All posts by Roger Straw

Editor, owner, publisher of The Benicia Independent
Benicia CA, Benicia City Manager Erik Upson, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA, Vaccine

Solano COVID hospitalization numbers and report of Benicia City Manager Erik Upson

By Roger Straw, Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Solano reports only 16 new cases today, and now reports 9 who were hospitalized at some time since early April.  Stay safe!  Remember: People with mild COVID can have long-term health problems

Solano County COVID report on Tuesday, May 11.
[Source: see far below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:

On May 11, Solano County reported only 16 new COVID cases, the smallest single-day increase since September 11, 2020.  This is encouraging, but our hearts go out to those 16 and their families and friends.  PROGRESS: we saw 1,288 new cases in April, an average of 43 per day.  In the first 7 days of May, Solano reported 275 new cases, an average of 39 per day.  Reports are that Solano will not be joining all other Bay Area counties in opening to less restrictive tiers anytime soon.  Solano’s Active cases fell today from 297 to 249.  Our percent positivity rate fell a bit, but remains high at 7.0%.  We have not seen rates this high since Feb. 22.

Cases among children and youth have increased alarmingly
Percent of today’s new cases, age groups, May 11, 2021
New Cases
0-17 years		 New Cases
18-49 years		 New Cases
50-64 years		 New Cases
65+ years		 TOTAL New Cases Today
4 10 4 -2 16
25% 63% 25% -13% 100%

Compare TODAY (above) with percentages since LAST SUMMER (below).  Note especially children and youth 0-17 and young adults age 18-49.  (And don’t ask me to explain the two fewer seniors in today’s Solano dashboard, above.  ????)

Percent of  ALL CASES SINCE JUNE 2020, age groups as of May 7, 2021
Date Cases
% 0-17		 Cases
% 18-49		 Cases
% 50-64		 Cases
% 65+
6/5/20 5.8% 45.2% 25.6% 23.3%
7/1/20 9.0% 57.5% 20.1% 13.4%
8/31/20 11.0% 60.6% 19.2% 9.2%
5/11/21 12.2% 55.4% 20.5% 11.8%
Hospitalizations – new information…

The Solano County COVID dashboard Summary tab only shows active hospitalizations for the current day (16 today – 3 more than yesterday).  This number represents the total currently hospitalized after yesterday’s admissions and discharges.  Little can be learned from this about the accumulated total of hospitalizations since the outbreak began.

Solano County Hospitalizations by Age Group, May 11, 2021. Click image for larger view.

But on the Demographics tab of the County dashboard, the County “occasionally” updates the accumulated total of hospitalizations by age group.  These numbers had not been updated since early April, but were updated yesterday and again today.  Yesterday the County reported 3 new hospitalizations since early April, and added another 6 today.  The 2-day increase of 9 includes 1 person age 18-49, 1 person 50-64 and 7 persons age 65+.   Looks like hospitalizations are dramatically DOWN.  We’ll keep an eye on this for more “occasional” updates.

Solano County Total COVID Hospitalizations by AGE GROUPS as of May 11
Hospitalizations
Age 0-17		 Hospitalizations
Age 18-49		 Hospitalizations
Age 50-64		 Hospitalizations
Age 65+
    26     324     332 (adding 1)     598 (adding 5)

>> The virus is still on the move here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated, wear a mask and social distance!  We will get through this together.

Cases by City on Tuesday, May 11:

  • Benicia remained steady today, total of 978 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia averaged 2 cases/day in April.
  • Dixon remained steady today, total of 1,891 cases.
  • Fairfield added 4 new cases today, total of 8,936 cases.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 370 cases.
  • Suisun City added 2 new cases today, total of 2,254 cases.
  • Vacaville added 2 new cases today, total of 8,587 cases.
  • Vallejo added 8 new cases today, total of 9,761 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 103 cases.
City Manager Upson reports on COVID in Benicia
Benicia City Manager Erik Upson

Benicia City Manager Erik Upson reported on COVID in his weekly newsletter today.  Benicia, he wrote, is “second in the County for highest level of vaccination at 73.9% (just behind Rio Vista at 74.8%) and have the lowest incident rate at at .035 (Solano County average is double that at .07). There are many factors that go into those numbers, but I believe part of it is our City’s approach to making it our top priority and our community’s willingness to step forward and set the example. Great job Benicia! If you’re looking for a vaccine, click here to find upcoming clinics.”  [More]

COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Monday, May 10:

The data on this page is from today’s and the previous Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated weekdays around 4 or 5pm.  On the County’s dashboard, you can hover a mouse or click on an item for more information.  Note the tabs at top for Summary, Demographics and Vaccines.  Click here to go to today’s Solano County Dashboard.

Sources
Benicia CA, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA, Vaccine

COVID progress in Solano: case count remains high, but hospitalizations are down

By Roger Straw, Monday, May 10, 2021

Solano reports 112 new cases over the weekend, but only 3 hospitalized since early April.  But remember: People with mild COVID can have long-term health problems

Solano County COVID report on Monday, May 10.
[Source: see far below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:

On May 10, Solano County reported 112 new COVID cases, 37 per day.  We saw 1,288 new cases in April, an average of 43 per day.  In the first 7 days of May, Solano reported 275 new cases, an average of 39 per day.  Reports are that Solano will not be joining all other Bay Area counties in opening to less restrictive tiers anytime soon.  Solano’s Active cases fell today from 319 to 297.  Our percent positivity rate remained steady at 7.6%.  We have not seen rates this high since Feb. 22.

