Comments by "Scott Franco" (@scottfranco1962) on "Where Your Electricity Comes From" video.

  1. The answer is a mix of natural gas an renewables. In the USA before the turn of the century, there was a push to switch to NG generation, which was slowed by a rise in NG costs. This set off a big push to build LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) shipping terminals so that we could import more NG, since one of the major issues with it were that some of the most abundant producers, like Quatar, were not reachable by pipeline. Now, with fracking, NG is abundant, locally produced, and perhaps most importantly, there is no "peak NG" horizon in sight. The amount of pollution produced by power generation has gone down in the USA significantly, almost all due to the switch to NG. And NG plants are both cheaper than other methods of power production, nuclear, coal, hydro, etc, but far more flexible as well. Small plants can be built in city centers. "peaker" plants can be used to provide temporary power to cover shortages in renewable power, etc. One of the biggest issues with renewable power is that it is not constant. This is why a mix of renewable power and NG power are a perfect complement for the forseeable future. Someday renewable power will be paramount, but until that day, mixed renewable/NG power will replace coal and nuclear plants and their issues (and yes, nuclear plants have issues). Even after renewables are the norm, NG will be used to cover heavy power applications such as steel and aluminum manufacture.
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