Climate Change, 'Greenhouse' effects: Solutions #3

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Message 2059447 - Posted: 16 Oct 2020, 15:49:01 UTC - in response to Message 2059443.  
Last modified: 16 Oct 2020, 15:54:05 UTC

Total National demand 36gw
Of which provided by

Gas turbines 20.77gw
Nuclear 6.11gw
Biomass 2.00gw
wind 1.74gw
Hydro electric 0.6gw
French interconnection 2.76gw
Coal 1.16gw

That all adds up to 35.14gw which is 96%, or just over 3% or 1gw from solar power (presumably).

Solar 0.83gw(2.24%).
Did you not see that?
Edit: That's a total of 35.97gw. The remaining 0.03gw is probably from the other 4 sources you forgot to mention.
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Message 2059460 - Posted: 16 Oct 2020, 19:11:17 UTC - in response to Message 2059457.  
Last modified: 16 Oct 2020, 19:21:56 UTC

... The only long term way forward, talking centuries, is safe, clean, nuclear power...

However, not at any cost...

Nuclear should be a good way forward. However!

Nuclear fusion is a few years away yet and so cannot help us soon enough to avoid us burning and polluting ourselves into an early oblivion...

Meanwhile, our presently available (both old and the new) nuclear fission is hopelessly expensive!!!


Alternatively at the here and now, we already have wind and solar that is now lower cost than dirty old coal. We're additionally (slowly!) developing tidal stream power generation.

We already have (medium scale) liquid air power storage (100's MW available for short term peak usage) that looks to be a good large scale improvement over chemical batteries.

And we have Norway going BIG with water pump-storage schemes. Vastly larger than just for their needs. So why mention that for the UK?... We also have some big wind farms and a power grid interconnector being built running across the North Sea.

All powered by enough daily renewable power from wind, waves, and tides around our coastline that can power the UK and a large chunk of Europe every day...


The question comes to where we apply our resources for the greatest return and for how quickly we gain our returns.

Nuclear suffers from eye-watering (10's of £ BILLIONS) high costs and very long (decades long) delays before becoming available.

For those £Billions sunk into nuclear for a few GWatts base-load over a decade sometime in the future, how much more can we benefit immediately from those same £Billions being invested in expanding and hastening the use of wind + solar + storage + greater efficiencies + developing tidal stream?


Note that over the last 12 months, our presently available renewables have provided over 33% of the UK electricity supply. The cost to go 100% renewables and maintain a few gas fossil plants as capacity backup is very much less costly than going Chinese debt-trap eye-watering costs nuclear...


All on our only one planet,
Martin
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Message 2059516 - Posted: 17 Oct 2020, 15:09:48 UTC

Strangely there is an international market in trading electricity and gas.
While I've known about the gas trade for a few years it's only recently that I heard of the electricity trade. It works along the lines that you declare you need a number of Giga-Watt hours of electricity for my customers on a certain date in the future, and that it should be all sourced from <choose from energy source, e.g. coal, oil, nuclear, solar etc.> The energy suppliers, both in the destination country and a number of other, inter-connected, countries give you prices; you agree a price with one or more of those suppliers, sit back, and the "electrons arrive".....
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Message 2059517 - Posted: 17 Oct 2020, 15:20:49 UTC - in response to Message 2059488.  

Oh yes, let's think about fusion as a major source of energy.
Just now there hasn't been any small scale fusion source - yes there have been a few micro, or nano scale devices (in terms of energy out in excess of energy in). And experiments continue to get a positive energy flow device built - ITER is at least 5 years from plasma start, and as a plant it isn't really designed to produce energy, only demonstrate that a stable, dimensionally large, plasma can be generated and that one of the technologies being devised to get the energy out of that plasma works. Then comes the "fun" of developing a useable power generation plant. Then (in the UK at least) the even bigger fun of getting it through our moribund planning process (just watch the NIMBYs lining up......). So, my guess, is that it's going to be at least twenty to thirty years before the first energy producing fusion plant is running - and we can't wait that long :-(
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Message 2059714 - Posted: 21 Oct 2020, 7:22:09 UTC

Why didn't anyone think of this years ago?
Bunhill 2 Energy Centre takes "waste" heat from a section of the London Underground and to supply heating & hot water to a number of local buildings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbJF_LQTAxQ from about 4 mins
https://www.dezeen.com/2020/03/11/bunhill-2-energy-centre-london-underground-uk-architecture/

(Anyone who has travelled on London's tube network will know just how hot and sweaty it gets, and the thought of using all that hot air to do something useful appeals to me. I just wander if such a project could be applied to a couple of large buildings just s few miles away where several hundred "august" people talk an argue endlessly......)
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Message 2060162 - Posted: 28 Oct 2020, 22:15:00 UTC

China does Tesco
"Every little helps". :-)
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Message 2060191 - Posted: 29 Oct 2020, 11:53:07 UTC

I can't help thinking what would happen if half the street lights and other out-door lights in "developed" countries were to be turned off.....
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54721921
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Message 2060219 - Posted: 29 Oct 2020, 19:00:17 UTC - in response to Message 2060191.  