Cases among children and youth have increased alarmingly
Percent of today’s new cases, age groups, May 10, 2021
New Cases
0-17 years		 New Cases
18-49 years		 New Cases
50-64 years		 New Cases
65+ years		 TOTAL New Cases Today
17 75 17 3 112
15% 67% 15% 3% 100%

Compare TODAY (above) with percentages since LAST SUMMER (below).  Note especially children and youth 0-17 years and young adults age 18-49:

Percent of  ALL CASES SINCE JUNE 2020, age groups as of May 7, 2021
Date Cases
% 0-17		 Cases
% 18-49		 Cases
% 50-64		 Cases
% 65+
6/5/20 5.8% 45.2% 25.6% 23.3%
7/1/20 9.0% 57.5% 20.1% 13.4%
8/31/20 11.0% 60.6% 19.2% 9.2%
5/10/21 12.2% 55.4% 20.5% 11.8%
Hospitalizations – very little information…

The Solano County COVID dashboard Summary tab only shows active hospitalizations for the current day (13 today – the County’s lowest number since June 19, 2020).  This number represents the total currently hospitalized after yesterday’s admissions and discharges.  Little can be learned from this about the accumulated total of hospitalizations since the outbreak began.

Solano County Hospitalizations by Age Group, May 10, 2021. Click image for larger view.

But on the Demographics tab of the County dashboard, the County “occasionally” updates the accumulated total of hospitalizations by age group.  These numbers had not been updated since early April, but were updated today.  Today the County reported only 3 new hospitalizations since early April, 1 person age 18-49 and 2 persons age 65+.   Looks like hospitalizations are dramatically DOWN.  We’ll keep an eye on this for more “occasional” updates.

Solano County Total COVID Hospitalizations by AGE GROUPS as of May 10
Hospitalizations
Age 0-17		 Hospitalizations
Age 18-49		 Hospitalizations
Age 50-64		 Hospitalizations
Age 65+
    26     324 (adding 1)     331     593 (adding 2)

>> The virus is still on the move here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated, wear a mask and social distance!  We will get through this together.

Cases by City on Monday, May 10:

  • Benicia added 2 new case over the weekend, total of 978 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia averaged 2 cases/day in April.
  • Dixon added 9 new cases today, total of 1,891 cases.
  • Fairfield added 42 new cases today, total of 8,932 cases.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 370 cases.
  • Suisun City added 9 new cases today, total of 2,252 cases.
  • Vacaville added 28 new cases today, total of 8,585 cases.
  • Vallejo added 22 new cases today, total of 9,753 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 103 cases.

COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Friday, May 7:

The data on this page is from today’s and the previous Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated weekdays around 4 or 5pm.  On the County’s dashboard, you can hover a mouse or click on an item for more information.  Note the tabs at top for Summary, Demographics and Vaccines.  Click here to go to today’s Solano County Dashboard.

Sources
Clean energy, Energy grid, Energy storage, Keeping Watch on Earth News, Solar energy, Wind energy

Breakthrough for clean energy storage: massive new battery farm coming to California this decade

This Compressed Air Grid ‘Battery’ Is an Energy Storage Game Changer

Pumped hydropower is great. This method might be even better.
Popular Mechanics, by Caroline Delbert, May 3, 2021
hydrostor storage facility
Hydrostor storage facility
  • World-record compressed air energy storage is coming to California this decade.
  • Using air reduces overhead and materials costs compared with hydrogen storage.
  • Compressed air is stored during surplus times and fed back during peak usage.

Two new compressed air storage plants will soon rival the world’s largest non-hydroelectric facilities and hold up to 10 gigawatt hours of energy. But what is advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES), exactly, and why is the method about to have a moment?

Compressed air is part of a growingly familiar kind of energy storage: grid-stabilizing batteries. Like Elon Musk’s battery farm in Australia and other energy overflow storage facilities, the goal of a compressed air facility is to take extra energy from times of surplus and feed it back into the grid during peak usage.

Here’s how the A-CAES technology works: Extra energy from the grid runs an air compressor, and the compressed air is stored in the plant. Later, when energy is needed, the compressed air then runs a power-generating turbine. The facility also stores heat from the air to help smooth the turbine process later on.

While the efficiency of similar systems has hovered around 40 to 50 percent, the new system from Hydrostor, a major global leader in building hydroelectric storage, reportedly reaches 60 percent, according to Quartz.

Hydostor will store compressed air in a reservoir that’s partly filled with water to balance out the pressure. The whole system will hold up to 12 hours of energy for the grids where the two plants are planned. (The first plant will be built in Rosamond, California, while the second location is to be determined.)

hydrostor energy storage facility
Hydrostor energy storage facility

Why branch out from hydrogen to compressed air? While hydro storage is a great part of the global energy scene, storing massive amounts of water requires a ton of infrastructure that Hydrostor says uses a lot of energy it’s ultimately trying to save. That makes intuitive sense if you think about the relative force of water compared with even heavily pressurized air.

New Atlas elaborates:

“Pumped hydro accounts for around 95 percent of the world’s grid energy storage and gigawatt-capacity plants have been in operation since the 1980s. The problem is that you need a specific type of location and a staggering amount of concrete to build a pumped hydro plant, which works against the goal of reaching net zero. Rotting vegetation trapped in dams also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, the biggest mega-batteries built so far are only in the 200 MW/MWh range, though installations bigger than 1 GW are planned.

Recharge reports that companies have built smaller existing CAES facilities over naturally occurring salt caverns. In contrast, Hydrostor will be digging new caverns to use for its larger facilities in California, just as engineers are constructing huge salt caves in Utah to store hydrogen.

The first of Hydrostor’s two plants is set to open in 2026, and the company says its system will last for about 50 years—making it a lot longer-lived than almost any energy storage of its kind. The near future of energy is likely made of a dozen different solutions that are all suited to different environments and situations, so adding compressed air to the portfolio simply makes sense.