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  Sun Spots

NASA Images - Sun Spot Activity Over Time

Regions on the sun that appear dark because they are cooler than the surrounding photosphere are known as "sunspots".  In fact they are very bright (about 1500 K) - but cool and dark compared to the temperature of surrounding areas of about 4500 K.  Sunspots develop and persist from hours to months. 

The diameter of sunspots can be as large as about 50,000 km - making them large enough to be seen with the naked eye. They come in groups, but groups of more than about 10 are rare.   

Sunspot occurrence is used to help predict weather and radio/satellite communications.

The first measurements for solar rotation were made by tracking sunspots. Galileo used this method to deduce that the Sun had a rotational period of about a month.

Non-Renewable Energy Sources  

in New York State 

Due largely to the hydropower of Niagara Falls (see below), renewable energy sources produce about 20% of the power used in New York State (much higher than the average for states of about 13%)  Even so, such a statistic is, of course, exclusive of the energy that New Yorkers would need if the sun didn't appear at all each day - and the temperature approached absolute zero (Brrrrrrr!).

It is not easy for a utility like Consolidated Edison to provide the power demanded by New Yorkers for buildings, industry, transportation, and other needs at all times. Always appreciate that "conservation" has displaced much of the need for new generating capacity - and can be a key part of the plan

Hope, reliance, and controversy have surrounded the Indian Point New York nuclear generating plants since they were built with fanfare of  heralding the era of "energy that is too cheap to meter" (prediction... off the mark).

Indian Point 1 was a 275-megawatt plant that started operations on September 16, 2, and was shut down on October 31, 1974 because the emergency core cooling system did not meet regulatory requirements. All spent fuel was removed from the reactor vessel by January 1976.  Indian Point 2 and 3, were built in 1974 and 1976 respectively. Together they generate a sizable portion of  New York City's electricity.  Also realize that nuclear plants form a key part of base load which cannot be switched "on and off".

 HYDRO-FRACKING

Hydraulic fracturing, often simply called fracking, is the process of propagating a fracture in a rock layer, and employing the pressure of a fluid (usually a chemical) to usually extract natural gas from a wellbore drilled into reservoir rock formations.  Much controversy exists about the propriety of the process in many cases - including in upstate New York (principally the southern tier).

Governor Cuomo has appointed a panel of business, environmental and government representatives charged with advising New York officials on regulating hydrofracking. The panel met for the first time on Thursday, August 18th in Albany or via videoconference. The goal was to lay out the groundwork and a timeline for making recommendations in several areas. Those include ensuring that the state has adequate resources to monitor drilling in the natural gas field known as the Marcellus Shale and minimizing any adverse impact on upstate communities where thousands of new wells are expected to be drilled.  One of the key issues is the provision of adequate oversight by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.