Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
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^ Yep. ^
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Nope!
I'm a belt and braces man. We can't have enough sources of power, in case one or two develop unforeseen problems in the future. The more the merrier, I say!
eburacum
Papo-furado
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In due course, yes we could. The amount of solar energy hitting the Earth is 174,000 terawatts; the amount of energy human civilisation uses is on average 12 terawatts. The energy hitting the Earth is 10,000 times the amount we use. If we really needed to, we could grab a 1/10000th part of that energy to power our society.
But it is quite likely that we won't need to, since fusion power should be available in due course, some time before we run out of uranium and thorium (which will happen in the moderately distant future). I'm fairly sure that fusion power will supply the greater part of our needs by 2200 c.e., but solar power and other renewables are likely to provide a very significant fraction of the rest.
Coal
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Well, that's true, but only half gets to the earth's surface, say 87,000TW.
As things stand the key figure in not this, but the amount that can be used usefully. With PV for example, in the Northern hemisphere, the average output over the year of 1m^2 of panelling is still about 20W (that's taking peaks, troughs and night-time into consideration, it makes calculation transparent).[The Solar Fraud, Hayden]
To reach the 822W/Person for the UK (wiki), we'd need to put in place 40m^2 of solar panelling for every person, which is certainly beyond the available roof-space (if you want the whole 20W) and covering land that we need to grow (say) food on isn't such a good long term idea either.
We can play 'let's pretend' with wind turbines as well if you like. A 2MW Turbine produces under a third of it's name plate capacity (the 'load factor'). Let's say 600kW.
We need 53GW, more or less, (822W x 65,000,000).
That's 88 million 2MW wind turbines...a little over one per person...
To replace a typical 1GW fission reactor one needs about (1GW * 0.7)/600kw = 1,166 2MW Wind turbines. (typical fission reactor load factor is about 0.7).
In the Uk (as an example), there is 243,610km^2 of land area and a density of one turbine per square km isn't achievable either in a practical sense or in terms of 'best use of wind'.
If we calculate that, we get (243,610 * 600kW) = 146GW which might work if only we could build at anywhere dear that density (we can't, siting issue of suitable terrain and urban conurbations excludes lots and lots of it) and still live, feed ourselves (in part) and that all those turbines get anywhere near a load factor of 0.3 (which they won't, most onshore is well under 0.3 load factor).
The numbers, frankly, suck.
Plus if the UK were covered with big areas of low air pressure, it's going to mean 'back-up' power.
Renewable are useful as a small part of a mix. The demands of the living space of our population simply won't accommodate the kind of deployment that would make a large difference.
If global warming is such an inevitable catastrophe the sensible solution is to deploy the biggest and best large scale technology with minimal emissions that we have and that's nuclear fisson. The zealots who treat it as some devils brew making it impossible to have a reasonable debate about it are right up there with the anti GM protesters who are, by their actions, likely to cause large scale starvation (if they're not already). As I said before, it's almost if the anti-nuclear people want us all to die to prove them right.
It's akin to playing poker and whining all the time about how you could win if only you had the 'right' hand. You play the hand you have.
[feel free to find any maths mistakes in the above]
.
eburacum
Papo-furado
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Wind turbines are mostly irrelevant to powering our civilisation, although they do have some limited utility. And solar power in the UK is insufficient for our needs; this is obvious when you look at our weather. Global energy is a global problem, and needs global solutions; we are too small a country to supply our own needs in almost every respect.
Most of the solar insolation that reaches the Earth's surface falls on the lands around the equator, and on the oceans. These are the places where we should be collecting solar power; in the Sahara desert, and from the Gulf of Mexico using Ocean Thermal systems. Ocean Thermal power alone could supply 30 terawatts.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_thermal_energy_conversion
Yes, that means the UK will no longer be self-sufficient in power- but of course we already import most of our power (60%); if we wanted to rely on renewables we'd need to import more than 80%. Even our uranium comes from abroad; none is mined here. We have some deposits but the nimbys wont let us mine them.
Fusion power is the only way we'd ever be self sufficient in energy in this country, which is why it is so unutterably stupid to cut ourselves off from Europe and the rest of the world unless that technology were proven and available.
