Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981

Firstly, this post is a mess, but I thought some parts interesting enough to mention as CAES (compressed air energy storage) is one to watch, to see how we might manage very large amounts of energy over the medium and long term.

So, first off, the project is in Texas, but being bought by an Ireland based company (the storage isn't in Ireland). But it's a sizeable capacity at 280MW, and I'm looking for the energy figure, but can't see one stated yet. [Edit - Appears to be 4.2GWh, so around 15hrs of output at max. M.]

However, what really jumped out at me, was mention of a project in the Netherlands for 320MW/ 27GWh. That's 84hrs. I'll add on a link to a news item from a Dec 2022 regarding the Dutch project.

Ireland’s Corre Energy buys 280MW Texas compressed air energy storage project

Ireland-headquartered long-duration energy storage (LDES) company Corre Energy has acquired its first in-development project in the US.

The company wants to combine hydrogen and compressed air energy storage (CAES) technologies at facilities built in large underground salt caverns. It said yesterday that an exclusivity agreement has been signed for a 280MW compressed air project in Texas’ ERCOT market with the project’s developer Contour Energy.

Sited in the western part of the state, the site comprises three salt caverns. It marks Corre Energy’s first entry into the US, and the company hoped for a final investment decision (FID) in 2025 after agreeing to acquire 100% of the project.

The developer is targeting getting 1.3GW of projects under construction around the world by 2026. This includes a 320MW CAES project with 84-hour storage duration in the Dutch municipality of Zuidwending, Groningen.

Corre to deploy 320MW CAES long-duration energy storage facility for Eneco in Netherlands

Dublin-based Corre Energy plans to build the facility in a salt cavern in the municipality of Zuidwending. Exploratory drilling will start in 2023 to assess if the site is suitable for compressed air storage, and the installation of the entire system is expected to be completed by 2026.

The planned system will use up to 220MW of power to convert excess electricity into compressed air and store it in the cavern. When the energy is needed, the compressed air will be expanded through a turbine which will generate electricity with a maximum power of 320MW.

The system can discharge at this power for three and a half days, of 84 hours, which equates to a potential 26,880MWh or 26.88GWh energy storage capacity.

Martyn1981

ed110220 said:

thevilla said:

Exiled_Tyke said:

May be, just may be, we will finally see government under enough pressure to start moving in the right direction on RE including freeing up planning to allow onshore windfarms in England (which would make Ripple very happy I'm sure).

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/16/top-uk-energy-firms-to-warn-rishi-sunak-dont-back-off-green-agenda

With an election imminent? I doubt it very much sadly.

I wouldn't be so sure. The climate denial/anti-renewable demographic was never especially large and is steadily shrinking. The Conservatives here should look at what happened to their Liberal-National Party equivalent in Australia and how it was booted out when its denialism became untenable. Tilting at windmills turns off a lot more voters than it attracts. Younger, more educated and urban voters abandoned the LNP COALition, as it is often known, in droves. 

The only danger I see is that the Conservatives have already resigned themselves to defeat and have calculated that if they're going to lose, they might as well throw some red meat to members and core voters to try to keep up morale. 

Hi Ed, I think this article fits in well with what you've said. It does say - "The Opinium Research poll, commissioned by RenewableUK", so perhaps there could be some bias in the questions.

'Switch' voters 'want more UK renewables'

Two-thirds of UK voters (67%) who supported the Conservatives in the last general election, but currently intend to switch to Labour in the next election, think that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (pictured) is not doing enough to increase the use of renewable energy in the UK.

The Opinium Research poll, commissioned by RenewableUK, also found that 57% of these swing voters say the UK Government is not investing enough in the green economy or taking sufficient action on climate change.

In contrast, only 7% of switching voters and 6% of current Conservative voters think the Prime Minister has gone too far in increasing renewable energy use in the UK.

The majority of switching voters (58%) believe that growing the renewable energy sector will have a positive effect on the UK economy overall, while only 11% disagree.

Ramping up investment in renewables to make the UK a net energy exporter by 2030 enjoys overwhelming support among all voters (77%) - and this increases to 84% among Conservative supporters, and to 88% among swing voters.

RenewableUK’s head of Strategic Communications Nathan Bennett said: "Following last week’s by-election, some commentators are suggesting the whole green agenda is unpopular.

"This polling has shown that to be totally unfounded.

thevilla

You couldn't make it up 😔

DB Cargo UK grounds electric fleet following rocketing electricity prices

https://www.railtech.com/all/2023/07/25/db-cargo-uk-grounds-electric-fleet-following-rocketing-electricity-prices/?gdpr=accep

shinytop

thevilla said:

You couldn't make it up 😔

DB Cargo UK grounds electric fleet following rocketing electricity prices

https://www.railtech.com/all/2023/07/25/db-cargo-uk-grounds-electric-fleet-following-rocketing-electricity-prices/?gdpr=accep

What are the economics of rail freight that make diesel cheaper than electric?  I know they can't use Octopus Go but can't these freight trains travel at off peak times?   

shinytop

Hydrogen powered planes from Dale Vince.

https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-news/2023/ecojet-dale-vince-launches-an-aviation-revolution

I was a bit worried about where the hydrogen fuel would come from and its carbon impact but this statement has made up for any lingering doubts.

"On board, further radical steps will be taken to further reduce the impact of the aviation industry, including serving plant-based meals, eliminating single-use plastic and issuing staff environmentally-friendly uniforms."

I think I'll stick to Ryanair for now.

