The ERCOT headquarters in Taylor, TX. StateImpact Texas was given a tour of the facilities on June 6, 2012.
The ERCOT Grid Control Center at their headquarters in Taylor, TX. Controllers route electricity through over 40,000 circuit miles of high-voltage transmission wires.
Inside the ERCOT Grid Control Center at their headquarters in Taylor, TX. Human controllers can override computers if power is at risk.
When generators fail, controllers lean on large electricity users, like factories, that are paid to be ready to shut everything off at a moment’s notice.
Controllers monitor supply and demand to keep them perfectly balanced.
Controllers tweak the balance of supply and demand by activating backup generators.
Controllers make daily forecasts of the next day’s electric demand and supply down to every five minutes.
Controllers balance the need for power with the power given by their 550 generators in order to not waste resources.
Controllers look at wind and solar energy, which can vary the access of gatherable resources.
Controllers are in charge of monitoring every slight variation in power gathered, routed, and delivered to its 23 million consumers.
Controllers look at a distribution system so electricity can flow not just to consumers, but wherever it is needed most.
Imagine this: you’ve just gotten home from work. You worked right through lunch, as you often do, and now you just want to throw your pasta on the stove and relax in your air-conditioned home while you catch up with the news and… CLICK. Now your power’s out.
That frustration you just felt is exactly what the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the Texas Grid, is trying to prevent. However, it’s more complicated than just generating enough power for everyone.
StateImpact Texas got to see the ERCOT grid control center in person this week in order to get a better understanding of how blackouts are managed and limited. (You can see a slideshow of photos taken inside ERCOT above.) At the end of the day, it all comes down to a balance between load (demand for electricity) and generation of power. Continue Reading →
The NASA SDO satellite captures a ultra-high definition image of the Transit of Venus across the face of the sun at on June 5, 2012 from space.
A boy along with others wears special goggles to watch Venus crossing the sun’s face on June 5, 2012 in College Park, Maryland.
The planet Venus passes before the sun, a very rarely-seen event, on June 5, 2012 near Orange, California.
A astronomy enthusiast using his mobile phone, takes a photo of Venus sliding across the sun, off a projection, from a weather observatory in Manila.
Venus (top R) viewed as a small black dot, passes across the sun in the sky of Rome early on June 6, 2012. Sky-gazers around the world held up their telescopes and viewing glasses June 6, to watch Venus slide across the sun — a rare celestial phenomenon that will not happen again for more than 100 years.
Davinia Troughton and Joshua Howes wear special goggles to observe the Transit of Venus from the High Line park in New York City.
The last transit was in 2004 and the next pair of events will not happen again until the year 2117 and 2125.
Israeli children use tinted glasses to watch the transit of Venus across the face of the sun in the Israeli coastal Mediterranean city of Tel Aviv.
Another NASA image of the transit of Venus.
A boy looks through a telescope to see Venus transit across the Sun at the Obuda observatory in Budapest.
Sky-gazers around the world held up their telescopes and viewing glasses June 6, to watch Venus slide across the sun — a rare celestial phenomenon that will not happen again for more than 100 years. Other small dots on the right of the photo are called sun spots.
Amanda Fear (L) and Sebastian Paquet wear solar viewing glasses as they share a rare kiss as the planet Venus transitsacross the face of the sun at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California.
A man uses his iPhone to photograph the planet Venus passing in front of the sun from a live feed from the coelostat telescopes at the Griffith Observatory, one of the largest and most-visited public solar observatories in the world, in Los Angeles, California
A man in Singapore uses special glasses to watch the transit of Venus across the surface of the Sun.
The transit of Venus is seen making its way across the Sun off a screen at Caltech in Pasadena showing NASA’s live feed from Hawaii
An Indian women in New Delhi uses special glasses and filters to observe Venus as it passes in front of the Sun.
The transit of Venus involves the planet Venus crossing in front of the sun. The last time it was seen in California was 1882 and the next pair of events will not happen again until the year 2117 and 2125. The transit of Venus across the sun has been seen only seven times since the telescope was invented.