Most of the solar insolation that reaches the Earth's surface falls on the lands around the equator, and on the oceans. These are the places where we should be collecting solar power; in the Sahara desert, and from the Gulf of Mexico using Ocean Thermal systems. Ocean Thermal power alone could supply 30 terawatts.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_thermal_energy_conversion
Yes, that means the UK will no longer be self-sufficient in power- but of course we already import most of our power (60%); if we wanted to rely on renewables we'd need to import more than 80%. Even our uranium comes from abroad; none is mined here. We have some deposits but the nimbys wont let us mine them.
Fusion power is the only way we'd ever be self sufficient in energy in this country, which is why it is so unutterably stupid to cut ourselves off from Europe and the rest of the world unless that technology were proven and available.
Last edited:
Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
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- Inside a starship, watching puny humans from afar
Our Uranium can be dug up in Cornwall.
Sorry, Rynner.
Sorry, Rynner.
eburacum
Papo-furado
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That is a bloody good idea, and we should be getting on with it. Uranium isn't really all that rare as an element, and it is a lithophile so is found mainly in crustal deposits. I'm all for fission power, especially fast breeders and thorium reactors. But time is running out.
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
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This will result in even more mutants in Cornwall. Best to establish walled mining colonies and wall in Cornwall itself.
I remember a film about a Zombie Outbreak in Cornwall, it was decided to sacrifice Devon as well. They built the Wall along the Somerset/Dorset borders.
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Geologists target 500C volcano's energy
By Rebecca Morelle Science Correspondent, BBC News, Iceland
Geologists say they are close to creating the hottest borehole in the world.
They are drilling into the heart of a volcano in the south-west of Iceland.
They have told the BBC that they should reach 5km down, where temperatures are expected to exceed 500C, in the next couple of weeks.
The researchers want to bring steam from the deep well back up to the surface to provide an important source of energy.
"We hope that this will open new doors for the geothermal industry globally to step into an era of more production," said Asgeir Margeirsson, CEO of the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP), a collaboration between scientists, industry and the Icelandic government.
"That’s the aim - that’s the hope. We have never been this deep before, we have never been into rock this hot before, but we are optimistic."
The project is located on the Reykjanes peninsula, where a volcano last erupted 700 years ago.
A huge rig stands out against the black lava fields; inside a drill has been operating for 24 hours a day since August.
It has now descended nearly 4,500m, and the team expects it to hit its target depth of 5km by the end of the year.
Gudmundur Omar Fridleifsson, from Icelandic energy company HS Orka, is the project's chief geologist.
He shows me thin cores of black basalt rock that have been collected from deep beneath the ground.
"It’s getting hotter - and that's what we want," he said.
"We don’t expect to drill into magma, but we are drilling into hot rock. And by hot rock, we mean 400 to 500C."
Close to the rig, sulphurous steam is blasting from the ground, blending into the grey sky above.
Iceland, sitting on the boundary between two major tectonic plates, is one of the most volcanically active places in the world.
Harnessing this energy through geothermal technology is already well established here.
"In this area at Reykjanes, we typically drill to 2km or 3km depth to harness the steam, to run power plants and produce clean, renewable electricity," explained Asgeir Margeirsson.
"We want to see if the resources go deeper than that."
When the drill gets to 5km, the team expects to find molten rock mixed with water. But with the extreme heat and immense pressure found at this depth, the water becomes what is known as "supercritical steam".
t is neither a liquid nor a gas, but it holds far more energy than either. And it is this supercritical steam that the team wants to bring back up to the surface to convert into electricity.
etc...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38296251
By Rebecca Morelle Science Correspondent, BBC News, Iceland
Geologists say they are close to creating the hottest borehole in the world.
They are drilling into the heart of a volcano in the south-west of Iceland.
They have told the BBC that they should reach 5km down, where temperatures are expected to exceed 500C, in the next couple of weeks.
The researchers want to bring steam from the deep well back up to the surface to provide an important source of energy.
