Highview Power Introduces Revolutionary Cryogenic Energy Storage Technology To The African Market
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the African Review.
This is the first paragraph.
Javier Cavada, CEO and President of Highview Power spoke to African Review about the company’s cryogenic (air liquefaction) battery storage solutions and why they are a perfect fit for the continent
It appears to me, that the story, which started in a garage in Bishops Stortford, is going to have a happy ending for the world.
The article is a must read and I particularly liked this paragraph.
Cavada also noted how cryogenic technology complemented this transition. He added, “The main energy companies call our technology ‘pumped hydro in a box’ and that is how we have been making it. You can deploy over 1GWh without geographical constraints. There is no combustion, no emissions and no rare materials needed. All it comprises is some piping work, compressors and a generator, so it is pretty simple. Our mission is to enable a world that is grid powered by solar and wind, not fossil fuels, and this technology will help us achieve this.”
This is the brightest shade of green!
Beeching Reversal – Firsby And Louth
This is one of the Round 3 bids of Beeching Reversal projects that the Government and Network Rail are proposing to reverse some of the Beeching cuts.
The Proposed Route
This route was part of the historic East Lincolnshire Railway, which is shown in this diagram from Wikipedia.
Note.
- North of Louth, the line used to connect to Grimsby Town, Immingham and Cleethorpes.
- The loop that goes through Mablethorpe.
- Boston is to the South.
- The Poacher Line between Boston and Skegness is the only section that is still open.
These Google Maps show sections and features of the route.
North From Spilsby Road Level Crossing
The Spilsby Road level crossing is in the South-West corner, with the track of the old railway between Firsby and Louth going to the North-East.
Junction With The Poacher Line
This is an enlargement of the South-West corner of the map.
- The Spilsby Road level crossing can be seen.
- The Poacher Line does a loop and goes South-East on its way to Skegness.
- It looks like Firsby station was quite important, with three platforms and lots of facilities.
A junction could be built here to connect the Firsby and Louth line to the Poacher Line.
Would a station built between the lines, be possible to provide interchange between the Louth and Skegness trains?
Willoughby Station
Note.
- The scar of the East Lincolnshire Railway can be followed from the South-East corner to the North-West corner of the map.
- The green scar of the Mablethorpe loop can be seen branching off from the East Lincolnshire Railway to the North-East corner of the map.
Could a station be rebuilt at Willoughby?
Alford And Alford Town Station
Note.
- The green scar of the East Lincolnshire Railway can be can be followed from the South-East corner to the North-West corner of the map.
- The town is Alford
- If you click on the map to enlarge it, you can see Station Road, which must have been the location of Alford Town station.
I would have thought a station would be needed.
Straight Between Alford And Louth
Note.
- The green scar of the East Lincolnshire Railway can be can be followed from the South-East corner to the North-West corner of the map.
- There are three stations on this section; Aby for Claythorpe, Authorpe and Legbourne Road.
This section would appear to be a rail engineer’s dream.
How many stations would be needed?
Louth
Note.
- The green scar of the East Lincolnshire Railway can be can be followed from the South-East corner to the North edge of the map.
- Louth is the largest town in Lincolnshire without a station.
It could be difficult to thread the line through the town.
Onward To Grimsby
The map shows the final section of the route between Louth and Grimsby.
Note that from North of New Waltham, the track bed has been used for Peeks Parkway.
Does this mean that any reopened rail line between Firsby and Louth must end at New Waltham or Louth?
Grimsby Town Station And Centre
Note.
- Grimsby Town station is in the West.
- The rail line between Grimsby Town and Cleethorpes stations runs across the map.
- Peeks Parkway runs up the East side of the map.
- It looks to me, that this was once a large triangular junction, that also allowed trains to go between Grimsby Town an Louth stations.
Grimsby town centre seems to have been planned for cars and losers without cars can go elsewhere.
Thoughts On The Firsby And Louth Rail Link
I have a few thoughts on the possible design of a rail link between Firsby and Louth.
Should The Line Allow Freight Trains?
It might be a future need that freight trains will need to go between say Peterborough and Immingham, but I don’t think any use that route at present.
So other than the occasional maintenance train, I think the route could be freight-free at present.
Should The Line Terminate at Grimsby?
Consider.
- Grimsby is a town of 88,000
- It is a large centre for food processing, which needs large numbers of people.