Martyn1981

shinytop said:

Hydrogen powered planes from Dale Vince.

https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-news/2023/ecojet-dale-vince-launches-an-aviation-revolution

I was a bit worried about where the hydrogen fuel would come from and its carbon impact but this statement has made up for any lingering doubts.

"On board, further radical steps will be taken to further reduce the impact of the aviation industry, including serving plant-based meals, eliminating single-use plastic and issuing staff environmentally-friendly uniforms."

I think I'll stick to Ryanair for now.

If you're interested there's an article out today from Michael Barnard who does a lot of research into hydrogen issues. It's very long and detailed, but in short, he's about as convinced as you, regarding H2 for aircraft. This is his prediction regarding fuel source over the long term:

No, You Won’t Be Flying In Hydrogen-Powered Passenger Planes

This week I had an excellent discussion related to hydrogen as an aviation fuel. A master’s thesis candidate assembled a panel of experts to enable her thesis, and I was delighted to participate as the acknowledged “It ain’t gonna fly” representative among a panel of people who were much more positive about hydrogen’s potential.

The scope of the discussion was broad, from technical characteristics to safety to economics to airport operations. It struck me that while I have published perspectives on the scope of concerns, I hadn’t done so in a single integrated piece, and that the framework structured by the researcher provided a useful mechanism to create one. This piece draws together my primary arguments against hydrogen in aviation based on my publications, discussions with global experts, and positions on electric aviation advisory boards.

shinytop

Martyn1981 said:

shinytop said:

Hydrogen powered planes from Dale Vince.

https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-news/2023/ecojet-dale-vince-launches-an-aviation-revolution

I was a bit worried about where the hydrogen fuel would come from and its carbon impact but this statement has made up for any lingering doubts.

"On board, further radical steps will be taken to further reduce the impact of the aviation industry, including serving plant-based meals, eliminating single-use plastic and issuing staff environmentally-friendly uniforms."

I think I'll stick to Ryanair for now.

If you're interested there's an article out today from Michael Barnard who does a lot of research into hydrogen issues. It's very long and detailed, but in short, he's about as convinced as you, regarding H2 for aircraft. This is his prediction regarding fuel source over the long term:

No, You Won’t Be Flying In Hydrogen-Powered Passenger Planes

This week I had an excellent discussion related to hydrogen as an aviation fuel. A master’s thesis candidate assembled a panel of experts to enable her thesis, and I was delighted to participate as the acknowledged “It ain’t gonna fly” representative among a panel of people who were much more positive about hydrogen’s potential.

The scope of the discussion was broad, from technical characteristics to safety to economics to airport operations. It struck me that while I have published perspectives on the scope of concerns, I hadn’t done so in a single integrated piece, and that the framework structured by the researcher provided a useful mechanism to create one. This piece draws together my primary arguments against hydrogen in aviation based on my publications, discussions with global experts, and positions on electric aviation advisory boards.

Good article, thanks.

Martyn1981

Update on Energy Vault and the construction of their gravity energy storage building in China. Folk may remember Energy Vault as the people behind the crane and tower of blocks idea, where energy would be stored by lifting and building a tower of blocks around the cranes.

The contained building is their re-imigination of the idea.

From the picture, this is a simply massive construction, for just 25MW/100MWh of storage. It seems hard to believe that this could be viable, but since the materials are cheap, and they may even been paid to use waste products like concrete and fly ash ...... I suppose anything is possible. So the company do suggest that this could be the cheapest form of energy storage.

Energy Vault starts commissioning EVx gravity energy storage system in China

Energy Vault has started commissioning its first commercial EVx gravity energy storage project in Rudong, China, for Q4 commercial operation.
After mechanical completion of the 25MW/100MWh project, commissioning started in June and Energy Vault expects the project to be fully interconnected to the local state utility grid in the fourth quarter of this year.

Energy Vault CEO Rob Piconi discussed the project at length in a recent wide-ranging interview with Energy-Storage.news (Premium access), in which we put widely-held scepticism about its claimed performance to him. Piconi claimed that iterations to the gravity energy storage system coming later this year would deliver the “lowest cost of storage in the world”.

The company also claims the EVx system has a round-trip efficiency of over 80%, superior to the other most prominent forms of long-duration energy storage (LDES) like pumped hydro energy storage (PHES), compressed air energy storage (CAES) and flow batteries.

Coastalwatch

The economics of solar grazing

Researchers at the University of Illinois have conducted a survey, combined with prior research, outlining solar grazers’ investments and earnings. The report also delves into complex grazing business plans on large utility-scale solar facilities.

The survey found that 75% of those who signed contracts to graze their sheep on solar sites also agreed to take on vegetation management responsibilities, necessitating the purchase of lawn mowers and edge trimmers. While sheep cover large volumes of area well, they do not always meet the technical standards required by solar asset owners.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/08/03/the-economics-of-solar-grazing/

Martyn1981

The big battery in California has grown bigger, again. Cool to see how modular these ideas can be, though I assume you will need to consider the power connection, unless just upping the energy side.

Moss Landing: World’s biggest battery storage project is now 3GWh capacity

Owner Vistra Energy has announced the completion of work to expand its Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in California, the world’s largest lithium battery energy storage system (BESS) asset.

Power generation and retail company Vistra said yesterday (1 August) that the Phase III expansion achieved the start of commercial operations near the beginning of June.

An additional 350MW output and 1,400MWh energy capacity has been added to the plant, bringing it to a total 750MW/3,000MWh.

This comes after the 300MW/1,200MWh Phase I was completed in 2020, followed by the addition of another 100MW/400MWh in Phase II the following year.