"We hope that this will open new doors for the geothermal industry globally to step into an era of more production," said Asgeir Margeirsson, CEO of the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP), a collaboration between scientists, industry and the Icelandic government.
"That’s the aim - that’s the hope. We have never been this deep before, we have never been into rock this hot before, but we are optimistic."
The project is located on the Reykjanes peninsula, where a volcano last erupted 700 years ago.
A huge rig stands out against the black lava fields; inside a drill has been operating for 24 hours a day since August.
It has now descended nearly 4,500m, and the team expects it to hit its target depth of 5km by the end of the year.
Gudmundur Omar Fridleifsson, from Icelandic energy company HS Orka, is the project's chief geologist.
He shows me thin cores of black basalt rock that have been collected from deep beneath the ground.
"It’s getting hotter - and that's what we want," he said.
"We don’t expect to drill into magma, but we are drilling into hot rock. And by hot rock, we mean 400 to 500C."
Close to the rig, sulphurous steam is blasting from the ground, blending into the grey sky above.
Iceland, sitting on the boundary between two major tectonic plates, is one of the most volcanically active places in the world.
Harnessing this energy through geothermal technology is already well established here.
"In this area at Reykjanes, we typically drill to 2km or 3km depth to harness the steam, to run power plants and produce clean, renewable electricity," explained Asgeir Margeirsson.
"We want to see if the resources go deeper than that."
When the drill gets to 5km, the team expects to find molten rock mixed with water. But with the extreme heat and immense pressure found at this depth, the water becomes what is known as "supercritical steam".
t is neither a liquid nor a gas, but it holds far more energy than either. And it is this supercritical steam that the team wants to bring back up to the surface to convert into electricity.
etc...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38296251
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- 54,631
eburacum
Papo-furado
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- Aug 26, 2005
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Geothermal energy is present all over the world, a few kilometres beneath our feet; but it isn't possible to extract it economically everywhere. You need to go to hotspots like the Reykjanes peninsula, where heat is constantly rising towards the surface.
If you tried it in the UK, for example, you could extract energy for a limited period, but then the rock around the borehole would cool down, and the energy gradient would vanish. This is known as local depletion. Rock is a very good insulator, and forms a barrier of cooler rock around any borehole that doesn't tap into an active hotspot.
If you tried it in the UK, for example, you could extract energy for a limited period, but then the rock around the borehole would cool down, and the energy gradient would vanish. This is known as local depletion. Rock is a very good insulator, and forms a barrier of cooler rock around any borehole that doesn't tap into an active hotspot.
Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
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- Inside a starship, watching puny humans from afar
There is still a hot spring at Bath. Probably the main reason why it's not used for hydrothermal energy is because of all the historic buildings around it.
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'World class' Wave Hub continues to draw in research and investment
Peter Johnstone, Reporter
Cornwall’s Wave Hub has been called a "world class Wave Hub facility" by renewable wave energy experts, more than ten years after the concept was first conceived.
The Wave Hub, which lies on the sea bed 16km off Hayle, supported by investment from the Convergence Programme’s European Regional Development Fund, has placed Cornwall at the cutting edge of testing renewable wave energy technology.
It received £18m of European Regional Development Funds as well as attracting a combined total of more than £15m of investment from the South West of England Regional Development Agency, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department of Energy and Climate Change to complete the construction. This was after more than £1.95m of funding had been secured during the development phase of Wave Hub. In the autumn of 2007 the UK Government issued the necessary consents and the wave test site was fully commissioned in 2012.
Wave Hub is now attracting more interest than ever: Australian based Carnegie Wave Energy has recently secured £9.5m of ERDF investment whilst contributing more than £5m of their own private investment to establish a UK based subsidiary company, which is looking to commercialise their renewable wave energy device called CETO 6.
Carnegie selected the Wave Hub in Cornwall as it is the only place in the world to deliver what they required at this time. They have moved into the ERDF funded Hayle Marine Renewables Business Park and they are creating highly skilled jobs to facilitate the delivery of their project.
Claire Gibson, managing director of Wave Hub, said, “The pace of development is quickening, with many wave energy developers moving towards testing multiple devices having completed single prototype projects.
