|
|
Solar Bottleneck Episode Transcript. Length - 43:34 
Magnetofunky No. 185. It's Sunday, May 16th, 2021 [intro theme] Yeah. Larry here. We're well into Spring as pockets of the country slowly lurch to a fractured version of post-pandemic normal, even as the stench of Jan. 6th continues to linger. Anyway, I take a look at the renewable energy portion of California's power grid and the inherent bottleneck that comes with solar and wind. Meanwhile, the bike walkabout plan is wrapping up another phase, and the music this time is all new tunes sent in or pulled from the recent roster... [song] - 01:23 Ok, that was Save Yourself the new single by The Neverlutionaries, Psychedelic Alt Rockers led by Christopher Harold Wells, born in Philadelphia, who splits his time between Nashville and San Francisco. While still a teenager, Wells formed industrial rock band Peasants of the Apocalypse, who went on to open for Metallica, Everclear and Def Leppard during their 7-year history. The Neverlutionaries' self-titled LP debuted at #24 on the FMQB SubModern Album Chart and pent four weeks in the Top 100. This is a laid back (and often explicit - you bet your ass) international podzine and personal journal of extremely eclectic music and progressive politics, with a focus on energy independence for the 99%. My podpage is 1223studios.com/mfunky.h. The Twitter is @Magnetofunky. [Grid Theory] - 05:28 Mega Batteries... In Grid Theory, Continuing my look at California's aging, centralized grid and its ability to deliver adequate electricity, especially during a heat wave and global pandemic. I'm first acknowledging that most stories about Cali's grid problems will come from either pro-solar/wind sources, or oil and gas industry biased sources, or investor/venture capital sources - and that includes corp. media organs like the LA Times and the SF Chronicle... That said, a significant part of the Cali grid is the amount of power generated by renewables - currently about 22% (mostly solar and wind, but also includes geothermal and biomass). A lot of digital and printed ink is spilled on many angles of what's currently up, what's proposed and think tanked and opposed, but my take is that none of that matters as long as renewable energy can't do what coal-fired and big hydro dam plants do - provide power 24/7 as long as coal is delivered and the dam has enough water. The weak point, of course, is the need for grid-scale batteries to compensate for cloudy days and nights when the wind doesn't blow. Now, there are facilities under construction now, like the Moss Landing project near Monterey, where a 300 megawatt and 100 megawatt lithium-ion battery are being installed, but even when they're online they'll only cover 300,000 homes for four hours during evenings, heatwaves, and other times when energy demand outstrips supply. Another 182 megawatts from 256 Tesla megapack batteries there will power every home in nearby San Francisco for six hours. Meanwhile, a 250-megawatt storage project went online this year in San Diego, and a 100-megawatt battery project is nearing completion in Long Beach. That's all good, but to me the system is still fragile because batteries aren't 24/7, and because of the scale involved; less electricity is wasted with a shorter power line to the end user. A hacked city-wide grid down is still a catastrophe; a decentralized distributed network of smaller neighborhood grids is much more secure, but I bet it's simply easier to contract out megaprojects (as in easier to hide cost overruns that line pockets). I think grid-scale battery storage is first generation infrastructure and once the state works out the inherent bugs (including a few successful hacking grid-downs), decentralized networks will be second generation. Third generation will likely be Tesla's dream of air-gapped, wireless grid-less power-----[bell] Ok, a short report on the cargo box frame in a bit... [Back To The Stage] - 09:36 Ok, Back to The Stage, continuing with a few new eclectic tunes for Spring... First up it's The Infinity of a Wildflower some electronic alternative ambient dream pop from Polly Fae, artist and song crafter who's albums go back to 2012. This is the second song off the album EARTHLIGHT, released May 4th on Projekt Records. Then it's Felt Like Rain, the latest exclusive track sent in by Audionautix, AKA Jason Shaw, Composer Producer Engineer out of Pittsburg. Nice. [songs] - 10:24; 14:34 [Second Set] - 17:16 Ok, second short set opens with Lovers, a dark electro-gothic tune by amsterdam-based band CLAN OF XYMOX, from the album Spider On The Wall released a few months ago on Metropolis Records, but I think it fits... And we wrap with Nails - Hybrid, the seminal British electronic duo of Mike and Charlotte Truman, formed in 1995 