A Pakistani man in Islamabad uses an X-ray to observe Venus as it passes in front of the Sun.
The transit was witnessed by sky-watchers across the world. And in case you missed it, we’ve assembled photos of the event taken from places as far as Israel and Singapore, as well as some fantastic images from NASA satellites. You can see the images in the slideshow above.
And after the jump, a fantastic time-lapse video of the transit by NASA: Continue Reading →
A boy views the planet Venus through protected binoculars as it transits across the face of the sun as seen from the Greenwich Observatory June 8, 2004 in London. The rare astronomical event last occurred in 1882, while the next transit is due in 2012.
This photo taken 08 June 2004 shows the transit of Venus across the sun’s disc through special spectacles, seen in the park of La Villette in Paris.
People watch through telescopes the transit of Venus across the sun’s disc 08 June 2004 in the park of La Villette in Paris. Backgrouns is the Geode, a spherical Imax cinema
The planet Venus is visible as a black dot as it transits across the facce of the sun June 8, 2004 as seen from Baghdad, Iraq. The rare astronomical event last occurred in 1882, while the next transit is due in 2012.
Visitors observe the planet Venus passing in front of the Sun with filtered optics at the American Museum of Natural History June 8, 2004 in New York City. The transit of Venus is a rare celestial event which last occurred in 1882.
The planet Venus is visible as a black dot as it transits across the face of the sun as seen from the Greenwich Observatory June 8, 2004 in London. The rare astronomical event last occurred in 1882, while the next transit is due in 2012.
An Israeli child views the planet Venus as it transits across the face of the sun at Tel-Aviv university June 8, 2004 in Tel-Aviv, Israel. The rare astronomical event last occurred in 1882, while the next transit is due in 2012.
The planet Venus is visible as a black dot as it transits across the face of the sun as seen from the Greenwich Observatory June 8, 2004 in London. The rare astronomical event last occurred in 1882, while the next transit is due in 2012.
It’s not quite an eclipse, it’s more like the sun is going to have a beauty mark for a rare, fleeting moment. On Tuesday, Venus (the brightest planet in our solar system) will pass in front of the sun, and if you’re hoping to catch it, plan with care. If you miss it, you won’t have another chance of seeing it until the next century. December 11, 2117, to be exact.
“During the transit, Venus will appear in silhouette as a small, dark dot moving in front of the solar disk,” writes EarthSky, which reports on astronomy and science. “Here in Austin, Texas, we’ll see the first half of the transit, while the second half will take place after the sun goes beneath our horizon. In North America, it’ll be to our advantage to find a level western horizon, as the sun will be low in the west at the time of the transit.”
For information on the best possible time to witness the phenomenon in Texas, check out local times from the Transit of Venus website. For much of the state, the transit will be viewable starting at 4 p.m. Tuesday and and ending around 10 p.m. You’ll want a telescope with a solar filter to safely observe the passing. Continue Reading →
Oil prices are finally going down (for the moment, anyways) but this year has been pretty painful at the pump. While price is most on our minds, there’s also plenty to think about with the production and impact of oil.
A new art app for the iPad aims to get viewers to think deeper on the subject.
The new app is simply called “Edward Burtynsky: Oil,” and features over a hundred images by the renowned photographer of industry. (Nearly a quarter of the images have counterpart audio-commentary by the artist). The app coincides with exhibitions of the same work at The Photographers’ Gallery in London (there’s video of that on the app, too) and at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno starting June 9. The goal? To get people to think more about the oil industry’s impact. Continue Reading →
A Red-cockaded woodpecker, an endangered species, in a forest at the Cook’s Branch Conservancy.
‘It’s a false sense of security if people think it doesn’t matter that one species is disappearing. To me, that tells me the whole system is in trouble” – Sarah Scott Mitchell, granddaughter of George Mitchell
The Cook’s Branch Conservancy is located on 5,600 acres in Montgomery County. The land was purchased by Texas oil & gas billionaire George Mitchell in 1964.