“Wave Hub has been specifically designed to help accelerate this process and overcome the challenges to deployment, and remains the world’s largest and most technologically advanced site for the testing and development of large scale wave energy arrays. By providing purpose-built infrastructure within an excellent wave resource, backed by a professional team that can assist with permitting, installation, commissioning and operation of arrays, Wave Hub can significantly reduce project costs, lead times and risk for developers and investors.
“What few doubt is the potential of the market. Europe alone could have up to 100 GW of wave and tidal energy installed capacity powering 66 million homes by 2050. And with more than half the world’s population said to live within 120 miles of the coast and increasing all the time, generating endless amounts of clean, renewable electricity from the power of the sea is a compelling proposition.”
Julian German, Cornwall Council’s cabinet member for culture and economy, said: “Wave Hub provides a global focus on Cornwall which is great for companies in the maritime renewables supply chain based in Cornwall like Mojo Maritime and Large Diameter Drilling. A global reputation also ensures inward investment from companies like Carnegie and Seatricity.
“Wave Hub has led to the creation of high quality maritime workspace in Hayle and, whilst Wave Hub was ahead of its time, developers are increasingly confident of their devices and we will see more deployments in 2017. Wave Hub has also led to the government award of the marine enterprise zone in Hayle, Falmouth and Tolvaddon which will create new jobs.”
http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/new..._draw_in_research_and_investment/?ref=mr&lp=4
Peter Johnstone, Reporter
Cornwall’s Wave Hub has been called a "world class Wave Hub facility" by renewable wave energy experts, more than ten years after the concept was first conceived.
The Wave Hub, which lies on the sea bed 16km off Hayle, supported by investment from the Convergence Programme’s European Regional Development Fund, has placed Cornwall at the cutting edge of testing renewable wave energy technology.
It received £18m of European Regional Development Funds as well as attracting a combined total of more than £15m of investment from the South West of England Regional Development Agency, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department of Energy and Climate Change to complete the construction. This was after more than £1.95m of funding had been secured during the development phase of Wave Hub. In the autumn of 2007 the UK Government issued the necessary consents and the wave test site was fully commissioned in 2012.
Wave Hub is now attracting more interest than ever: Australian based Carnegie Wave Energy has recently secured £9.5m of ERDF investment whilst contributing more than £5m of their own private investment to establish a UK based subsidiary company, which is looking to commercialise their renewable wave energy device called CETO 6.
Carnegie selected the Wave Hub in Cornwall as it is the only place in the world to deliver what they required at this time. They have moved into the ERDF funded Hayle Marine Renewables Business Park and they are creating highly skilled jobs to facilitate the delivery of their project.
Claire Gibson, managing director of Wave Hub, said, “The pace of development is quickening, with many wave energy developers moving towards testing multiple devices having completed single prototype projects.
“Wave Hub has been specifically designed to help accelerate this process and overcome the challenges to deployment, and remains the world’s largest and most technologically advanced site for the testing and development of large scale wave energy arrays. By providing purpose-built infrastructure within an excellent wave resource, backed by a professional team that can assist with permitting, installation, commissioning and operation of arrays, Wave Hub can significantly reduce project costs, lead times and risk for developers and investors.
“What few doubt is the potential of the market. Europe alone could have up to 100 GW of wave and tidal energy installed capacity powering 66 million homes by 2050. And with more than half the world’s population said to live within 120 miles of the coast and increasing all the time, generating endless amounts of clean, renewable electricity from the power of the sea is a compelling proposition.”
Julian German, Cornwall Council’s cabinet member for culture and economy, said: “Wave Hub provides a global focus on Cornwall which is great for companies in the maritime renewables supply chain based in Cornwall like Mojo Maritime and Large Diameter Drilling. A global reputation also ensures inward investment from companies like Carnegie and Seatricity.
“Wave Hub has led to the creation of high quality maritime workspace in Hayle and, whilst Wave Hub was ahead of its time, developers are increasingly confident of their devices and we will see more deployments in 2017. Wave Hub has also led to the government award of the marine enterprise zone in Hayle, Falmouth and Tolvaddon which will create new jobs.”
http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/new..._draw_in_research_and_investment/?ref=mr&lp=4
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Tidal lagoon: £1.3bn Swansea Bay project to be backed
Plans for a £1.3bn tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay will be backed in a government-funded review on Thursday.
