Some Bad Vaccine News From Italy
This reassuring article in The Times with a reassuring title of Single Covid Vaccine Reduces Risk Of Going To Hospital By 90%.
But it does contain one piece of bad news.
An Italian study has suggested that the Pfizer vaccine is less effective in overweight people.
H2 Green Steel Plans 800 MW Hydrogen Plant In Sweden
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on montel.
The title says it all.
In Can The UK Have A Capacity To Create Five GW Of Green Hydrogen?, I said the following.
Ryze Hydrogen are building the Herne Bay electrolyser.
- It will consume 23 MW of solar and wind power.
- It will produce ten tonnes of hydrogen per day.
The electrolyser will consume 552 MWh to produce ten tonnes of hydrogen, so creating one tonne of hydrogen needs 55.2 MWh of electricity.
This would mean that H2 Green Steel’s electrolyser could be producing around one hundred and forty thousand tonnes of hydrogen per year or 380 tonnes per day.
What About Scunthorpe?
I very much believe that Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire, would be the ideal place for hydrogen steelmaking in the UK as I outlined in Green Hydrogen To Power First Zero Carbon Steel Plant.
So could 800 MW of electricity be available to produce the hydrogen in the area.
Currently, the world’s largest offshore wind farm is Hornsea One with a capacity of 1218 MW, which feeds into the National Grid at Killingholme.
This Google Map shows the distance between Scunthorpe and Killingholme.
Note.
- Scunthorpe is in the South-West corner of the map.
- Killingholme is in the North-East corner of the map.
The distance is about twenty miles.
When fully developed, the Hornsea Wind Farm is planned to have a capacity of 6 GW or 6000 MW, so there should be enough renewable energy.
Could The Hydrogen Be Created Offshore?
In ITM Power and Ørsted: Wind Turbine Electrolyser Integration, I wrote about combining wind turbines and electrolysers to create an offshore wind turbine, that generates hydrogen, rather than electricity.
This approach may be ideal for the later phases of the Hornsea Wind Farm.
- Redundant gas pipes can be used to bring the hydrogen ashore.
- Worked-out offshore gas fields can be used to store hydrogen.
- Worked-out gas fields in the area, are already being used to store natural gas from Norway.
- The hydrogen can be fed directly into the HumberZero hydrogen network.
But the main reason, is that some serious commentators feel it is more affordable approach in terms of capital and maintenance costs.
It is also easy to convert hydrogen back to zero-carbon electricity, if you have a handy gas-fired power station. There could be as many of three of these at Keadby.
Conclusion
It’s all coming together on Humberside.
Anything the Swedes can do, we can do better!
A Thought On Low Vaccination Rates In London
Could London’s bad performance be down to difficult parking provision at vaccination centres?
There was no parking, where I went to the Francis Crick institute for my vaccination.
But I went by bus and train using my Freedom Pass. So it cost me nothing!
According to my contacts at Transport for London, there are still a lot of elderly and eligible Londoners, who don’t have Freedom Passes.
I’d love to see a graphic showing Freedom Passes against vaccination in the over 65’s in London!
There are probably other related questions to answer.
- How many no-shows at vaccination centres are down to parking problems?
- How many of the non-vaccinated couldn’t find a centre close by, that they could drive to?
- How many of the non-vaccinated object to spending money to get to the vaccination centre?
And many more! I hope a university is doing the research!
Digging The Central Entrance To Old Street Station – 27th February 2021
This map from Transport for London shows the future layout of Old Street Roundabout.
Note the new entrance to the station in the middle of the roundabout.
The contractors are now digging a big hole for the central entrance, with a digger in an unusual turquoise colour.
Note.
- The central and the two other entrances will be steps.
- There will also be a lift, close to the Shoreditch Grind, in the North-West area.
- There will also be a service lift for the shops in the station.
- Particular attention has been given to the use of natural light.
- The central entrance features a green roof.
Some won’t like the design, but I think, its simplicity like some of London’s 1930s Underground stations will endear it to the majority of passengers.
Green Hydrogen To Power First Zero Carbon Steel Plant
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on renews.biz.
This is the two introductory paragraphs.
A new industrial initiative, backed by EIT InnoEnergy, will build the world’s first large-scale steel production plant powered by green hydrogen, in north Sweden.
