Read on Twitter
As with all major blackout events, the fact that a range of fuel type failures contributed to this will be obscured by an excessive focus on renewables, leading to the faulty perception that renewables share all of the blame.
It's clockwork -->> https://twitter.com/TimMLatimer/status/1361312665239494662
It's clockwork -->> https://twitter.com/TimMLatimer/status/1361312665239494662
^^ Watch media coverage, commentary, tweets, posts etc carefully. Watch how breakdowns with fossil fuels are treated, vs how issues with renewables are treated. Pay attention to framing, quantity of attention etc.
Clockwork 
Guess which technologies are mentioned in this, and which aren't?
Media outlets intentionally contribute to a skewed understanding of the causes of blackouts because they *know* that an excess focus on renewables will bring the clicks: https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1361316865713315851
Media outlets intentionally contribute to a skewed understanding of the causes of blackouts because they *know* that an excess focus on renewables will bring the clicks: https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1361316865713315851
A lot of people blame deniers and skeptics and fossil fuel companies for the harm caused by fossil fuels. I really don't think we have a full understanding of the role of media outlets in causing climate change
There's a specific reason you won't see headlines that centre or focus on the role of frozen fossil gas pipelines in Texas in contributing to rolling blackouts. It just doesn't provoke the hornets nest of hyper-emotional deniers the way wind stories do
http://www.ercot.com/news/releases/show/225151
http://www.ercot.com/news/releases/show/225151
^^ Part of the reason this frustrates me so much is just the sheer predictability of it all. It is truly inevitable.
"As this event is ongoing, analysis of what caused the blackouts will take time" < - imagine if that was written, instead.
"As this event is ongoing, analysis of what caused the blackouts will take time" < - imagine if that was written, instead.
I'm guessing this won't get a "wow" https://twitter.com/JesseJenkins/status/1361348544154664961
*patiently waiting for the chart of gas output vs maximum installed output* https://twitter.com/whatisnuclear/status/1361346932795351041
A nice, clear illustration of how media outlets know *very well* that articles framed in a way that attacks renewables are going to get far, far better stats than those that are accurate or careful in language
@Reuters found a sweet spot. They won't report on the gas outages.
@Reuters found a sweet spot. They won't report on the gas outages.
There's something missing from this tweet. Can you tell what it is? https://twitter.com/TheStalwart/status/1361368086197243909
"The current blackouts have nothing to do with renewables and everything to do with cold weather slowing down natural gas production because of freeze offs and spiking demand for heating at the same time" @jshieber https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/15/severe-weather-blackouts-shows-the-grids-biggest-problem-is-infrastructure-not-renewables/
These guys don't waste any time hey
Folks: pay attention to what's mentioned, and what isn't.
The 27 gigawatts of thermal generation that's failed? Nope. 4 GW of wind? Yep.
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/texas-starts-blackouts-for-first-time-in-decade-as-big-freeze-hits
The 27 gigawatts of thermal generation that's failed? Nope. 4 GW of wind? Yep.
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/texas-starts-blackouts-for-first-time-in-decade-as-big-freeze-hits
Correction: it's 29 gigawatts of thermal power that's out, not 27. https://twitter.com/JesseJenkins/status/1361415200373530624
It's sort of an obvious point but all of the blackouts that *don't* happen due to wind and solar contributions go by with near-zero attention, while all the blackouts that happen due to the coincidence of low VRE output and total fossil fuel failure get blamed on wind and solar
There is *always* a crappy Forbes blog. Always. It's clockwork. https://twitter.com/GovernorPerry/status/1361345629478354949
https://twitter.com/GovernorPerry/status/1361345629478354949
Amazing @A_Siegel write-up of essentially the same story almost exactly ten years ago
https://getenergysmartnow.com/2011/02/05/blacked-out-texas-seeking-understanding-or-falsely-laying-blame/
https://getenergysmartnow.com/2011/02/05/blacked-out-texas-seeking-understanding-or-falsely-laying-blame/
The top search result when @ellybaxterpr searches for "texas blackout".
CNN knew *exactly* what they were doing.
This isn't a far-right problem. This is an 'entire media industry, including the left-wing outlets' problem - and it's getting worse every single day.