- Grimsby is becoming an increasing important centre for the development of renewable energy.
- Grimsby and Boston are nearly fifty miles apart, which illustrates that Lincolnshire is not a small county.
I believe in a perfect world, Grimsby would have an hourly train service to Boston via Louth and several other stops.
Terminating at Louth rather than Grimsby would be like terminating all trans pennine services at Leeds.
So how would a line terminate at Grimsby?
- The missing side of the triangular junction could be rebuilt, so that traIns could run between Grimsby Town and Louth stations.
- Trains could terminate at a new Grimsby South station on the outskirts of the town.
- Trains could continue through Grimsby Docks station and terminate at Cleethorpes. with possibly an additional station in Grimsby town centre.
There is always an innovative tram-train solution, where with a small amount of street running, they sneaked into the town centre and called at Grimsby Town station and the major places people needed to visit.
This solution has been proposed for Ipswich and Felixstowe by East West Rail to increase the capacity on the Felixstowe Branch. I wrote about this scheme in Could There Be A Tram-Train Between Ipswich And Felixstowe?.
It would be challenging, but I think that it might be possible.
Failing that, I believe that a single-track could be sneaked along Peeks Parkway and go through the town centre to Grimsby Docks and Cleethorpes. stations.
The distance between Cleethorpes and New Waltham is about 7 miles.
A train would probably take about ten minutes.
Any town centre station could be a single platform.
Would An Hourly Service Be Enough?
An hourly service between Boston and Louth would probably be enough, but in an ideal world two trains per hour (tph) would probably be better.
- A single-track section between New Waltham and Cleethorpes could probably handle four tph working bi-directionally.
- Two tph is also regularly handled on single platform stations, like Galashiels and Newcourt.
- The long straight sections of the route offer lots of scope for loops.
My feeling, is the service should start hourly, but that it can be designed to be upgraded to two tph. Or it could even work at two tph at certain times of the day.
Could Boston and Cleethorpes Be Run In Fifty Minutes?
Consider.
- This time would be ideal for a service as it would give ten minutes to turn the trains at both ends.
- Boston and Cleethorpes would be the longest service that would be run and it is 50 miles.
- Fifty minutes would need an average speed including stops of 60 mph.
- Ipswich and Cambridge is run at an average of 43.2 mph with seven stops.
- The straight and flat Breckland Line has an operating speed of between 75 and 90 mph.
- Trains between Cambridge and Norwich average 53 mph with six stops.
I believe that the Firsby and Louth line could be built with an operating speed of up to 90 mph and fifty minutes between Boston and Cleethorpes could be possible.
Will Firsby And Louth Be Single Track?
I believe that the route can be single track with one platform stations.
This will save both space and costs and would probably allow two tph with careful design.
As there are long straight sections to the North of Alford, I suspect it wouldn’t be difficult to add passing loops, if they were required.
What Rolling Stock Would Be Used?
Lincolnshire is a renewable energy-rich county and because of offshore wind and the HumberZero project, Lincolnshire will probably have more wind power and green hydrogen per head of population, than any other area of the UK.
So undoubtedly, the trains will be zero carbon, which means, electrification, battery electric or hydrogen trains.
If new trains are in the budget, then the obvious candidate is the Hitachi Regional Battery Train.
The specification is given in this Hitachi infographic.
Note that it is a 100 mph train with a range of 56 miles.
It would need to be charged at both ends of the route.
In Cleethorpes Station – 16th September 2020, I suggested that electrification be added between Cleethorpes and Habrough stations should be electrified, so Cleethorpes and Manchester services could be run by Hitachi Regional Battery Trains.
This electrification could be used to charge the trains at Cleethorpes or a charging system could be installed.
This Google Map shows Boston station.
Note.
- The station has only two platforms.
- It looks like there were two North-facing bay platforms.
A charging system would be added to charge the trains.
The other obvious train for the route, would be Alstom’s Class 600 train, which is powered by hydrogen.
This is a visualisation of the train.
The specification has not been published yet, so there is no idea of the operating speed, although the range will be several hundred miles.
I speculated about the train in Breeze Hydrogen Multiple-Unit Order Expected Soon.
- There will be plenty of hydrogen available in Lincolnshire if the Humber Zero project goes to plan.
