The Sacramento Bee:
The Glass Fire continued to burn actively in Napa and Sonoma counties, destroying more homes Wednesday and forcing additional evacuation orders and warnings, as fire officials face a tightening window before more bad fire weather arrives.
Crews are battling flames in steep, hilly terrain and trying to bolster containment lines as much as possible before Thursday afternoon, when gusty winds anticipated to reach 20 mph to 30 mph are forecast to reach the North Bay.
The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning, denoting critical wildfire weather conditions, for portions of the greater Bay Area along with the Santa Cruz mountains, which is in place 1 p.m. Thursday to 6 p.m. Friday.
RELATED STORY AT Axios:
SOLAR IS UNRELIABLE Yet everyone in CA is expected to buy ELECTRIC cars!
From the apocalypse files: A new Energy Information Administration analysis shows that pollution from California’s dreadful wildfires has substantially curtailed solar power generation in the state.
Why it matters: Everything’s connected. The growing wildfires in California — a problem worsened in part by global warming — create complications for one of the power sources that can help fight climate change.
- And as Energy Impact Partners’ Shayle Kann tweeted, it’s “especially bad news given that wildfire risk is highest in hot weather, when power demand peaks and you need solar the most.”
How it works: Smoke from the fires contains fine particulate matter, a highly dangerous respiratory pollutant that also cuts the amount of sunlight reaching solar panels.
By the numbers: Average utility-scale solar generation in California during the first two weeks of September declined by nearly 30% compared to July’s averages, EIA said.
(The figures apply to solar generation in the jurisdiction of the California Independent System Operator, the grid manager for almost all of the state.)
