Double your fuel range!

[Beadle]

Re: Pumped Storage

We seem to have come an awful long way round to get back to the beginning again.

Dunno is the answer.

How many watts will your solar panel. wind generator supply?

Find that then say 80% efficient in electrolysis of H2

Then say another 80% efficiency change in fuel cell

Then feed power to electric motor

Alternatively feed H2 directly into engine - not sure how much a diesel engine would like that but consider mass of diesel fuel compared to mass of H2 I would guess very little change - apart from possibility of damaging engine.

Why not use solar panel windmill to feed a motor directly and have a sort of 12V O/B on back.

Say 2hp - or 1500 watts

can a boat sized windmill and/or solar panel generate 1500W?
say 130 Amps. Sounds rather a lot to me. Perhaps charge a battery with panel and windmill when not on boat and use for extra 2 HP urge when you need it most.

Unless I'm missing something the game isn't worth the candle.

And I'd certainly think twice or more before pumping hydrogen into the air intake of a diesel engine.

I think the insurance company may have some thoughts on creating/storing hydrogen on the boat too.

 

[Heckler]

We are already doing something in North Wales, look up Llanberis pumped storage. At A lake inside a mountain, pump water up hill at times when you have excess then let it down hill again whjen you have demand. there are several of them around Llanberis but the one inside the mountain is the biggest and most prominent. What this dumbo government needs to do is build pumped storage facilities as it builds wind farms, BUT that would be too simple for them! Hydrogen production is another matter for all the reasons outlines already.
Stu

 

[Sgeir]

Re: Pumped Storage

Sorry if I appeared to be abrupt earlier, but I believe that you were having an argument with me on views that I did not hold. In any event I was pushed for time and had a very slow low bandwidth connection.

I agree with many of your points, including the obvious one about high pressure areas and no wind, but that does not diminish imho the value of investment in alternatives, including wind power and energy conversion. To take an example, BT, as the UK's major fixed line operator, uses something approaching 1% of the UK's electricity generation. From the perspective of the company, its share owners and customers, it makes eminent sense to explore ways of reducing its energy costs. It already owns hill top locations throughout the UK with its network of radio stations. So. for them, the investment of £250m in wind power seems a logical way of tackling energy costs. If they get the planning permissions, this investment will produce 250MW, about a quarter of their overall requirements.

Inevitably, as you have pointed out, there will be periods when shortfall will have to be made up by other generation sources; this means that DaveS and his colleagues will have to continually improve the ability of the generators and the grid to match demand (they're already pretty good at that). That sort of investment is not a silver bullet, but does does provide the stimulus for improvements in generating, storage, conversion and switch technologies, imho.

I can also think of a major, huge, urban brownfield development that is presently in the planning stage; for a mix of of function, including housing, offices, retail, workshop, educational and cultural facilities, its CHP system will include solar and wind generation, heat sink, at least one fuel cell (and the associated energy conversion). That will not be stand-alone in its energy requirements and will need generation from other sources, but will significantly reduce ongoing energy costs through insulation, generation, storage, and conversion. Investment in energy diversity is the way to go, I believe.