“We’re now getting close to the condition the settlers found it in. We’re restoring grasses and doing controlled burns.” -Sheridan Mitchell Lorenz, daughter of George Mitchell
Naturalists improve breeding of the woodpecker by climbing old pines to build nests and remove predators like squirrels
Watching woodpecker return to feed hatchlings
Woodpecker nest in old-growth pine
Woodpecker hatchling
“I can hear the difference. You can hear so many more song birds that I didn’t hear before. We’ve actually doubled our population of (woodpeckers) in 10 years” -Kathy Hutson (center), Conservancy Manager
Wildflowers in a restored meadow
Flock of Eastern Wild Turkeys on the conservancy, one of many species that benefited from the restoration.
View of the Pantanal from the Cidade de Pedra viewpoint in the Chapada dos Guimaraes national park, Mato Grosso state, western Brazil on January 30, 2011.
In this photograph taken on October 16, 2010 during an aerial survey mission by Greenpeace over Sumatra island shows a rainforest canopy of Sungai Sembilang National Park.
PlanetSolar achieves the first around the world with only solar energy, on May 4, 2012 in Monaco. The biggest solar boat ever built progressed through Atlantic Sea, Panama canal, Pacific Ocean and is back to Mediterranean Sea through Suez Canal.
Picture taken on December 2, 2010 shows a flock of Great Cromonent birds flying over to Rapati River in Chitwan National Park, some 200 km southwest of Kathmandu.
A great white cloud reflected on a pond at the hotel Princeville Resort in Kauai (Hawaii).
The Dyes Slaughterhouse, part of the historic Dyes Store Butchery complex just outside of Kaukapakapa, New Zealand, today, Wednesday 19 May 2004.
A cameraman films the sea 21 November 2002 at the oil-covered Fuera beach in cape Finisterre, northwestern Spain.
What’s a carbon sink? It’s a process where the earth soaks up atmospheric carbon, which there is more and more of in the world. Those “sinks” take the form of forests and oceans, and a new study we reported on last week says that, contrary to previous research, the earth’s ability to soak up carbon has “increased roughly in line with rising emissions.” So herewith is a slideshow of some of those carbon sinks that are helping to eat up some of the carbon in the atmosphere.
The Australian drought forced the country to make some tough decisions. Will Texas follow suit?
Stockman Gordon Litchfield from Wilpoorinna sheep and cattle station surveys the bottom of a dry dam on his property on June 7, 2005 in Leigh Creek, Australia.
Stockman Gordon Litchfield from Wilpoorinna sheep and cattle station holds a handful of bull dust on his property June 7, 2005 in Leigh Creek, Australia.
A Country Fire Authority (CFA) staff monitor a giant fire raging in the Bunyip State Park near Labertouche, some 125 kilometres west of Melbourne, on February 7, 2009. More than 40 blazes raged across two states as a once-in-a-century heatwave pushed the mercury as high as 46 degrees Celsius (115 Fahrenheit) with fire bans in place across much of the south-east, with conditions said to be the worst since the Ash Wednesday wildfires of 1983, which killed 75 people and razed 2,500 homes.
A dead kangaroo lies beside a burnt-out section of the Hume Highway near Seymour, some 100 kilometres north of Melbourne on February 9, 2009 as raging Australian wildfires left at least 131 people dead amid a landscape of charred homes, bodies and devastated communities. The wildfires have become the deadliest in Australia’s history, destroying entire towns and wiping out families and amid the heartache there was also anger as police revealed they suspected some of the fires were started by arsonists, whom Prime Minister Kevin Rudd accused of “mass murder.”
Farmer Marshall Rodda inspects an empty dam, leaving him with fields of stunted wheat stalks, normally thigh high, and which have only managed only a few inches growth in the parched earth of the Australian wheat belt in the fall of 2006.