at the height of the UK-led Breakbeat Era. This tune released on the 14th, is the sequel to the sci-fi mini movie Flashpoint, you can catch both on Youtube... [songs] - 18:05; 23:23 ["Geeknotes"] - 29:16 Geeknotes: It's Still Jan. 6th... Hey, Geeknotes! This again is the last, and hardest, part of the show to write, so I'm keeping it short: It's the middle of May, but aside from the few cleanup policy moves made by Pres. Biden - encouraging enough Americans to get vaxxed to have the CDC relax mask guidelines, the third stimulus, for example - the second 100 days are becoming a calculated quagmire due to the ongoing sedition campaign of the GQP, continuing the Big Lie-fueled nullifiction of the 2020 vote, the red state voter theft legislation, the gaslighting of the Jan. 6th attack into a white patriot picnic, the Congress regressing into civil war with treason weasels like MT Greene trying to, what, provoke either Corri Bush or AOC into losing their temper and pimp-slapping her so she can pull out that concealed carry piece and shoot them in self defense, meanwhile Biden is holding off on killing the filibuster to placate the new dixiecrats Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema giving cover to GQP senators who already said they ain't doing shit to help pass anything Biden puts forward to actually help the country. The stench of Jan. 6th lingers, but the corp. media only smells Nielsen ratings; ain't it sweeps month? I guess I should mention that the nation's death squads didn't brutally execute a black or brown person over the past week or so (as far as we know); maybe they're all watching the latest episode of expulsion and extermination carried out in Jerusalem by the IDF and taking notes... Ok, f you like, or hate the show, go to ratethispodcast.com/mfunky. And, if you have non-Zoom promos, pluggers, gig info, an art opening, etc, send me an email. The address is [email protected]. And bands, artists and poets - download links, no attachments, please, and no promises... [Grid Practice] - 32:34 Frame Set... Ok, In Grid Practice, A very short segment this time, squaring away the pvc box frame for my cargo trailer. It's finished and within specs - 18 x 24 x 24, with a 6" top rack, and a stable top rail to tie down the solar panel. The only major design change is to use regular tees instead of 4 way tee pipe fittings to make the top rack, cause those things are highly specialized furniture grade pieces only sold in bulk. The sections are in a bag for now, I won't bother with the coroplast panels and dowel rod reinforcements yet cause I don't have room yet for the assembled frame in the SRO, but that's ok; finally, finally, I'm about done with the gearing up phase aside from a few last odds and ends, and about to enter the pre-launch phase with its full checklist of steps, logistically, psychologically, physically and a couple other 'callies - a very heavy lift because this is where I cross the Rubicon, just like back in 2012 when I started hauling my stuff from LA to SF by bus. This time the Rubicon is a lot wider and will probably take the whole summer... [One More Tune] - 34:31 Ok, for this week's One More Tune, we close out with The 8th President, the first singe from the new double album "Cold Pills (Scarlet Gate of Toxic Daybreak)" released March 26 by Kirlian Camera, the subversive Italian electronic band... [song] - 34:56 Nice... The music bed this time is Ohm, a longer piece I found on Jason Shaw's expansive Audionautix site that's full of free atmospheric and mood music he's made available for podcasters and YouTube producers, very cool... Well, OK. [Closing] - 41:53 Hey, this show is a 1223studios joint. I'm on almost all the popular podcast platforms, the latest being Apple Podcast Connect. Show notes are on the podpage. Send email to [email protected]; Send reviews to ratethispodcast.com/mfunky If you like the show, tell your friends, and, The little piece of Jan. 6th out here, AKA the BS recall caper against Gavin Newsom, is going further off the rails now that it's been revealed that celebrity contender Caitlyn Jenner couldn't even be bothered to vote last year for President Pussyrabber cause he wouldn't win the state, so why the hell would I vote for her or any seditious Republicon artist. No thanks... Show themes "Rocket Power" & "Spy Glass" by NY musician and composer Kevin MacLeod. Some additional audio from freesound.org. Next episode is set for, maybe Memorial Day, depending on whether or not I get tagged for jury duty before then... I'm Larry, trying hard to stay chill at my garrett in the Mission, and this is Magnetofunky, from San Francisco, where we go through, not into, the darkness. |
|
All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective holders and authors. |