Renewable Energy Discussion thread

[SV650rules]

Look on gridwatch UK templar site and since last Wednesday up to Monday the fans on sticks hardly contributed 2% to UK grid demand ( which was getting into the Orange zone approaching 40 gigawatt - and that is without charging electric vehicles ), solar power even less - renewables are not cheap and certainly not at all dependable... with the money spent on wind turbines and solar we could have had nuclear, dependable and clean.... politicians are carp at everything except wasting money on useless stuff and making laws...

We are lucky in UK to get 80 or 100 amp supply to our houses ( at least the more modern ones ) I read that in Spain they are sometimes lucky to get 13 amps.....

[DJ123]

Originally Posted by SV650rules

Look on gridwatch UK templar site and since last Wednesday up to Monday the fans on sticks hardly contributed 2% to UK grid demand ( which was getting into the Orange zone approaching 40 gigawatt - and that is without charging electric vehicles ), solar power even less - renewables are not cheap and certainly not at all dependable... with the money spent on wind turbines and solar we could have had nuclear, dependable and clean.... politicians are carp at everything except wasting money on useless stuff and making laws...

We are lucky in UK to get 80 or 100 amp supply to our houses ( at least the more modern ones ) I read that in Spain they are sometimes lucky to get 13 amps.....

And what they don't tell you about Wind turbines is the blades go to landfill as they can't be recycled . . . . .
Or about the 100 tons of concrete to build the bases to hold them in place . . .

[DJ123]

Originally Posted by Bibio

politicians are being advised by people with vested interest.

Absolutely, and usually they have a vested interest too . . . . Seems odd that every Public body has to declare any interests, any parties which would benefit from a deal & who may benefit. But not Politicians . . .

[Ruffy]

Originally Posted by SV650rules

Look on gridwatch UK templar site and since last Wednesday up to Monday the fans on sticks hardly contributed 2% to UK grid demand

Windfarms rely as much on proliferation around the country as individual efficency. As it happens we're reasonably fortunate in the UK compared to many other countries. I remember reading an analysis report from National Grid Control Room a number of years ago that showed that whilst the wind may not be blowing in one part of the country, it's very rare for the whole of the UK and its waters to be still. IIRC, there was about 5 years worth of data and there were only 2 days when there was no output possible at all.

2% does seem a bit low though and I wonder if there were other balancing mechanism factors involved (though I'm out of date on current situation - I've been out of the industry a few years).

Originally Posted by SV650rules

( which was getting into the Orange zone approaching 40 gigawatt - and that is without charging electric vehicles )

FYI, UK maximum demand at winter peak is c. 60-65GW. EV charging demand will likely push that up but not as much as you might think because most of the charging is unlikely to be at the same time as evening mealtimes - cookers, lights, heating, TVs on etc. (with a bit of charge control tech to regulate timing.)

Originally Posted by DJ123

And what they don't tell you about Wind turbines is the blades go to landfill as they can't be recycled . . . . .
Or about the 100 tons of concrete to build the bases to hold them in place . . .

Nor the fleets of diesel powered boats used to access/service them when they're offshore.

Having said that, it still works out pretty well but don't be taken in by anyone who claims that windfarms are perfectly 'green'.

[Adam Ef]

Originally Posted by DJ123

And what they don't tell you about Wind turbines is the blades go to landfill as they can't be recycled . . . . .

They can with some imagination... looks pretty elegant too I'd say..

https://twitter.com/denmarkdotdk/sta...715781?lang=en

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by Ruffy

2% does seem a bit low though and I wonder if there were other balancing mechanism factors involved (though I'm out of date on current situation - I've been out of the industry a few years).

The simple fact is that there was no wind, very often in winter in UK we get stuck in a high pressure area where the isobars are social distancing - some of the coldest weather is during highs as no cloud cover, but during winter solar is only available for a few hours a day as well, during the 'warmest and brightest' part of the day when arguably needed the least.

Today only about 13% supplied by wind, 0.5% by solar and the rest by gas fired power stations ( what a waste ) nuclear, biomass cables across channel and even about 7% by coal fired stations.

[Seeker]

I guess we* won't all be charging our electric cars this weekend.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-k-p...153739655.html

* I don't have an electric car.

[embee]

Originally Posted by Seeker

I guess we* won't all be charging our electric cars this weekend.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-k-p...153739655.html

* I don't have an electric car.

Let's hurry up and get rid of all those domestic gas boilers and switch everyone to nice clean electric heating ....... well it will be clean when there isn't any.

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by embee

Let's hurry up and get rid of all those domestic gas boilers and switch everyone to nice clean electric heating ....... well it will be clean when there isn't any.

The problem, in my opinion, is not that it cannot be done rather that a goal is announced with a fanfare but then insufficient resources are allocated to achieve the goal.

Once the phrases "world beater" or "leading the world" are used you know it's doomed to failure.

I would like to see a strategic plan that goes beyond the life of one Parliament so opposition parties would need to be included to ensure continuity. I'd also like to see world peace but that's not happening either.

What we will get is some bodged up compromise that doesn't do anything particularly well with lots of photo ops of MPs wearing hard harts/hi-viz saying how wonderful everything is.

[SV650rules]

Anyone with their eyes on the ball and not blinkered by the greenies saw this coming ages ago. We ran out of gas a few years ago ( the Russians were laughing when they sent UK a tanker full of gas ) because we are burning it in power stations by the megalitre instead of using if more efficiently for local heat in gas boilers

Only a matter of time before we have rolling blackouts in UK, all because our politicians are incapable of understanding anything but eroding our liberties with draconian laws and fiddling their expenses...

Having to rely on France for nuclear generated power in the ultimate irony, several times for periods of 4 days or more in the last few months solar and wind have contributed a tiny dribble of power to our grid while everything else runs flat out to keep our lights on. Would be so funny if HS2 could not run due to lack of power when the money would have been better spent of proper power stations. I read an article by the German professor who used to run German grid, he said 'for every renewable you have to build 100% conventional generating backup' - which is why Germans continued to build coal burning power stations, and why they are one of the worlds largest industrial economies....