An emaciated sheep standing in a field June 13, 2005 near Port Augusta, Australia.
This photo taken 16 November, 2006 shows a warning sign for boats sitting on the bottom of the empty Green Hill Lake outside the small rural town of Ararat, some 170 kms west of Melbourne.
A man shelters from the rain under his umbrella as he passes a giant mural showing the drought-affected Australian outback which is blocking public view of a fountain, turned off to conserve water in Melbourne’s CBD, 18 May 2007.
The remains of a fish lies on cracked ground at Wivenhoe Dam on April 10, 2007 in Queensland, Australia.
Cracked earth is seen at Wivenhoe Dam on April 10, 2007 in Brisbane, Australia.
An outdoor tap has cobwebs from lack of use May 11, 2005 in Goulburn, Australia.
One question that comes up when looking at the Texas drought is, are there any examples of other droughts the state could look to? Texas isn’t alone dealing with the issues of water and drought, and one of the most recent examples of a large population dealing with drought comes from Australia. (You can see a slideshow of the Australian drought above.)
“Australia is the biggest drama that has recently played out in the world of water,” said Ralph Eberts, the Executive Vice President of Black & Veatch Water, at the Texas Water Summit at the University of Texas Monday. Australia is just now emerging from a severe decade-long drought. At the peak South East Queensland hung on with less than fifteen percent of its water supplies remaining. Aussie wildlife and agriculture took a considerable blow. And failed rice and grain crops threatened to unhinge the global food supply.
A parallel can be drawn between Australia’s drought experience and that of Texas. Australia, like Texas, was caught in a bind with no warning. The drought experience across Australia varied considerably, with different regions undergoing various levels of stress. Texas has witnessed this variability with West Texas drawing the shorter straw.
But the duration of the Australian drought led to markedly different results. Continue Reading →
Tomatoes on the vine at Village Farms new thirty-acre greenhouse in Monahans, Texas.
The vines are suspended from the ceiling, with large cylinders circulating air beneath them.
The tomatoes are grown in coco peat instead of soil, greatly reducing impact on land and waterways.
Commissioner of Agriculture Todd Staples inspects the tomatoes.
Computers control temperature, air and humidity. Bees are allowed in for pollination, but other bugs are kept out, eliminating the need for pesticides. Large tubes keep air circulating beneath the tomatoes.
Doug Kling says “there’s a peacefulness” to the greenhouse.
The end product: bushels of Texas tomatoes.
Precisely-beveled glass diffuses light on the tomatoes, providing equal amounts of sunlight to the crop.
Commissioner of Agriculture Todd Staples and Village Farms officials tour the greenhouse.
Next time you buy a Texas tomato, check where it was grown. The answer might surprise you. That’s because ninety percent of the state’s tomatoes come from a few greenhouses in the arid deserts of Far West Texas. (You can see a detailed breakdown of how the process works in the slideshow above.)
The latest addition to that group is a massive glass facility in Monahans, outside of Odessa. It officially opened for business this week.
“Well, when you look at this, this is like a giant, 15-acre, indoor garden,” says Doug Kling, Senior Vice President for Village Farms, which owns and operates the greenhouse. “Pollinated [by] bees, and grown naturally. Where the sunlight comes in and you can smell the calyx. It’s kind of exciting. There’s a peacefulness to it.”Â
An Indian man uses protective goggles to view the solar eclipse in the village of Taregna, some 30 Kms. south of Patna early July 22, 2009.
A picture taken on January 04, 2011 in Rennes, western France, shows the world’s first partial solar eclipse of 2011.
Chart outlining the places and times of the May 20, 2012 solar eclipse.
The sun is seen partially covered by the moon on Easter Island, 3700 km off the Chilean coast in the Pacific Ocean, on July 11, 2010.
A picture taken on January 04, 2011 in Locon, northern France, shows the world’s first partial solar eclipse of 2011.
A man uses a filter to take a picture during the partial solar eclipse in Hong Kong on July 22, 2009.