- Trains may be able to do several trips between refuelling.
- Trains will not need any infrastructure at Boston.
The forsby and Louth route would be an ideal route for both trains.
The Hitachi product will probably be slightly larger, faster and new!
Rolls-Royce And Tecnam Join Forces With Widerøe To Deliver An All-Electric Passenger Aircraft Ready For Service In 2026
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Rolls-Royce.
This is the first paragraph.
Rolls-Royce and airframer Tecnam are joining forces with Widerøe – the largest regional airline in Scandinavia, to deliver an all-electric passenger aircraft for the commuter market, ready for revenue service in 2026. The project expands on the successful research programme between Rolls-Royce and Widerøe on sustainable aviation and the existing partnership between Rolls-Royce and Tecnam on powering the all-electric P-Volt aircraft.
This picture from Rolls-Royce shows the proposed aircraft.
The P-Volt aircraft is based on the Tecnam P2012 Traveller.
The specification of this aircraft is as follows.
- Crew – 1 or 2
- Capacity – 9 passengers
- Powerplant – 2 x 280 jW piston engines.
- Cruise speed – 200 mph
- Range – 1090 miles
- Service ceiling – 19,500 ft.
The aim is to have an aircraft in service by 2026.
Use By Widerøe
This paragraph from the press release, outlines Widerøe‘s planned use of the aircraft.
The collaboration offers an opportunity to develop an exciting solution to the commuter aircraft market. Before the pandemic, Widerøe offered around 400 flights per day using a network of 44 airports, where 74% of the flights have distances less than 275 km. The shortest flight durations are between seven and fifteen minutes. Developing all-electric aircraft will enable people to be connected in a sustainable way and will fulfill Wideroe’s ambition to make its first all-electric flight by 2026. The all-electric P-Volt aircraft, which is based on the 11-seat Tecnam P2012 Traveller aircraft is ideal for the short take-off and landing as well as for routes in the North and the West Coast of Norway.
Conclusion
There are now five electric or low-carbon aircraft in the sub-nineteen passenger segment.
- The Cessna eCaravan, which I wrote about in Watch First Electric Caravan Fly.
- The Eviation Alice, which I wrote about in Orders For A New All-Electric Airplane Now Top 150.
- The Faradair BEHA, which I wrote about in Faradair’s BEHA Hybrid Aircraft Boosted By Partnerships.
- Project Fresson, which is an electric version of a Britten-Norman Islander.
Note.
- The Slice and the Faradair are new designs.
- The Faradair is hybrid and all the others are fully electric.
- The Faradair can carry eighteen passengers and all the others are smaller.
- I suspect there are others under development.
Conclusion
The Tecnam P-Volt must have a high chance of success.
- It’s designed for a purpose in a particular airline.
- The Widerøe model would apply to large number of small feeder and commuter airlines.
- Rolls-Royce are well-respected in aviation.
- An existing airframe is being used, which shortens certification.
- Norway is not short of a few bob.
- Cape Air have ordered 93 of the piston engined variant.
I will look forward to flying this aircraft.
Hopes For West London Orbital Railway Consultation Later This Year
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Ian Visits.
The title says it all about the latest thinking for the creation of the West London Orbital Railway.
- The cost/benefit ratio appears good.
- Funding appears difficult given Transport for London’s finances.
This map from the Mayor’s Transport Strategy shows the route.
I’ve always believed that the line will give better access to Heathrow for workers and passengers, but with expansion at the Airport less likely to happen because of carbon emission issues, is this railway less likely to be created?
Beeching Reversal – Mablethorpe
This is one of the Round 3 bids of Beeching Reversal projects that the Government and Network Rail are proposing to reverse some of the Beeching cuts.
Maplethorpe is an traditional seaside town between Skegness and Cleethorpes, which is shown in this Google Map.
Note.
- The town has a population of around 12,000.
- The beach looks good.
- The red arrow shows the position of the former station, which is now a leisure centre.
It looks like building a railway to the original site would be very challenging.
The original railway through the town was the Mablethorpe Loop Line, which ran between Willoughby and Louth.
- Louth is the largest town in Lincolnshire without a rail connection.
- Willoughby and Louth stations were both on the East Lincolnshire Line, which connected Boston and Grimsby Town stations.
- Much of the original trackbeds can still be picked out on the map, but no rail lines exist.
