Zug Island and Wind Turbine Blades

[oladub]

It still begs to question, if 70% of the electricity supplied to the main east coast grid is provided by Canada, what happens when Canada decides to go green and finds out they cannot supply enough power for the two countries and starts shutting down that switch?

Unlike the U.S., which is tearing down FDR built hydro dams to improve trout fishing, Canada, with the exception of British Columbia, considers hydro power to be a desirable form of green energy. 76% of Canadian renewable energy is hydro energy although only 16% of Canadian energy is renewable. If Canada does cut its energy supplies, all solutions will be very expensive.

[bust]

The United States generated on average around 4,000,000 gigawatt hours of electricity per year over the past 20 years, and the trend is increasing.
The United States net imported on average around 50,000 gigawatt hours of electricity from Canada per year over the past 5 years*, and the trend is decreasing.

In other words,
The United States imports around 1% of its electricity from Canada each year, and the trend is decreasing.

The share of US electricity generated from renewable sources has roughly doubled the past 10 years and is now more than 20%.
The share of US electricity generated from wind has more than tripled over the same period.
Wind now produces more electricity in the US than any other renewable source.

All facts from the United States Energy Information Administration, aka the EIA.
1 gigawatt = 1000 megawatts = 1,000,000 kilowatts.
* As far back as the EIA publishes data.

[Richard]

That 1% equals 3.8 billion per year.

In world rankings the US is 3rd in renewal energy use where Canada is ranked 7th.

https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/science-data...facts/20069#L3

But it still does not erase the fact that both countries have neglected to improve the infrastructure of the grid in order to accommodate the goal of absorbing an additional demand of 30% EVs by 2030.

My point is,fix the grid first instead of throwing out billions into the supply that will be throttled into a system that will not be able to handle it,we already know what happens when an overtaxed grid collapses,now apply that across an an entire country,it’s not going to be pretty.

We as a country goes into debt and pay interest on building green that will be dormant,if we go into the same debt fixing the grid first we will at least be able to enjoy the benefits while we transition into green,otherwise we and our children’s children will be paying billions in interest to look at pretty windmills that will be useless.

[bust]

I absolutely agree the power grid needs to be fixed. It is strained, obsolete, and subject to attack.
But this is not an either/or equation. We can upgrade our grid and invest in cleaner energy.

I haven't parsed how Biden's infrastructure plan will specifically direct its funds, but $100 billion is allocated towards power grids.
The more Detroit can be part of this the better.

When I support making our power grid more resiliant and transitioning away from fossil fuels I am thinking precisely about our children's futures. I'm not so old yet -- mine too.

[casscorridor65]

Good question. I hope it happens.

I may be wrong, but I would be surprised if Detroit Edison owned the coke operations. Maybe they have an option on the land? Also I don't recall steel being made there, only blast furnaces for making pig iron from ore and coke from its coke ovens. The pig iron was sent to the steel mills in nearby Ecorse for conversion into steel. At least that was the situation when I worked on Zug ages ago.

DTE does own the Coke battery [[DTE Power and Industrial). I was just there in 2018 for 18 months doing the "D" furnace rebuild. Last Coke battery in Michigan [[there were 6 at one time). The state wanted it closed but decided to leave it since it's so polluted; it could never be used for anything else [[without billions for clean-up). Surprisingly, U.S. Steel doesn't even use the DTE coke even though it's made 500 feet from "D" furnace. They got in a tit years ago and all Zug's coke comes in from Pennsylvania on rail cars. It's the only thing going on there now, the furnaces are shut down. U.S. Steel Main Plant [[Ecorse) is still doing a small amount of work.

[renf]

What is the future of Zug Island? If steel production has ended and the production of coke is winding down, what is left? I infer it would be very costly to clean the island for other uses such as residential. Will U. S, Steel and Detroit Edison continue to pay property taxes on land that they are hardly using?

[Dumpling]

Well right now, besides the still-active coke battery, with coal
piles still being offloaded by lakers there, Zug Island
is a flyway for helicopters and raptors. There is an effluent
sampling station with several sampling pumps in it for the
GLWA WRRF Detroit River Outfall on the Detroit River side
of the island. Not sure if GLWA is paying taxes or fees
for that site. If so they would be rolled into everyone's water
and sewer charges.
There still seems to be some rail traffic across the island
as well. Maybe its the coke or coal from Pennsylvania mentioned
in the earlier post.
On the other hand since Zug is right next to the River Rouge
coal fired plant that is being decommissioned the site looks to be
"grid ready" should any wind turbines be installed there.
We are still using chlorine in tanker cars right across from
Zug Island. If Zug is to be heavily populated the GLWA
WRRF will need to complete the transition to liquid disinfectants
such as bleach before then.

[Dumpling]

If the flare stack that goes with the coke battery hangs
in for a few more years, passersby on the newly built
Gordie Howe Bridge will be treated to a fine show of
ring-billed seagulls soaring around the flare stack
at night, gobbling down the fish flies it will attract.