Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981

zeupater said:

Hi

Research into capturing wave-power must have been going on for as long as I can remember & nothing other than small scale technology demonstrators have come from it yet ... 

HTH - Z

Yep, the massive energy from waves, tends to quickly destroy all attempts to harness it.

Thought you might like this idea, I've posted about it before, but don't know if you would have seen it or not. Again, small scale demonstrators, but their 'party trick' is to use existing infrastructure (coastal walls, break walls, harbours etc), for the mounting point.

No idea if it'll prove itself, they've also been carrying out trials in Israel, California and Spain. Will it be economically viable, no idea, but perhaps one to watch, especially if it can be deployed as an add on to existing structures, where suitable.

EWP plans 1MW wave array for Greek island

Eco Wave Power (EWP) has revealed plans for a 1MW project on the Greece island of Halki.

EWP chief executive and founder Inna Braverman announced the project during a presentation at the annual Israel-Greece Conference, hosted by Calcalist in Agii Theodori.

Braverman said that Halki wants to be 100% green and renewable and recently received recognition for its sustainability efforts.

The island, she told delegates, plans on combining 1MW of solar, 1MW of wind and 1MW of wave energy, with the EU programme New Energy Solutions Optimized for Island (NESOI) providing the funding for EWP’s feasibility study in the island.

The study should be completed by the end of 2022, which will help enable the construction of Greece’s first 1MW grid-connected wave energy array.

zeupater

Hi

The main problem with energy extraction from the Med/Aegean seas is that the tidal range is relatively poor, effectively limiting their option to wave-power.

<Grumpy old git rant mode on (but it's relevant)!>

Back in the '80s, I remember sitting in the sun outside a harbourside bar on an island off the coast of old Yugoslavia talking to a local about absolutely nothing (as you do in a bar almost anywhere!) when tidal range came up & it turns out that the range was huge, the entire height of a course of stone in the harbour wall (approx a whole foot!) between low and high tide, so not much volume of water moving at speed to achieve any form of meaningful generation there then, especially compared to the ~50foot range in the Severn Estuary from which the UK could harvest energy on a daily basis! .... same holiday - getting to the island was via a soviet era hydrofoil, which was really quick & smooth at speed in calm conditions going - but awful in squally conditions that had whipped up for the return journey (which took ages!), so I can attest to considerable intermittent wave-power potential being available in that part of the world ... 

If we're serious about tapping renewable energy potential from the sea, let's stop doing the 'academic' thing, get engineers to finalise the design on something we KNOW will deliver, then simply start raising orders ... with the right concentrated effort the first modular tidal flow schemes shouldn't take any longer than building offshore wind farms, so which excuse from the 'Great Book of Excuses' should we expect government & affected industry parties to copy to their agreed hymn sheet to stamp down on logic next?

HTH - Z             

QrizB

zeupater said:

The main problem with energy extraction from the Med/Aegean seas is that the tidal range is relatively poor, effectively limiting their option to wave-power.

Tidal flows in the Med, though can be significant. Submerged turbines (like the one near Orkney) could produce significant amounts of electricity.

zeupater said:

<Grumpy old git rant mode on (but it's relevant)!>

Back in the '80s, I remember sitting in the sun outside a harbourside bar on an island off the coast of old Yugoslavia talking to a local about absolutely nothing (as you do in a bar almost anywhere!) ...

We've all done that, although not necessarily in that particular Adriatic bar  

If we're serious about tapping renewable energy potential from the sea, let's stop doing the 'academic' thing, get engineers to finalise the design on something we KNOW will deliver, then simply start raising orders ... with the right concentrated effort the first modular tidal flow schemes shouldn't take any longer than building offshore wind farms

See the example above. We're getting there!

Coastalwatch

zeupater said:

Hi

The main problem with energy extraction from the Med/Aegean seas is that the tidal range is relatively poor, effectively limiting their option to wave-power.

<Grumpy old git rant mode on (but it's relevant)!>

Back in the '80s, I remember sitting in the sun outside a harbourside bar on an island off the coast of old Yugoslavia talking to a local about absolutely nothing (as you do in a bar almost anywhere!) when tidal range came up & it turns out that the range was huge, the entire height of a course of stone in the harbour wall (approx a whole foot!) between low and high tide, so not much volume of water moving at speed to achieve any form of meaningful generation there then, especially compared to the ~50foot range in the Severn Estuary from which the UK could harvest energy on a daily basis! .... same holiday - getting to the island was via a soviet era hydrofoil, which was really quick & smooth at speed in calm conditions going - but awful in squally conditions that had whipped up for the return journey (which took ages!), so I can attest to considerable intermittent wave-power potential being available in that part of the world ... 

If we're serious about tapping renewable energy potential from the sea, let's stop doing the 'academic' thing, get engineers to finalise the design on something we KNOW will deliver, then simply start raising orders ... with the right concentrated effort the first modular tidal flow schemes shouldn't take any longer than building offshore wind farms, so which excuse from the 'Great Book of Excuses' should we expect government & affected industry parties to copy to their agreed hymn sheet to stamp down on logic next?

HTH - Z             

For sure tidal ebbs and flows are barely neglible in the Med so little to no energy available via this source but like all great expanses of water, be it tidal or inland, they can get very rough as your journey testified. While these conditions are caused through increasing wind speeds one can only summise that wave power here could only be but supplementary to wind turbines when the normally reliable sunshine every day out there doesn't occour. Maybe battery storage would be a more cost effective alternative.

But surely there must multiple other locations around the planet where such an energy source might prove very beneficial so lessons learned here could well prove useful further down the road.