Well the NHS would save a small fortune if they did that. Over the past several years, they have been closing down small GP surgeries & combining them into large medical centres. They all leave lights on covering the whole centre from approx. 6pm until they open the following morning (7:30-8am). Even left on throughout the weekend with no one on site. Did enquire about that with the one next door to me. Got an answer from one of the stroppy receptionists - security.

Also, what about all those electronic items on standby overnight. I know they only take up minimal power, but considering how many of them they are...
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Message 2060779 - Posted: 6 Nov 2020, 19:31:42 UTC
Last modified: 6 Nov 2020, 19:32:01 UTC

UK energy plant to use liquid air
Work is beginning on what is thought to be the world's first major plant to store energy in the form of liquid air.

It will use surplus electricity from wind farms at night to compress air so hard that it becomes a liquid at -196 Celcius.

Then when there is a peak in demand in a day or a month, the liquid air will be warmed so it expands.

The resulting rush of air will drive a turbine to make electricity, which can be sold back to the grid.

The 50MW facility near Manchester will store enough power for roughly 50,000 homes.

The system was devised by Peter Dearman, a self-taught backyard inventor from Hertfordshire, and it has been taken to commercial scale with a £10m grant from the UK government.

"It's very exciting," he told BBC News. "We need many different forms of energy storage - and I'm confident liquid air will be one of them."
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Message 2060962 - Posted: 8 Nov 2020, 18:50:57 UTC - in response to Message 2060779.  
Last modified: 8 Nov 2020, 19:01:52 UTC

Thanks for that for a good example in the here and now.

IIRC, I'm sure I've seen elsewhere that demonstrator plant is to be expanded and scaled up further.

Very good developments with that 'liquid air' energy storage are:

  • Use of molten salt to store and reclaim the heat energy that would otherwise be lost during liquification;
  • At the temperatures used, CO2 could be fractionated off for other uses or for carbon sequestration.



We have ways and means!

How soon can we untangle ourselves from the corrupt pollution of the fossil fuels industry?...


All on our only one planet,
Martin


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Message 2060964 - Posted: 8 Nov 2020, 18:59:47 UTC
Last modified: 27 Jan 2021, 19:16:43 UTC

Here's another good positive set of examples:


Organic Redox Flow Batteries - The true path to grid scale energy storage?


That offers some very good improvements into the mix of grid-scale storage solutions.

How soon can we untangle ourselves from the outdated dirty fossils pollution?


All on our only one planet,
Martin


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Message 2061161 - Posted: 11 Nov 2020, 15:55:21 UTC

An "interesting" alternative to the massive nuclear power stations that are so often promoted:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54703204

Sheffield has a population of about 500k, or about 1% of the UK population (rounding like crazy, but it makes the sums simple). Let's assume that power consumption vs. population is a linear relationship, this is 1% of the UK energy demand, and thus 16 of them is 16% of the UK energy demand. Cost is quoted as £2billion each, which appears to be "reasonable", but does that include decommissioning?
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Message 2061168 - Posted: 11 Nov 2020, 16:49:03 UTC - in response to Message 2061161.  
Last modified: 27 Jan 2021, 19:16:06 UTC

Thanks for that one...

Factory produced modular nuclear fission in a more manageable size looks to be a far faster and more plausible route than blindly being sunk by the bankrupt oversized overly expensive big slow behemoths.

There are various 'economies of scale' for power stations that makes going ever bigger to be ever more profitable. However, there are the limiting factors of payback, timescales, and how quickly newer technology makes the old and big too soon obsolete...

I think we're already seeing the "new nuclear" for the UK is already obsolete, scary expensively so, and we are still a decade away from seeing electricity from them (or the one)!

Meanwhile, those same £BILLIONS could instead be used to expand existing renewables, revamp the national grid, AND invest in new existing storage, all in the here and now. Payback would be achieved a long long way before the new nuclear even starts generating any electricity!


We already have enough CCGT gas powered power stations for capacity management. The finances would need to be reworked to allow them to survive on 'standby' occasional operation...

The only technical problem is that of old fossil fuels interests and politics...


How do we stop any more money being squandered on bankrupt big old nuclear?

All on our only one planet,
Martin


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Message 2061178 - Posted: 11 Nov 2020, 18:41:55 UTC
Last modified: 27 Jan 2021, 19:15:20 UTC

Here's hoping this little snippet of positive politics will have a usefully positive effect:


Protecting the rainforest through your shopping basket
wrote:
New laws should help prevent consumers from buying food grown on rainforest land that has been illegally logged.

UK firms will be banned from selling commodities if their production breaches local laws protecting forests and other natural areas.