Charles Hendry will publish his report into the viability of the renewable energy technology later which will recommend the UK builds the lagoon to capture energy from the sea.
There are hopes of developing a network of larger lagoons around the UK coast.
The UK government still needs to agree on a deal and a marine licence would also need to be approved.
Former UK energy minister Mr Hendry has been gathering evidence for nearly a year for his independent inquiry, including visits to all the potential sites and discussions with industry.
Speaking ahead of the report, Mr Hendry said he believed the tidal lagoon industry was affordable.
"If you look at the cost spread out over the entire lifetime - 120 years for the project - it comes out at about 30p per household for the next 30 years. That's less than a pint of milk," he told BBC News.
"That's where I think we can start a new industry and we can do it at an affordable cost to consumers."
The Swansea Bay project would involve 16 turbines along a breakwater but is seen as only the start - a prototype for much larger lagoons.
The "fleet" include one off the coast of Cardiff - east of where Cardiff Bay is now - Newport, Bridgwater Bay in Somerset, Colwyn Bay and west Cumbria, north of Workington.
etc...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-38571240
Plans for a £1.3bn tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay will be backed in a government-funded review on Thursday.
Charles Hendry will publish his report into the viability of the renewable energy technology later which will recommend the UK builds the lagoon to capture energy from the sea.
There are hopes of developing a network of larger lagoons around the UK coast.
The UK government still needs to agree on a deal and a marine licence would also need to be approved.
Former UK energy minister Mr Hendry has been gathering evidence for nearly a year for his independent inquiry, including visits to all the potential sites and discussions with industry.
Speaking ahead of the report, Mr Hendry said he believed the tidal lagoon industry was affordable.
"If you look at the cost spread out over the entire lifetime - 120 years for the project - it comes out at about 30p per household for the next 30 years. That's less than a pint of milk," he told BBC News.
"That's where I think we can start a new industry and we can do it at an affordable cost to consumers."
The Swansea Bay project would involve 16 turbines along a breakwater but is seen as only the start - a prototype for much larger lagoons.
The "fleet" include one off the coast of Cardiff - east of where Cardiff Bay is now - Newport, Bridgwater Bay in Somerset, Colwyn Bay and west Cumbria, north of Workington.
etc...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-38571240
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The ripples from this project reach as far as Cornwall:
Cornwall Council faces second High Court judicial review over Dean Quarry on the Lizard in Cornwall
By G_WIlkinson | Posted: January 20, 2017
Cornwall Council is being taken to the High Court today for a second time by a group of campaigners, just over a year after losing a similar case.
The group Cornwall Against Dean Super-quarry (Cads) is fighting plans for the reopening of Dean Quarry, near St Keverne on the Lizard peninsula. The group is taking a decision made by the council over planning matters to the High Court.
In a similar case in December 2015, a judge ruled that planning permission was to be quashed for buildings and a security fence at the quarry, as it was approved without an environmental impact assessment.
Local residents have been fighting for two years to prevent the reopening of the quarry by Shire Oak Quarries Ltd. The company wants to take rock for a proposed renewable energy tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay and residents fear that it would have an adverse effect on the area.
etc...
http://www.cornwalllive.com/cornwal...-in-cornwall/story-30071696-detail/story.html
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Campaigners lose High Court action against Cornwall Council in Lizard Dean Quarry fight
By G_WIlkinson | Posted: January 25, 2017
Cornwall Council has successfully defended itself against a High Court action by a group of campaigners over the reopening of Dean Quarry.
The group Cornwall Against Dean Super-quarry (Cads) is fighting plans for the reopening of the quarry near St Keverne on the Lizard peninsula.
The group took the council over to the High Court over planning matters on Friday. It has now been confirmed that the action had been unsuccessful.