CNN knew *exactly* what they were doing.
This isn't a far-right problem. This is an 'entire media industry, including the left-wing outlets' problem - and it's getting worse every single day.
Literally: it is everywhere. There is no ideology, and there is real, genuine bipartisanship. They have no sense, no clear-headed thought. They just see the keywords and know exactly what they need to do.
It's clockwork.
It's clockwork.
Hey everyone - here's a write-up about the blackouts in Texas. The sheer scale of the failure of fossil fuelled power stations is mind-boggling - almost as mind-boggling as the efforts to immediately blame wind power. https://reneweconomy.com.au/massive-texas-gas-failure-during-climate-extremes-gets-blamed-on-wind-power/
Meteorologist @KPRC2Frank on the BBC telling listeners that the sole cause of the blackouts is "frozen wind turbines" and "the only power we're getting is from natural gas right now"
HT @BenGilbey2
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000s9tk
HT @BenGilbey2
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000s9tk
Equinor Chief Economist didn't decide to wait to see what the primary cause of the blackout was before diving right in with this tweet: https://twitter.com/EWaerness/status/1361240522862559232
Great piece linked in this thread breaking down the 2014 Texas blackouts in which the cold played havoc with thermal generators. This stat stands out.
https://twitter.com/esandeen/status/1361462274519691264
My bet: in weeks / months we'll find out just how wrong the initial info was....
https://twitter.com/esandeen/status/1361462274519691264
My bet: in weeks / months we'll find out just how wrong the initial info was....
A side-thread - on how to measure the performance of wind power, particularly during periods of grid stress: https://twitter.com/KetanJ0/status/1361657641009831936
Can I just say that I am genuinely surprised that it took *this* long for the Texas renewable energy misinformation hurricane to hit Australia? And it's just WSJ's piece republished?
Good piece. Nearly twice the capacity of thermal power was offline in TX than wind, roughly four times if you account for wind and potential contribution from those turbines.
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16/texas-wind-turbines-frozen/?utm_campaign=trib-social&utm_content=1613523274&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16/texas-wind-turbines-frozen/?utm_campaign=trib-social&utm_content=1613523274&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
Wow - finally. How did it take this long for @SkyNewsAust to publish lies about Texas' blackout? They've dropped the ball...
Some lists of ways you can potentially help out / donate, including if you're not in Texas or America:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11GplfTTLRv6yV-2AC6GFw5Gy4izlPdGSay1HdRQcRjQ/edit
HT @thricycles
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11GplfTTLRv6yV-2AC6GFw5Gy4izlPdGSay1HdRQcRjQ/edit
HT @thricycles
Sorry folks, put down the take tools, @StreetBomber has the ultimate take
Hi @guardian. It isn't just "Murdoch media": that's a cop-out. It's an industry-wide problem and ignoring that is a huge part of why it persists and why every time the fossil fuel industry causes blackouts, they also see massive PR wins against renewables
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/17/conservatives-falsely-blame-renewables-for-texas-storm-outages
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/17/conservatives-falsely-blame-renewables-for-texas-storm-outages
This is not a 'murdoch media' problem. It's an everywhere and everyone problem. Journalists *instinctively* pin the entire focus on renewable energy, even as they sheepishly plug caveats into the fourth or fifth paragraphs.
It doesn't matter: the signal is heard.
It doesn't matter: the signal is heard.
^^ If you want a little thing you can do to track this - try and find me a single article about Texas' blackouts illustrated with a picture of gas, coal or nuclear power station - all equal or greater players in the reasons behind the catastrophe.
From the 2011 FERC report into Texas' outages:
Blade icing and low temp wind turbine cutoffs caused the loss of 1,946 MW of capacity out of 22,805 MW lost due to weather in total. Wonder if we'll see a similar ratio when reports come out.
https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-05/ReportontheSouthwestColdWeatherEventfromFebruary2011Report.pdf
Blade icing and low temp wind turbine cutoffs caused the loss of 1,946 MW of capacity out of 22,805 MW lost due to weather in total. Wonder if we'll see a similar ratio when reports come out.
https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-05/ReportontheSouthwestColdWeatherEventfromFebruary2011Report.pdf
