Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

ASavvyBuyer

Combing Solar PV with V2G. Found this article, from September 2019, which I don't think has been posted before.
http://www.v2g.co.uk/2019/09/triodos-new-car-park-with-solar-powered-ac-v2g/

The extensive use of renewable energy, reflected in over 3,000 m² of solar panels, as well as heat and cold storage, contributes to the energy neutrality of the building. The project encompasses ‘smart charging’ electric cars from solar energy and ‘Vehicle2grid’ technology. Vehicle2grid means that the cars cannot only be charged with solar energy but also discharged, which is called bi-directional charging. The cars become an active part of a ‘smart net’, which includes such benefits as being able to store solar energy.

Taking a look at the new Triodos car park from ground level it becomes apparent that a large array of AC V2G capable charging stations are currently being installed, both under and around the solar PV canopy:

Martyn1981

Article on the application of PHS possibly integrating a few of Elon Musk's companies. No idea if it's viable nor how it would compete against other storage economically, but perhaps worth a read.

Elon Musk Should Build Pumped Hydro With Tesla Energy, The Boring Co., & Coal Miners

Martyn1981

PV or green energy thread ...... too hard, so I'll just slap it here.

Cornish homes take part in trial to supply clean power to grid

Hundreds of homes and businesses in Cornwall have started selling electricity to their local energy network and the national energy system in a pioneering move.

The trial is the first time that traditional energy users – such as homes, hotels and businesses – have acted as suppliers in a microcosm of a full energy system.

The trial harnessed together 100 Cornish homes, fitted with batteries and solar panels, to act as a mini virtual power plant for the local energy network, Western Power Distribution, and the UK’s energy system operator, National Grid. During sunny spells when homes generate more than enough electricity from solar panels they can store the power to use later, or supply the energy system with clean extra power.

Martyn1981

Extract from this week's Carbon Commentary newsletter. I know it's negative news, but I can't help thinking 'if that's the bad news, then bring it on'.

1, Lower capacity factors for offshore wind. Orsted, the world’s leading developer of offshore wind admitted that it had overestimated the potential performance of its farms. New research shows that turbines reduce speeds by ‘blocking’ the wind that is approaching the farm. Furthermore, turbines produce wakes which reduce the speed of wind for all surrounding turbines, not just the ones immediately behind. These effects can reduce the wind speeds as far away as other wind farms in the area. For the North Sea, Orsted reduced the expected capacity factor of its farms from ‘48-50%’ to ‘about 48%’. The financial impact is to reduce returns by about half a percentage point. So this new finding is important, but the numbers don’t justify the glee with which some opponents of renewables greeted the announcement.

Solarchaser

OMG from 48-50% down to an astonishing.... the first figure stated lol

silverwhistle

From that story I also took the point that understanding the issue meant they could do something about it. I wonder if they'll experiment with different size turbines. I see the latest 12M has been generating in tests, and I wonder how much that will impact load factors?

ABrass

There seems to be some potential to tweak the details on the 12MW units as I saw one story saying the particular ones for an onshore deployment would be tailored for the lower expected wind speed for that site.

There's always been a trade off between peak power and CF, but I didn't realize it could be varied in models of the same family. Which might be a lack of imagination on my part.

In general the larger the turbine the higher the CF. Now that floating turbines are a thing there's room to get even bigger. The tricky but is the blades but that's another story.

Martyn1981

Yep WT cf's can be tweaked quite simply by installing a smaller generator in the nacelle. So if you popped a 10MW generator in the 12MW option, then the cf would be higher, but you'd lose a bit of annual generation. It's a slight cheat, a bit like putting a smaller inverter on a PV system, the difference here is that PV is rated on the Wp, whereas it appears wind is rated on the generator, not the blades.

So WT's can be both sized and modified to give the best results for that area, cabling etc etc.. Good stuff.

And just to repeat an old fact I like about UK off-shore wind, the individual farms have been generating approx 85% of the time, and the fleet as a whole, approx 100% of the time, though of course generation at those upper percentiles will be very low.

Martyn1981

Yet another story that I'm not entirely sure were to post it. That in itself is good news as all aspects of RE, storage and transportation start to link together. :T

Synthetic gas produced by wind power may fuel container ship soon

MAN Energy Solutions and Wessels Marine GmbH are partnering to use liquefied SNG (synthetic natural gas) produced from renewable electrical energy as a drop-in fuel for a container ship.

The retrofitted Wes Amelie will use SNG, replacing 20 tons of LNG with SNG on board the ship for an upcoming round trip. The companies are cooperating on the Wes Amelie project with Nauticor, the LNG transportation company, and Unifeeder, the charter company.

Automobile manufacturer Audi’s Power-to-Gas facility in Werlte, where a liquefaction plant is currently under construction, will provide the SNG, which will be generated by wind energy and is thus 100 percent climate-neutral. The SNG trip will take place after the completion of the liquefaction plant in the second quarter of 2020, according to the report.

Edit - Thought I'd tag this one in too as it's a similar article:

Hybrid Shipping: New Trends In Green Cargo Transport

Coastalwatch

For those disappointed with the minimal interest paid into ISA's or savings accounts these days then why not have a think about transferring some funds into a good cause while earning a decent return in the process. The link below will take you the Abundance website and one project they are seeking funding for. Other ethical and sustainable projects can be supported although as is all explained each one does carry a risk. But hey, as little as £5 can be invested with no overheads to shell out for so you can always dip your toe in with a nominal sum if preferred.
https://www.abundanceinvestment.com/investments/liverpool-community-homes