Shire Oak Quarries Ltd wants to take rock from the Lizard for a proposed renewable energy tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay and residents fear that it would have an adverse effect on the area.
etc...
http://www.cornwalllive.com/campaig...quarry-fight/story-30086401-detail/story.html
By G_WIlkinson | Posted: January 25, 2017
Cornwall Council has successfully defended itself against a High Court action by a group of campaigners over the reopening of Dean Quarry.
The group Cornwall Against Dean Super-quarry (Cads) is fighting plans for the reopening of the quarry near St Keverne on the Lizard peninsula.
The group took the council over to the High Court over planning matters on Friday. It has now been confirmed that the action had been unsuccessful.
Shire Oak Quarries Ltd wants to take rock from the Lizard for a proposed renewable energy tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay and residents fear that it would have an adverse effect on the area.
etc...
http://www.cornwalllive.com/campaig...quarry-fight/story-30086401-detail/story.html
hunck
Antediluvian
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This seems a good scheme:
Proposal To Build Artificial Island In North Sea As Hub For New Offshore Wind Farm
Proposal To Build Artificial Island In North Sea As Hub For New Offshore Wind Farm
Coal
Account Retired
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- Jun 27, 2015
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Hm. Off-shore wind capacity claims might well be subject to manipulation.
http://billothewisp.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/wind-power-rising-capacity-factor-really.html
This scheme might well be part of the motivation for what the always excellent Billo alludes to. Well 'alludes', 'works out' more like.
Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
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- Inside a starship, watching puny humans from afar
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This new Marine Hub Cornwall Enterprise Zone will help Falmouth and Cornwall lead the world
By Oli_Vergnault | Posted: April 11, 2017
Cornwall's marine technology sector is to cement its role as a global leader after it was granted enterprise zone status.
The new Marine Hub Cornwall Enterprise Zone, covering three sites at Hayle, Tolvaddon and Falmouth Docks, will secure the county's status as a world-class centre for renewable energy in the sector.
The hub will bring together businesses and expertise in marine renewables and technology, helping to attract investment and create well-paid jobs.
etc...
http://www.cornwalllive.com/this-ne...ad-the-world/story-30263003-detail/story.html
Photos and video on page.
By Oli_Vergnault | Posted: April 11, 2017
Cornwall's marine technology sector is to cement its role as a global leader after it was granted enterprise zone status.
The new Marine Hub Cornwall Enterprise Zone, covering three sites at Hayle, Tolvaddon and Falmouth Docks, will secure the county's status as a world-class centre for renewable energy in the sector.
The hub will bring together businesses and expertise in marine renewables and technology, helping to attract investment and create well-paid jobs.
etc...
http://www.cornwalllive.com/this-ne...ad-the-world/story-30263003-detail/story.html
Photos and video on page.
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First coal-free day in Britain since Industrial Revolution
Britain went a full day without using coal to generate electricity for the first time since the Industrial Revolution, the National Grid says.
The energy provider said Friday's lack of coal usage was a "watershed" moment.
Britain's longest continuous energy period without coal until now was 19 hours - first achieved last May, and again on Thursday.
The government plans to phase out Britain's last plants by 2025 in order to cut carbon emissions.
Friday is thought to be the first time the nation has not used coal to generate electricity since the world's first centralised public coal-fired generator opened in 1882, at Holborn Viaduct in London.
Cordi O'Hara of the National Grid said: "To have the first working day without coal since the start of the industrial revolution is a watershed moment in how our energy system is changing.
"The UK benefits from highly diverse and flexible sources of electricity. Our energy mix continues to change and National Grid adapts system operation to embrace these changes."
But Ms O'Hara says that while the country makes the transition to a low carbon system, coal remains an important source of energy.
According to Gridwatch.co.uk, around half of British energy on Friday came from natural gas, with about a quarter coming from nuclear plants.
Wind, biomass, and imported energy were also used.
etc...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39675418
Britain went a full day without using coal to generate electricity for the first time since the Industrial Revolution, the National Grid says.
The energy provider said Friday's lack of coal usage was a "watershed" moment.
Britain's longest continuous energy period without coal until now was 19 hours - first achieved last May, and again on Thursday.
