Outcast_Searcher wrote:
But doing something like being completely dependent on hydro for large cities near rivers sounds like a VERY bad idea indeed, even if AGW weren't a thing.
Of course, human planning being what it is, we tend to do whatever's cheapest in the short run. Which likely is NOT robust. Trade-offs.
I have a whole-house NG generator for a backup. When they get much better and cheaper, I also plan to have a battery backup system (the generator can have a part fail occasionally as it ages). Down the line, if I can get some solar without voiding my roof warranty, I'd like some of that to have another way to charge the batteries, etc.
Unfortunately such equipment isn't free, and if people would rather take fancy vacations and drive fancy cars, wear fancy clothes, eat at expensive places, yadda yadda, then they won't invest in such things. Again, trade-offs. For me, having had a 2 week power outage with a foot of water in the basement in the winter after a nasty ice storm, not having power backup is unacceptable.
Bad luck with the melting ice! We have had, possibly, devastating floods in Queensland this year. Another major flood in the Capital Brisbane 11 years after the last on (usually they are 33 years apart) and my own region got 250mm in a week. That's a lot for us.
No power dramas though, Australia's grid is shoddy but not totally prone to failure like the US grids. I have 500Ah or Trojen's at 12V as an offgrid, Solar panels and inverter to suit. It certainly won't run the house but it'll beek the fridges going and run a few lights which all I wanted it for. No need to spend 10k for something that's probably not needed more than once a decade for a few hours. Yet anyway...
Posted: Wed 22 Jun 2022, 16:12:34