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Climate Change, 'Greenhouse' effects: Solutions #3
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rob smith ![]() ![]() ![]() Send message Joined: 7 Mar 03 Posts: 20784 Credit: 416,307,556 RAC: 380 ![]() ![]() |
Well, my confusion continues. As some will know I periodically have a look at the UK's electric grid's sources of power, if for no other reason than being nosy. Today, a rather dull day here in the middle of England the mix was: CCGT = 39.4%; Nuclear = 15.3%; Wind = 24.4%; Hydro = 2.4% Solar = 0.4%; Coal = 3.9%; Biomass = 7.4% (Don't bother trying to add this lot up, I know it doesn't add up to 100%, there are quite a few, generally quite small, sources I've not included) Hardly any surprise that solar is so low, we are looking at the UK on a dull March morning and the Sun is hiding behind a thick layer of cloud. The amount of nuclear is fairly constant at just below 6GWHr, but obviously the proportion varies with demand. Hydro, well we are a "green and pleasant land", with no real mountains, but some decent upland areas so I think we could do far better on that front. Wind, well we do have a fairly constant wind flow over parts of the UK, but it does vary a bit too much to be a reliable backbone. Coal??? WTF, I thought we'd got rid of all the coal burners. The UK is pushing solar and wind, but I don't see that being the whole of the UK's energy solution. Quite a number of UK new-build houses and commercial premises are having lots of solar panels fitted, I've no idea about how many of those are feeding directly into the grid and how many are connected to battery banks. But we are in the UK and we do not have the nice bright sun of say North Africa, but a cloudy maritime climate. So why not encourage micro/mini-hydro schemes which would utilize some of the run-off streams around our moors and uplands, reduce the need for massive power distribution networks and not rely on the rarely seen sun, but on the frequently observed rain. I'm sure with a little thought and effort hydro could easily eliminate the need for burning coal, and eat into the CCGT requirement. Bob Smith Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society) Somewhere in the (un)known Universe? |
Richard Haselgrove ![]() Send message Joined: 4 Jul 99 Posts: 14474 Credit: 200,643,578 RAC: 874 ![]() ![]() |
I suspect that much of the answer lies in so much of British decision-making being concentrated in the relatively flat, dry, and porous south-east of England. Scotland has a significant number of public hydro-power stations feeding into the national grid; both Scotland and Wales have pumped-storage hydro stations (Cruachan and Dinorwig respectively); England (well, Northumberland) has Cragside, attributed with being fitted with the first private hydro-electric system in the world, in 1870. So we have the knowledge, the expertise, and (in some places) the geography to make use of all these tools. But either we've forgotten how, or we overlook them in favour of more "acceptable", "fashionable" alternatives. |
rob smith ![]() ![]() ![]() Send message Joined: 7 Mar 03 Posts: 20784 Credit: 416,307,556 RAC: 380 ![]() ![]() |
Richard - of your list of options I'd go for "fashion" as the most likely. Just look at the number of villages that had their own water driven mills at one time. Indeed there were some quite substantial industrial machines like ore crushers and forge hammers that were water powered until the late 1800s, whereupon it became fashionable to use steam the electricity to provide the power for such equipment. Bob Smith Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society) Somewhere in the (un)known Universe? |
Richard Haselgrove ![]() Send message Joined: 4 Jul 99 Posts: 14474 Credit: 200,643,578 RAC: 874 ![]() ![]() |
Yes, I live in exactly such a village. Our village symbol is a stylised water-wheel, derived from the wheel at Sunnydale Paper Mill. It's said that the top wheel (of two) was the largest built, until the Laxey wheel was built to a similar design. The mill it powered produced high-quality paper, used for printing banknotes. The mill was the highest and most prestigious of a chain of up to a dozen mills that ran down the valley - so it got first dibs on the water captured from the moorland. Each subsequent mill captured the water again in its own pond, and used it to power mostly textile production. I have a map dated 1899, showing the main mills still in use - it can still be used as a walking guide to the village, and the outlines of the now-demolished buildings can be traced. I live in a small courtyard of five cottages: one of my neighbours when they were first built in the 1850s is listed as a 'papermaker' in the 1861 census. |
rob smith ![]() ![]() ![]() Send message Joined: 7 Mar 03 Posts: 20784 Credit: 416,307,556 RAC: 380 ![]() ![]() |
Fascinating little bit of local history there Richard. Edit to add:- I'd have never thought of Yorkshire as producing paper. Tea maybe, but paper! Bob Smith Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society) Somewhere in the (un)known Universe? |
Richard Haselgrove ![]() Send message Joined: 4 Jul 99 Posts: 14474 Credit: 200,643,578 RAC: 874 ![]() ![]() |
Some better pictures at the village society website - pre-https technology, I'm afraid. The mill wheel itself is at the right of line 2, and two below is a fine picture of my back door (no, the ladies weren't there to greet me when I moved in). |
![]() Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 15982 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20 ![]() ![]() |
This is one of the more dubious solutions: Climate change: IPCC scientists to examine carbon removal in key report wrote: UN scientists are likely to weigh up technology to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, as they gather to finalise a key report. Simply: Removing CO2 from our atmosphere is vastly more costly than not dumping the CO2 into the atmosphere in the first place. In general, not making a mess in the first place is always a lot better than trying to clean things up afterwards... Also, is there a very good bet that the politics will twist the options made available to become yet another excuse for highly profitable procrastination and denial, all for the sake of short term destructive profits...? All on our only one planet, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) |
