I have two comments with respect to what Leigh said about power, energy,
etc.
(1) I can agree that energy is not a tangible property, and that makes
electricity very interesting. With other forms of "energy" we have an easy
out because there is something tangible. We can buy natural gas, coal,
gasoline, fire-wood. But what does it mean to buy electricity? Bob
Sciamanda suggested we are buying "electric service" and that seems pretty
reasonable to me unless someone has a better idea.
(2) Leigh says the CA problem is not a "power" problem, but an "energy"
problem. Is that really true? Here I am not worried about whether energy
is tangible or not. Rather, I am wondering about the true nature of the
problem. Does CA have access to sufficient "electric service" during
non-peak hours? In other words, if CA could even-out their electricity
usage so demand would be steady throughout 24/7/52, would there be as much
of a problem as there is? [Note, I do not know the answer to this, but I
think the answer is they would be better off than they are.]
If the problem is peak loading caused by daily or weekly or yearly peak
demands, then the problem is delivering sufficient "energy" for particular
durations of time... and this is exactly a power problem isn't it?
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817