The government plans to phase out Britain's last plants by 2025 in order to cut carbon emissions.
Friday is thought to be the first time the nation has not used coal to generate electricity since the world's first centralised public coal-fired generator opened in 1882, at Holborn Viaduct in London.
Cordi O'Hara of the National Grid said: "To have the first working day without coal since the start of the industrial revolution is a watershed moment in how our energy system is changing.
"The UK benefits from highly diverse and flexible sources of electricity. Our energy mix continues to change and National Grid adapts system operation to embrace these changes."
But Ms O'Hara says that while the country makes the transition to a low carbon system, coal remains an important source of energy.
According to Gridwatch.co.uk, around half of British energy on Friday came from natural gas, with about a quarter coming from nuclear plants.
Wind, biomass, and imported energy were also used.
etc...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39675418
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
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China has for the first time extracted gas from an ice-like substance under the South China Sea considered key to future global energy supply.
Chinese authorities have described the success as a major breakthrough.
Methane hydrates, also called "flammable ice", hold vast reserves of natural gas.
Many countries including the US and Japan are working on how to tap those reserves, but mining and extracting are extremely difficult.
What is 'flammable ice'?
The catchy phrase describes a frozen mixture of water and gas.
"It looks like ice crystals but if you zoom in to a molecular level, you see that the methane molecules are caged in by the water molecules," Associate Professor Praveen Linga from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the National University of Singapore told the BBC.
Officially known as methane clathrates or hydrates, they are formed at very low temperatures and under high pressure. They can be found in sediments under the ocean floor as well as underneath permafrost on land.
Despite the low temperature, these hydrates are flammable. If you hold a lighter to them, the gas encapsulated in the ice will catch fire. Hence, they are also known as "fire ice" or "flammable ice".
By lowering the pressure or raising the temperature, the hydrates break down into water and methane - a lot of methane. One cubic metre of the compound releases about 160 cubic metres of gas, making it a highly energy-intensive fuel ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-39971667
Clean if they can prevent Methane from escaping.
Chinese authorities have described the success as a major breakthrough.
Methane hydrates, also called "flammable ice", hold vast reserves of natural gas.
Many countries including the US and Japan are working on how to tap those reserves, but mining and extracting are extremely difficult.
What is 'flammable ice'?
The catchy phrase describes a frozen mixture of water and gas.
"It looks like ice crystals but if you zoom in to a molecular level, you see that the methane molecules are caged in by the water molecules," Associate Professor Praveen Linga from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the National University of Singapore told the BBC.
Officially known as methane clathrates or hydrates, they are formed at very low temperatures and under high pressure. They can be found in sediments under the ocean floor as well as underneath permafrost on land.
Despite the low temperature, these hydrates are flammable. If you hold a lighter to them, the gas encapsulated in the ice will catch fire. Hence, they are also known as "fire ice" or "flammable ice".
By lowering the pressure or raising the temperature, the hydrates break down into water and methane - a lot of methane. One cubic metre of the compound releases about 160 cubic metres of gas, making it a highly energy-intensive fuel ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-39971667
Clean if they can prevent Methane from escaping.
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
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- Eblana
But it is a highly energy-intensive fuel.
Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2001
- Messages
- 51,661
- Location
- Inside a starship, watching puny humans from afar
It's 'clean' inasmuch as it produces no particulates (such as those produced by coal and oil).
If they can find a way to use the CO2...I dunno, plant some trees...
- Joined
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In the final analysis it is still a fossil fuel.
You can't get around that one.
Solar, in it's various forms, and nuclear are the only really 'clean' fuels. But nuclear has it's bad days.
I have noticed that the people who are protesting against the building of our new waste incinerator plant have taken to spray painting graffiti on advertisement hoardings too get across their message.. Very Green of them.
INT21
You can't get around that one.
Solar, in it's various forms, and nuclear are the only really 'clean' fuels. But nuclear has it's bad days.
I have noticed that the people who are protesting against the building of our new waste incinerator plant have taken to spray painting graffiti on advertisement hoardings too get across their message.. Very Green of them.