It would be a very large enterprise to rebuild all the original lines.
I think there are two possible solutions to provide a rail link to Maplethorpe.
Boston and Maplethorpe
This Google Map shows the area between Boston and Maplethorpe.
Note.
- Maplethorpe is in the North-East corner of the map.
- Boston is in the South-West corner of the map.
- Skegness is on the coast between the two.
It would probably be possible to build a single track railway on the old track bed between Boston and the Western side of of Maplethorpe.
Skegness and Maplethorpe
This Google Map shows Skegness station.
Note, that it is not a small station and it is in the town centre.
Ever since, I saw the coastal tram in Belgium, I have thought that they are a way of giving new life to traditional seaside resorts.
- Skegness and Mablethorpe are less than twenty miles apart.
- So could a tram start at Skegness station, work its way to the coast and then proceed along the coast all the way to Maplethorpe.
- It could even finish at Cleethorpes station.
I definitely think there are possibilities for a coastal tram.
Recycling In Islington
I took these pictures by the bus stop round the corner from my house.
It is often as bad as this and it is regularly cleaned up by the street cleaners.
There are people for whatever reason, put their rubbish by the litter and then the foxes sort through it looking for scraps of food.
Someone said on the radio, that it is caused by illegal sub-lets, as these tenants are told not to use the normal rubbish system, as it draws attention.
So their idea of recycling, is to get others to sort it!
Is The UK Ready For A Tourist Boom This Summer?
Imagine one scenario, where we continue to vaccinate against Covid-19 and and large parts of the EU doesn’t, or at least goes slower and slower because of reluctance to use the AstraZeneca vaccine.
A simple mathematical model could mean that our number of cases drops like a stone and the anti-AZ countries suffer successive waves of the covids.
Where will vaccinated well-off North American, Antipodean and Far Eastern tourists want to go for their dose of European culture?
Fergus Walsh On The AstraZeneca Vaccine
I have just watching a ten-minute interview on BBC Breakfast with Fergus Walsh, who is the BBC’s Medical Editor.
If you are worried about Covid-19 vaccination and the AstraZeneca vaccine in particular, I suggest you find the interview on iPlayer. It took place at 0815.
He is undoubtedly well-connected to healthcare in the UK, as during the pandemic, he has had deep-access to doctors, researchers and patients, so anything he says, should surely be taken seriously.
Clots Caused By The AstraZeneca Vaccine
On this he said, it was at the same rate as the Pfizer vaccine. Now there’s a thing!
The rate of those, who broke their ankle after being vaccinated is also probably the same for both vaccines.
Fergus Has Had The AstraZeneca Vaccine
This happened on Sunday.
His endorsement of the vaccine, is probably as well-reasoned as anyone.
Conclusion
Why are politicians and others rubbishing the AstraZeneca vaccine, when respected agencies say there is no problem?
Is it just jealousy?
- What are they going to say about Oxford’s malaria vaccine, that I wrote about in What Will Oxford Do For An Encore?
- Or about their new cancer treatment, that I wrote about in Oxford Vaccine Team Use Same Tech To Revolutionise Cancer Treatment.
Given the success of the vaccine with AstraZeneca, I doubt Oxford will be looking for another partner.
WindH2 Hydrogen Project Commissioned In Germany
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article on Chemical Engineering.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Salzgitter AG, Avacon and Linde have taken an important step on the path to decarbonizing the steel industry. With the commissioning of “Wind Hydrogen Salzgitter – WindH2”, Germany’s only cross-sector project, green hydrogen will be produced in future with electricity generated by wind power on the site of the steelworks in Salzgitter.
This sentence describes the hydrogen production.
Avacon, a member of the E.ON Group, operates seven newly built wind turbines with an output totaling 30 megawatts on the premises of Salzgitter AG. Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH has installed two Siemens 1.25 megawatt PEM electrolyzer units on its plant site that are capable of producing around 450 m3 per hour of ultra pure hydrogen.
It appears that Salzgitter AG are initially using hydrogen to cut their carbon footprint.
To get an impression of the size of the steelworks, look at this Google Map.
Note that if you click on the map to show it in a large scale, stahl is German for steel.
The article is certainly worth a read.
Could We See More Bunhill 2s On The London Underground?
