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What's the Yellow Smoke Coming from the Generating Station

nfitz said:
Nuclear: 10,046 MW
Hydro: 5,477 MW
Gas: 2,620 MW
Coal: 258 MW
Wind: 217 MW
Other: 163 MW
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Interesting. Yeah funnily enough they were discussing this very topic on Global TV news last night and they quoted pretty much the same stats. I was really surprised how little coal is these days. Personally I've got nothing against nuclear in a non-earthquake / non-tsunami zone so I'm fine with the stats as they stand now. I'm pretty sure gas is clean otherwise you wouldn't be able to cook on a gas stove indoors. I wish wind, solar was a bigger part of the equation but you just have to build some an enormous windmill 'farm' or soloar 'farm' for even a few MW that it just seems kinda inefficient. Again I have nothing against windmills aesthetically (and anyone who thinks they are noisy should go stand under one - they're not) I just wish they were making a meaningful contribution to the grid and with the current technology it seems like they're not.
 
hawc said:
I was really surprised how little coal is these days.
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I'm not surprised. Coal is the last resort. These days when it is neither very cold or very hot, demand isn't peak. But if you look on other days it is higher.
 
glad to see wind generation is almost at the same level as coal. Will be good to see wind surpassing coal in the coming years. ideally we will start thinking more about decentralized forms of power generation... everyone could have a small wind turbine or solar cells on their roof and we wouldnt have to rely on non-renewables so much. My uncle just installed solar on his roof back in the fall and is now making money from feeding into the grid. One day in November he earned $15!
 
Redroom Studios said:
glad to see wind generation is almost at the same level as coal.
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That was only a 1-hour snapshot. Though as they phase our coal - just like they phased out oil - ultimately coal will be near 0. Will wind grow? There seems to be a moratorium on it, because Ontarians seem to believe a bit of noise from a wind turbine is a far more serious issue than all the people who die from pollution every year.
 
nfitz said:
That was only a 1-hour snapshot. Though as they phase our coal - just like they phased out oil - ultimately coal will be near 0. Will wind grow? There seems to be a moratorium on it, because Ontarians seem to believe a bit of noise from a wind turbine is a far more serious issue than all the people who die from pollution every year.
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There's lots of wind coming on line over the next few months (and over the next few years) as a result of the FIT Program and other initiatives. Probably a multiple of the amount currently in operation. I agree that there are still fights to be had about offshore wind, but the rest seems to be coming on line as planed/anticipated.
 
voxpopulicosmicum said:
There's lots of wind coming on line over the next few months (and over the next few years) as a result of the FIT Program and other initiatives. Probably a multiple of the amount currently in operation. I agree that there are still fights to be had about offshore wind, but the rest seems to be coming on line as planed/anticipated.
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But the policy is now that new wind development can't be within 500 m of anything, right? That seems to rule out everywhere in southern Ontario.
 
k10ery said:
But the policy is now that new wind development can't be within 500 m of anything, right? That seems to rule out everywhere in southern Ontario.
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I take your point, but I think you're being over-the-top by saying it rules out "everywhere in Southern Ontario". There are still wind farms being constucted in Southern Ontario (I'm working on one right now) and in the medium term I think vertical-axis turbines will, if successfully commercialized, broaden the geography for wind generation on land. But I think near-shore and offshore are the areas of greatest potential. Also, solar equipment prices are coming down and "traditional" generation costs are increasing. In western Europe, the projections are that solar power costs will be on par with grid pricing by 2018. It will take longer in Ontario, but probably not a decade. So there should be lots of viable alternatives to nukes or gas.
 
So the yellow smoke was coming out of the smoke stack again yesterday. For at least an hour I watched it slowly drifting out. Honestly what is it?

IMG_2125.JPG


This is the raw image from my camera. No photoshop, no colour correction.
 

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hawc said:
So the yellow smoke was coming out of the smoke stack again yesterday. For at least an hour I watched it slowly drifting out. Honestly what is it?

View attachment 62595

This is the raw image from my camera. No photoshop, no colour correction.
Click to expand...
Based on some online forums (always 100% accurate!) it's a normal byproduct of turbine startup due to incomplete NO2 combustion.
 
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