![]() ![]() Send message Joined: 24 Jan 00 Posts: 26231 Credit: 261,360,520 RAC: 489 ![]() ![]() |
It's time for space observatories to get green. Carbon footprint of huge astronomy observatories raises climate change concerns. Astronomers in the future may not be able to build large complex power-hungry observatories if they want to reduce their carbon footprint in line with greenhouse gas emission requirements, a study suggests. |
![]() ![]() Send message Joined: 24 Jan 00 Posts: 26231 Credit: 261,360,520 RAC: 489 ![]() ![]() |
Now this sounds interesting. Researchers develop reactor that refines waste carbon into chemicals while generating hydrogen. In a world faced with dual concerns about climate change and growing energy needs, developing renewable replacements for fossil fuels has been a long-sought dream. While considerable progress has been made in converting various biomaterials into usable energy in recent years, refining them in an environmentally sustainable way has remained a challenge.And then there's. Your disposable COVID masks could be reborn as fuel. The demand for single-use plastic significantly increased when the COVID-19 pandemic began, especially with the steady need for personal protective equipment (PPE) such as surgical face masks, gloves, face shields, and gowns to prevent virus transmission. An estimated 3.4 billion single-use face masks or face shields are discarded every day due to the pandemic. Food packaging and plastic bag waste in households also multiplied with the increase in online shopping and delivery services. |
![]() ![]() Send message Joined: 24 Jan 00 Posts: 26231 Credit: 261,360,520 RAC: 489 ![]() ![]() |
Giving new meaning to driving a piece of rubbish. Mercedes-Benz has wowed the consumer electronics show in Las Vegas with a visionary concept that could revolutionise vehicle design. Used nappies, rotten food and waste fibre from sugar cane could be key ingredients in the car of the future. |
![]() ![]() Send message Joined: 25 Oct 06 Posts: 3756 Credit: 1,999,735 RAC: 4 ![]() |
My 2000 Mercedes S-500 cost over $90,000. I bought it when we had more money than common sense. It was un-reliable and had a high maintenance cost--it was plush and modern for it's time and ate up miles on the Interstate highways. Now I drive a nice car that costs less than $25,000. Take a guess at the cost of this putative mythical automobile from Karl Benz. |
![]() Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 15982 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20 ![]() ![]() |
Why does it require a 'crisis' to go less polluting, efficient, and green? Fertilisers: UK to reward green farming practices as {fossils} costs surge wrote: The UK government will pay farmers in England to use greener fertilisers as global economic shocks send crop-growing costs soaring. Another positive side effect is in reducing the shipments of the fossils-dirty material that destroyed the port in Beirut with an unholy big bang... All on our only one planet, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) |
![]() ![]() Send message Joined: 16 Jun 02 Posts: 6341 Credit: 6,588,977 RAC: 0 ![]() |
GAS and OIL FOREVER BABY!!!!!!! Yep ![]() May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!! ![]() |
![]() Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 15982 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20 ![]() ![]() |
Who would have thought that Putin's warmongering would wake up other governments to going clean and green and more safely and reliably energy independent? Wind and solar reach milestone as demand surges wrote: Wind and solar generated 10% of global electricity for the first time in 2021... At least for the rest of the world, there may be a more urgent positive shift rising from the death and destruction being wrought in Ukraine. All on our only one planet, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) |
![]() ![]() Send message Joined: 16 Jun 02 Posts: 6341 Credit: 6,588,977 RAC: 0 ![]() |
Fossil Fuel PowerPlants and NUKE Plants Provide POWER 24/7/365 wind and sun NOPE Yep ![]() May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!! ![]() |
![]() Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 15982 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20 ![]() ![]() |
Just one of the on-going solutions being ramped up worldwide: The World's Largest Battery Isn't What You Think More of a question is how to kill off the polluting fossil power stations sooner... All on our only one planet, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) |
![]() ![]() Send message Joined: 16 Jun 02 Posts: 6341 Credit: 6,588,977 RAC: 0 ![]() |
More of a question is how to kill off the polluting fossil power stations sooner... I've Worked in MANY Fossil Fuel Plants and Air Inside Plant and Outside Plant is SWEET as Air I'm Breathing Right Now. Only Time I CAN'T STAND Air Then and Now is When a Worker or a Neighbor is CIG Smoking and Their CIG Smoke Gets in my Lungs. I've Mentioned Before: While On Interstate aka FreeWay Going 55 -75 mph - Some Vehicle with Smokers GAG ME with their SPEW of SMOKE as I'm Trying to Enjoy Fresh Air with an Open Window. Same with Driving a Motorcycle - Only Worse Since I'm COMPLETELY in Air Stream. Fossil Fuel Plants. Every Been in One? FRESH AIR BABY!!!!!! SUPER Yep ![]() May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!! ![]() |
![]() ![]() Send message Joined: 24 Jan 00 Posts: 26231 Credit: 261,360,520 RAC: 489 ![]() ![]() |
Engineers Create an Enzyme That Breaks Down Plastic Waste in Hours, Not Decades. A new study outlines the use of a specially created enzyme variant that vastly reduces the time it takes to break down the components of plastics. |
![]() ![]() Send message Joined: 16 Jun 02 Posts: 6341 Credit: 6,588,977 RAC: 0 ![]() |
Do da ENYNME Work on PLASTIC People? Buy a BOATLOAD Baby!!!!! SUPERYap ![]() May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!! ![]() |
![]() ![]() Send message Joined: 24 Jan 00 Posts: 26231 Credit: 261,360,520 RAC: 489 ![]() ![]() |
It can be done. Renewable electricity powered California just shy of 100% for the first time in history. Renewable electricity met just shy of 100% of California's demand for the first time on Saturday, officials said, much of it from large amounts of solar power produced along Interstate 10, an hour east of the Coachella Valley. |
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