After all energy storage into which huge sums have and still are being invested must have suffered many disappointments in the last half century and while the Li ion battery is currently seen as the most cost effective in use today it hasn't stopped research all around the world from tryng to source suitable alternatives. 

silverwhistle

Well, I was never seasick sailing in the Med if that's a good indicator of wave potential?! Storm bound in Pantelleria and saw a water spout near Dubrovnik were notable incidents but the onshore/offshore breezes due to land/sea temperature differences in the mornings and evenings were very reliable. No need to consult tidal stream charts like you would in the Channel or round the UK.

Obviously wave and tidal should be looked at but for a Mediterranean island wind, solar and battery should be reasonably cost effective.

Martyn1981

I try, as folk know, to stay positive on most technologies, and their deployment in the UK, but my hopes are starting to fade a bit for the tidal lagoons. Swansea is trying hard, and incorporating the idea of property income to support the scheme, but the Gov just doesn't seem to want to give it a go.

The Cardiff version would have 10x the generation, and at hopefully half the cost per MWh, if Swansea proves the concept.

I think we may waste the UK's potential, and it does depress me somewhat. Hope I'm wrong.



Edit - Oops, meant to include this crucial line from Z's post:

the ~50foot range in the Severn Estuary from which the UK could harvest energy on a daily basis!

The tidal lagoons will generate leccy for 3.5hrs four times per day, with 2.5hr slack tide periods between. That means predictable, reliable and regular generation, which is a boon for RE, minimising related storage needs, and where needed, guaranteeing multiple smaller cycles which helps with the economics.

Any and all RE sources that help with intermittency, add greater value to the mix overall, and therefore have greater value too.

Martyn1981

I think it was CW who mentioned this company some time back. Well now they have built a demonstration plant in Sardinia, and are to build a 20MW/200MWh storage facility.

Energy Dome Introduces Its Carbon Dioxide Energy Storage System On Sardinia

That plant has confirmed the performance of the CO2 Battery and its ability to store energy for a long duration with highly competitive round trip efficiency without degradation. The Sardinia demonstration project has proven this innovative process using off-the-shelf equipment available from a globally established supply chain, demonstrating that the rapid global deployment of the CO2 Battery is now possible with no bottlenecks.

The Energy Dome CO2 Battery

The Energy Dome battery is a closed system that uses excess renewable energy to compress carbon dioxide until it is condensed into a liquid. The heat from this compression is captured and stored to be used again later, according to Euronews. When it is time to discharge the energy, the stored heat that is used to evaporate the liquid carbon dioxide, which then turns back into a gas which spins a turbine as it returns to the dome. The system only requires steel, carbon dioxide, and some water. The closed loop system generates no emissions.

Coastalwatch

Thanks for posting this news Mart, I hadn't appreciated they had made that much progress. It's great to have an alternative to Li ion batteries and with over twice the duration too is another step along the way to Independence.

Stored heat is perhaps the area that I fear might be a limitation due to losses involved during storage, but they've no doubt mitigated that aspect to an acceptable level or overcome it altogether.

Coastalwatch

If the reality of the view expressed below emerges then it would seem that future solar farms could transform their acceptability by the great British public. Far from facing a majority Nimby response from locals the tables could be turned and their proposals welcomed. Even into areas where intense agriculture has been the custom. Coupled with support of financial income towards fuel poverty then may just be seen as a very good neighbour to have.

It is understood that we need to generate and use as much energy locally as is possible in order to achieve its delivery to the end consumer at the lowest cost.

Surely if this was well publicised then the majority of the population would welcome it with open arms!

The weekend read: The dawn of deep green solar

The importance of biodiversity on solar farms is coming into sharper focus, due to the intersecting forces of sustainable finance and the UK Environment Act. These positive influences will likely change the way the industry and the public view solar farms, as they evolve into biodiversity hotspots that lead the recovery of nature. Everoze Partner Ellie van der Heijden discusses how boosting biodiversity can be an opportunity for solar developers and investors to increase their positive impact.

The solar industry has historically focused on low-carbon energy production and playing a key role in preventing the climate crisis. But we are also facing a biodiversity crisis. Britain, for example has lost more of its biodiversity than almost anywhere else in western Europe and is among the most nature-depleted countries in the world. That is shocking.

The climate and biodiversity crises are strongly linked, and their solutions are interrelated. The recent emergence of two intersecting forces – sustainable finance (the carrot) and tougher biodiversity legislation (the stick) – mean this could be a turning point for nature, and in particular, the way the industry and the public view solar farms.

Carrot and stick

Investment in “sustainable funds” has intensified over the past two years, as these types of funds have been shown to perform well financially. Solar farms that have a positive biodiversity impact above and beyond the basic mitigations required by the environmental impact assessment score well on these funds’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores. Investors and lenders are asking more and more questions about the sustainability and environmental performance of solar assets, and this trend will continue. Improving biodiversity on solar farms will give developers extra kudos with potential investors. Developers that go the extra mile in terms of biodiversity will be rewarded with easier access to finance, in addition to easier access to permits from the local authorities.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2022/06/11/the-weekend-read-the-dawn-of-deep-green-solar/

QrizB

In case anyone was wondering why electricity prices are so low today, zero or negative from 1200-1600, it's worth taking a look at Electric Insights or Gridwatch.

In round numbers, we're currently getting 40% of our power from wind, 20% from solar, another 20% from nuclear and only 10% from gas (the remaining 10% being minor sources like biomass and my own rounding errors).

We're also exporting 3GW to France and 0.75GW to Norway (although there's 1GW inbound from each of the Netherlands and Belguim, which partly balances things).