Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Zarch

Ion age: why the future will be battery powered

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jan/14/on-the-charge-why-batteries-are-the-future-of-clean-energy

Martyn1981

The sort of news/progress that makes one smile.

£1bn Scottish energy link completed under budget

silverwhistle

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/13/salt-caverns-double-uk-gas-stores-cold-snaps-beast-from-the-east

The government has rebuffed previous calls to support new gas storage, saying the fact supplies did not run out last winter showed the market was working.



But Gras said she was frustrated by that approach to storage and the government risked being complacent. “They tend to think because gas has worked for decades it will go on working,” she said.


That was no longer guaranteed because so much storage had been closed, Gras added.

If I recall last year they implemented interruptible supplies for certain large consumers. There was also talk that the market mechanism didn't work in that gas was retained on the continent in spite of better prices over here.



But the government's attitude to strategy or risk is one of the reasons why I don't think fracking is the answer. It's a private company response to making a profit and not part of any wider plan for energy security. If the companies involved were posting massive bonds against potential long term damage in our densely populated nation I might be slightly more relaxed about the development, but in their absence it appears once again that it's private profit against public risk again.

Martyn1981

Article on cheaper hydrogen production from RE.

Note though that due to efficiencies, you need super cheap RE, like PV in the sunniest locations, but it's also a way to make use of cheap (excess) RE generation when there's 'a bit too much' and prices drop.

How Low Cost Wind & Solar Push The Market For Renewable Hydrogen

Natural gas gets a lot of credit for toppling coal out of first place for power generation in the US, but gas stakeholders might want to put that celebratory champagne back on ice for a while. Wind and solar already beat natural gas on price in some parts of the US grid, a trend that is likely to spread. On top of that, renewable hydrogen could quickly replace natural gas in two other major markets, fuel and fertilizer production — with an assist from wind and solar power.

Martyn1981

Big, large, long, impressive are just some of the adjectives I could use ....... but wouldn't do it justice:

China’s State Grid Corp Crushes Power Transmission Records

12GW's
50,000,000 homes
3,293kms
equal to 25,000 coal trains

perhaps, very big?

ed110220

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Big, large, long, impressive are just some of the adjectives I could use ....... but wouldn't do it justice:

China’s State Grid Corp Crushes Power Transmission Records

12GW's
50,000,000 homes
3,293kms
equal to 25,000 coal trains

perhaps, very big?

Wow, that's impressive! In UK and European terms that's equivalent to more than a third of GB average demand over a distance as far as from London to the Volga or the western border of Kazakhstan.

Martyn1981

More great news:

Report: Renewables to overtake fossil fuels in UK energy mix in 2020

If current trends continue, the market analyst predicts growing renewable power sources such as wind and solar will generate 121.3TWh or electricity over the calendar year of 2020, pushing ahead of declining coal and gas-fired power sources with a forecasted 105.6TWh of generation.

It would mean that, for the first time, more of the UK's electricity would be provided by renewables than any other aggregated power source, including fossil fuels, nuclear, and interconnectors, according to yesterday's report.

The forecast assumes current trends of declining fossil fuel generation and rising renewables generation continue at the same annual rate. In 2018, coal and gas fired power stations produced a combined 130.9TWh, a 6.7 per cent fall from the previous year's 140.3TWh, the report states. Meanwhile, renewable sources delivered 95.9TWh last year, rising 15.2 per cent from 2017 - a strong performance bolstered by the UK's increasing offshore wind capacity.

ASavvyBuyer

Martyn1981 wrote: »

More great news:

Report: Renewables to overtake fossil fuels in UK energy mix in 2020

Even more great news:
Electric Cars Are Cleaner Even When Powered by Coal

zeupater

ASavvyBuyer wrote: »

Even more great news:
Electric Cars Are Cleaner Even When Powered by Coal

Hi

I'm astounded that it's taken so long for an article to appear that states this .... years ago this very issue was raised when discussing ICE vehicle CO2 & particulate emissions in London as opposed to coal powered generation of the energy to power London EVs within London itself .... I seem to remember that someone living in London who was pro-coal generation and anti-EV/renewables didn't like the idea of cleaning the environment that way, preferring the cheap coal generation he supported to be located over-the-horizon, a particularly strong example of nimbyism!

HTH
Z

Martyn1981

And another 10 arrives, expect 'Spinal Tap' and more soon.

Siemens Gamesa launches 10MW offshore turbine


As they get bigger, they tend to get cheaper too, as less WT's can meet the windfarm capacity with less towers, and therefore less bases.

Also, these bigger WT's are taller (obviously) and tap into stronger winds, giving higher cf's (capacity factors). Should be hitting 50%cf as an average, rather than an exceptional location soon.

Just to be clear, that's 50% generation per year v's their nameplate capacity running 24/7 365. Not running at 50% all the time.

The UK fleet currently average about 40%+cf, generate individually about 85% of the time, and as a fleet, approx 100% of the time, though of course the generation at those 85 and 100 percentiles will be low.