A telescope’s eyepiece projects a penumbra onto a screen during a solar eclipse over New Delhi on July 22, 2009. Only a partial eclipse was able to be seen from the Indian capital.
In this multiple exposure image taken on July 22, 2009 shows the various stages of the total solar eclipse in Baihata village, 30 kms from Guwahati, the capital city of the northeastern state of Assam.
Indian youths use solar viewing goggles to view a solar eclipse in Siliguri on July 22, 2009.
You’re going to need something better than wayfarers this weekend. The first annular solar eclipse of the 21st century for the continental U.S. is coming to Texas Sunday. You can see photos of some notable eclipses in the slideshow above.
The eclipse will start in Eastern Asia and cross east over the Pacific, ending in Central Texas. Here’s an interactive map of where the eclipse will pass, with peak viewing times. NASA says the eclipse will begin at 7:35 pm in Texas and peak at sundown. The best views will be from West Texas, particularly Amarillo, Lubbock and Midland-Odessa, where the eclipse will peak right around 8:30 pm. For those of you in the big cities of Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, you won’t get to see the full peak phase of the eclipse because the sun will have set by then. But you’ll still be able to see some of it.
An annular eclipse is close to a total eclipse, but not quite. With an annular solar eclipse, the moon directly passes between the earth and the sun, casting a shadow on the earth’s surface. For a viewer on earth, the light from the sun is almost fully blocked creating a “ring of fire” around the moon.
NASA cautions viewers to not look directly at the sun and to not rely on standard sunglasses. Looking directly at the eclipse can cause permanent eye damage. “The ring of sunlight during annularity is blindingly bright,” Fred Ezpenack, an eclipse expert at NASA, warns on their website. Continue Reading →
As much as three inches of rain have fallen on the state in the last 24 hours
Blue skies over a lake outside of Houston, Texas
The National Weather Service is predicting more rain today
Water trickles down from Clear Lake in Houston
A fan waits after Game Two of the American League Championship Series at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington was postponed due to inclement weather on October 9, 2011 in Arlington, Texas.
Cattle stand in high water on a flooded farm after Hurricane Ike hit September 15, 2008 in Winnie, Texas. Ike caused extensive damage along the Texas Gold Coast, leaving millions without power.
A steer is reflected in water as it sits on the high ground of Rt 10 because pastures are filled with brackish flood waters from the storm surge of Hurricane Ike September 17, 2008 in Jefferson County Texas, Texas. Hundreds of cattle have died and more are expected die after drinking the brackish water. Hurricane Ike caused wide spread damage and power outages on the Texas coast.
Cattle stand in high water on a flooded farm after Hurricane Ike hit September 15, 2008 in Winnie, Texas. Ike caused extensive damage along the Texas Gold Coast, leaving millions without power.
A young boy cools off in the Volcano Lake slide, July 20, 2000, at the Wet ”N” Wild Waterworld in Anthony, Texas. A heat wave that stretches from Arizona to the southeast coast, is being blamed for at least 12 deaths in Texas and another six in Alabama and Louisiana. Health officials in some states say they won”t know how many people have died from sweltering temperatures until autopsies are complete. High humidity is making heat in the Southeast even deadlier than the dry heat of the Southwest.
It’s raining (and in some cases, flooding) across Texas. A popular question this morning will be: Is the Drought Over? And the answer to that largely depends on where you are. If you’re in East Texas, the answer is a qualified yes. (Many reservoirs still haven’t recovered.) In West Texas? There’s still a ways to go.
But regardless of whether or not the drought is technically abating, the issues behind it are here to stay. Texas is growing rapidly, and will not have enough water to meet its needs unless changes are made. (For an invigorating discussion of those issues, check out this Twitter chat from earlier in the week.)
For now, it’s nice to take a breath and appreciate the wet winter behind us and the hopefully-wet Spring/Summer ahead. Above is a slideshow of scenes of water in Texas to feast your eyes on in the meantime.
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