowa Climate Science Education 