This article on Railway Gazette, is entitled Air-Conditioned Piccadilly Line Train Designs Presented.
This is said in the article about the air-conditioning of the new trains.
The trains will feature air-conditioning for the first time on one of the capital’s small-profile deep-level Tube lines, which has posed a significant engineering challenge. The heat passed into the tunnels from the air-conditioning units is expected to be offset by a reduced heat output from the traction and braking equipment, given the trains’ lower energy consumption.
Cutting the energy consumption will be mainy good basic engineering.
- Lighting will use LEDs to use less electricity and cut heat generated.
- Efficient air-conditioning units will save energy.
- All electrical equipment like traction motors, transformers and door actuators will be low energy units.
There could also be some more complex ways to save energy.
Extensive Mathematical Modelling Of the Temperature And Humidity Of The Trains
I have built large numbers of mathematical models. I can see a lot of scope to use the technique to find the most efficient method of operation.
- On hot days would the trains be cooled down on the surface sections, so that they entered the tunnels cold?
- Conversely on cold days, would the heat in the tunnels be recovered to get cold trains entering the long central tunnel up to temperature?
- How does passenger loading effect the temperature and humidity?
The model would help to identify, the best operating procedure given the weather conditions.
The mathematical model could even be built into the control system of the train.
Heated Floors
As I said in Air-Conditioned Piccadilly Line Train Designs Presented, the trains could have heated floors, which are an efficient use of space.
They might even be an efficient way of warming a train on a cold day.
I lived near Cockfosters Depot for the first sixteen years of my life and know from personal experience, it can get very cold in the winter.
Regenerative Braking To Batteries
Regenerative braking is used in two ways on the London Underground.
- As the system is DC, electricity generated during braking, can be returned to the rails for use by nearby trains.
- Some stations are also hump-backed, so trains are slowed coming up the hill into the station and pick the energy up, going downhill out of the station. Stations using this technique are very noticeable on the Victoria Line.
I believe that the new Siemens trains should and probably will use regenerative braking to batteries.
- Electricity generated during braking is stored in a battery or batteries on the train.
- When accelerating away from the station, this energy is reused.
The method has advantages.
- There is less electricity transfer between train and conductor rails, which means less heat generated and less contact shoe wear.
- If there is a power failure, the batteries can provide hotel power for the train and could even be large enough to move it to the next station for evacuation of the passengers.
- There may even be scope in building batteries and traction motors as an integrated unit to save weight and reduce heat generation.
- Because of the reuse of energy, energy use is reduced.
I will be very surprised if these new trains aren’t fitted with batteries.
Why Build More Bunhill 2s?
The Bunhill 2 Energy Centre is described on this page of the Borough of Islington web site, which is entitled Bunhill Heat Network.
This is said about Phase 2 of the project.
Phase 2 of the Bunhill Heat and Power network involves building a new energy centre at the top of Central Street, connecting the King’s Square Estate to the network and adding capacity to supply a further 1,000 homes.
The core of the new energy centre is a 1MW heat pump that will recycle the otherwise wasted heat from a ventilation shaft on the Northern Line of the London Underground network, and will transfer that heat into the hot water network. During the summer months, the system will be reversed to inject cool air into the tube tunnels.
Note that a 1MW heat pump can supply enough hot water to heat upwards of a thousand homes.
This page on the Islington web site lists the project partners.
Transport for London is a key partner and this is said.
As a key partner in the Bunhill 2 scheme, TfL upgraded its City Road mid-tunnel ventilation system to enable the capture and utilisation of waste heat from the Northern line tunnels to provide hot water to local homes and businesses. TfL is also carrying out further research to identify opportunities for similar projects across the Tube network as part of its Energy and Carbon Strategy.
So what other stations could be used?
These are disused stations on the deep lines.
- Brompton Road – Piccadilly Line
- Down Street – Piccadilly Line
- South Kentish Town – Northern Line
- York Road – Piccadilly Line
York Road, which is close to all the developments to the North of Kings Cross, would probably be the most likely to be converted into an energy centre to transfer heat to and from the Underground.
Could Some Ventilation Shafts Be Converted Into Energy Centres?
The obvious one is probably Green Lanes Ventilation Station.
Green Lanes Ventilation Station
But then I suspect this is on Transport for London’s list of sites to be converted into something more useful.
The Anonymous Widower 