INT21
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2001
- Messages
- 54,631
Britain's wind turbines catch breeze of a rising industry
Jillian Ambrose
21 May 2017 • 6:18pm
The sound made by 100 tonnes of steel and carbon fibre rotating 400 feet overhead is surprisingly understated. Each whoosh of the 260 foot blades spans an area the size of the London Eye and generates enough electricity to power the average British home for 24 hours.
There are 32 of these 8MW turbines in the second phase of Dong Energy’s Burbo Bank wind farm spinning off the Merseyside coast.
They are the most powerful ever, dotting an area the size of almost 6,000 football pitches within the Irish Sea, each one a beacon of Britain’s global dominance in the booming offshore wind industry.
Benj Sykes, the UK boss for Dong Energy’s wind power business, predicts he may be cutting the ribbon on turbines with double this power capacity by 2024.
“If you wind the clock back four or five years, this scale of technology was considered very ambitious. Now, you can see them in reality, commercially deployed. It’s very difficult to say where we will ultimately get to,” he says.
Wind turbines have already more than doubled their power capacity since Dong Energy constructed the first phase of Burbo Bank in 2007 with 3.7MW structures. By the mid-2020s turbines may double again and a capacity of 15MW could be spinning in Europe’s waters.
As the efficiency and power potential of each turbine increases, costs keep falling.
Sykes, a former oil executive at Royal Dutch Shell, has been at the helm of the Danish energy company’s UK operations for five years. In this time offshore wind has defied critics by driving its eye-watering costs down by a third, twice as quickly as planned.
“I remember when the industry in the UK first set what we very carefully referred to as an ‘ambition’ rather than a target for cost reduction. It was to drive costs to £100 a megawatt hour. Well, we’ve already broken through the £100 barrier,” he says.
etc...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/05/21/britains-wind-turbines-catch-breeze-rising-industry/
Jillian Ambrose
21 May 2017 • 6:18pm
The sound made by 100 tonnes of steel and carbon fibre rotating 400 feet overhead is surprisingly understated. Each whoosh of the 260 foot blades spans an area the size of the London Eye and generates enough electricity to power the average British home for 24 hours.
There are 32 of these 8MW turbines in the second phase of Dong Energy’s Burbo Bank wind farm spinning off the Merseyside coast.
They are the most powerful ever, dotting an area the size of almost 6,000 football pitches within the Irish Sea, each one a beacon of Britain’s global dominance in the booming offshore wind industry.
Benj Sykes, the UK boss for Dong Energy’s wind power business, predicts he may be cutting the ribbon on turbines with double this power capacity by 2024.
“If you wind the clock back four or five years, this scale of technology was considered very ambitious. Now, you can see them in reality, commercially deployed. It’s very difficult to say where we will ultimately get to,” he says.
Wind turbines have already more than doubled their power capacity since Dong Energy constructed the first phase of Burbo Bank in 2007 with 3.7MW structures. By the mid-2020s turbines may double again and a capacity of 15MW could be spinning in Europe’s waters.
As the efficiency and power potential of each turbine increases, costs keep falling.
Sykes, a former oil executive at Royal Dutch Shell, has been at the helm of the Danish energy company’s UK operations for five years. In this time offshore wind has defied critics by driving its eye-watering costs down by a third, twice as quickly as planned.
“I remember when the industry in the UK first set what we very carefully referred to as an ‘ambition’ rather than a target for cost reduction. It was to drive costs to £100 a megawatt hour. Well, we’ve already broken through the £100 barrier,” he says.
etc...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/05/21/britains-wind-turbines-catch-breeze-rising-industry/
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- 7,085
Hmmm. Dong Energy.
Do you know the first serious attempt at wind generation was at a place in America called 'grandpa's Knob'.
It's true, look it up.
If the firm expands will it become 'Big Dong'.
I can see the stock market 'Big Dong' is rising today.
You can't make this stuff up.
INT21
Do you know the first serious attempt at wind generation was at a place in America called 'grandpa's Knob'.
It's true, look it up.
If the firm expands will it become 'Big Dong'.
I can see the stock market 'Big Dong' is rising today.
You can't make this stuff up.
INT21