The change will be included in a new Environment Bill that MPswill discuss. The aim is to stop British consumers playing an inadvertent role in an environmental crime through the goods in their supermarket basket...

... It said the UK should work in partnership with other countries and support farmers to transition to less damaging forms of farming.

International Environment Minister, Lord Goldsmith, said: “In every conceivable way we depend on the natural world around us. Protecting rainforests must be a core priority...



Here's hoping good clean sense can overcome rapacious commercial no-morals destructive greed!

All on our only one planet,
Martin


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Message 2062201 - Posted: 25 Nov 2020, 20:57:55 UTC
Last modified: 25 Nov 2020, 20:59:11 UTC

https://www.alaskajournal.com/2020-11-25/army-corps-engineers-denies-pebble-permit
Army Corps of Engineers denies Pebble permit

Trump supported and allowed the Pebble Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of a Canadian firm, to apply for a permit for a massive gold and copper mine, even though the Obama administration had concluded in 2014 the firm could not seek federal approval because it could have “significant” and potentially “catastrophic” impacts on the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery in nearby Bristol Bay.

The traditional environmental groups and the region’s tribes in opposition to the project were joined by Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Vice President Pence’s former chief of staff, Nick Ayers, who all have enjoyed fishing or hunting around Bristol Bay, in opposing the project.

And now The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have issued this statement;
Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District issued a record of decision that denies the Pebble Limited Partnership’s permit application to develop a copper-molybdenum-gold mine in southwest Alaska under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act.

This decision on the proposed Pebble Project culminates a review process that lasted nearly three years and involved the development of an environmental impact statement. That assessment included an in-depth analysis of project alternatives along with an examination of supplemental technical information provided by cooperating agencies and the public. In its record of decision, USACE determined that the applicant’s plan for the discharge of fill material does not comply with Clean Water Act guidelines and concluded that the proposed project is contrary to the public interest.

This action is based on all available facts and complies with existing laws and regulations. It reflects a regulatory process that is fair, flexible and balanced. USACE is committed to maintaining and restoring the nation’s aquatic resources, while allowing reasonable development.

We strived for transparency, collaboration, accuracy and expediency throughout the decision-making process. We truly value and appreciate the contributions of everyone who engaged in this endeavor. Now, I’m proud to say that we delivered on our promise to conduct a thorough review and make a timely permit decision.

The record of decision is available at pebbleprojecteis.com.
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Message 2063137 - Posted: 7 Dec 2020, 22:57:39 UTC
Last modified: 27 Jan 2021, 19:13:30 UTC

Another step towards a positive direction:


Structural batteries : Shaping the future of energy efficiency


Way to go?...


All on our only one planet,
Martin


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Message 2063830 - Posted: 18 Dec 2020, 3:05:11 UTC
Last modified: 27 Jan 2021, 19:12:52 UTC

Here is a vastly more healthy way to live and grow:


Regenerative Agriculture - The fastest way to climate safety?



Compelling stuff, backed by millions of years of real world development, and offering positive returns within a mere two or three years...

Yet...

How do we save our world from the destructive greed of Big Agribusiness and the unhealthy costs of Big Processed Foods?


All on our only one planet,
Martin


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Message 2063852 - Posted: 18 Dec 2020, 12:07:23 UTC

F1 which currently runs using hybrid technology, and still aims to with a new power unit expected in 2026, is to replace its current gasoline based fuel.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154280/f1-develops-100%25-sustainable-fuel

I hope you can see this, I believe they allow a couple of free views/month.
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Message 2064112 - Posted: 21 Dec 2020, 23:05:11 UTC - in response to Message 2063852.  
Last modified: 27 Jan 2021, 19:12:13 UTC

F1 which currently runs using hybrid technology, and still aims to with a new power unit expected in 2026, is to replace its current gasoline based fuel.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154280/f1-develops-100%25-sustainable-fuel

I hope you can see this, I believe they allow a couple of free views/month.

Thanks for that.

Interesting and very good that they are taking a positive lead.

Unfortunately, that article is rather too lean on any detail for what the new fuel actually is...

Here's hoping they speed up the adoption of usefully clean fuel tech to power everyone!


All on our only one planet,
Martin

(Apologies for the gruesome fuel puns! :-P )

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Message 2064113 - Posted: 21 Dec 2020, 23:08:29 UTC
Last modified: 27 Jan 2021, 19:11:08 UTC

Here's hoping for some good positive politics to save our planet sooner rather than expensively too late!


Joe Biden says 'no time to waste' as climate team unveiled
wrote:
US President-elect Joe Biden has introduced his climate and energy team, saying they will lead an "ambitious plan" to combat climate change.

Mr Biden has vowed to make the issue a top priority in an agenda that reverses many Trump administration policies.

He said there was "no time to waste"...




Here's hoping!

All on our only one planet,
Martin


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Message boards : Politics : Climate Change, 'Greenhouse' effects: Solutions #3


 
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