The H2 Green Steel industrial initiative, which will mobilise €2.5bn of investment, aims to deliver a project that will create a new green steel producer from inception.
These further points are made.
- There will be downstream steel products manufacture.
- The initiative will create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.
- Production could start in 2024.
- Up to five million tonnes of steel could be produced by 2030.
The plant will be built in the Boden-Lulea area of Northern Sweden.
Note.
H2 Green Steel has a web site, which explains more.
What About Scunthorpe?
Surely, the obvious location for green steel production plant in the UK would be Scunthorpe.
- The HumberZero network can bring in hydrogen and take away any carbon dioxide.
- The steelworks makes world-class products like railway rails.
- It is a massive site.
- The site has good rail access.
But there don’t seem to be any plans for hydrogen steelmaking at Scunthorpe.
Conclusion
I hope we’ve not missed the boat for hydrogen steelmaking.
- We’ve certainly got the sites, the renewable energy and the hydrogen technology.
- On the other hand, I can remember sensible arguments for lots of much smaller steel plants from fifty years ago, as an alternative to nationalisation of the steel industry by the Wilson Government in 1967.
- I can also remember proposals for nuclear steelmaking.
I just wonder, if a design of hydrogen steelmaking plant could be developed, perhaps even using a small modular nuclear reactor to generate the hydrogen.
If we are going to have a steel industry in the future, we must do something radical.
Cowper Street Entrance To Old Street Station – 21st February 2021
These pictures show the start of the works to create the new Cowper Street entrance to Old Street station.
Note the large frame, which had been delivered the previous day.
This map from Transport for London shows the future layout.
The Cowper Street entrance will be in the South-East corner of the roundabout. The map says it will have stepped-access only.
This TfL image is a visualisation of the entrance.
I wonder if it should be step-free with a lift, as walking across to the lift in the centre, could be some way in bad weather.
A Slight Problem With Covid-19 Vaccination
I had my first AZ vaccine five weeks ago. I have had a slight allergic reaction around the injection spot, as I did with a pneumococcal injection a few months ago.
I am coeliac on a long term gluten-free diet, which means my immune system is probably very strong. Peer-reviewed research at Nottingham University has shown that coeliacs on this diet, do have a 25 % less chance of getting cancer.
I’m no medic, but do sponsor cancer research, and like many I suspect, I am very familiar with how the AZ vaccine uses viral-vector techniques. I suspect my immune system could be reacting to the carrier.
I suspect, we’ll see a few problems like this and some other more serious problems, but I’m fairly sure they can be solved. I might be better with an mRNA vaccine.
DHL Teams With Volvo Trucks To Speed Up Transition To Fossil-Free Trucking
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on CleanTechnica.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Electric buses, electric garbage trucks, and even electric construction equipment are becoming more and more commonplace in urban landscapes, but there’s still some debate over whether or not battery electric vehicles will take over open-road, long distance trucking any time soon. To help make the case that electric trucking is the way forward, DHL Freight and Volvo Trucks have partnered to speed up the introduction of heavy duty electric trucks to be used for regional transport throughout Sweden.
Read the article and see what you think.
The author takes the view that electric trucks may be able to handle heavy duty road transport and that would sideline expensive fuel cell trucks powered by hydrogen.
This is a paragraph.
If it’s successful, the move to battery electric trucking could be one of the final nails in the coffin of expensive hydrogen fuel cell projects like Nikola Trucks and Volvo’s own recently acquired Daimler truck division.
I am not so sure, that he is right!
Recently, I wrote Holyhead Hydrogen Hub Planned For Wales and Felixstowe And Harwich Ports Submit Bid For ‘Freeport’ Status, where hydrogen hubs are proposed at the posts of Holyhead and Felixstowe.
- This is a distance of 335 miles.
- As trucks average 55 mph on motorways and dual carriageways, this journey would take six hours.
- Six hours is the maximum time a truck driver can work without a break.
- Tesla have said that their battery Semi Truck will have a range of 300 or 500 miles.
I feel that this rough calculation shows that both electric and hydrogen trucks could handle the Felixstowe and Holyhead route.
- With the battery truck, the weight and size of the battery would probably reduce the payload.
- Factors like cost of ownership, payload and drivers hours would probably play a big part in the choice.
- Trucks would need to be refuelled at the start of the journey, if they’d just come off a ferry.
- On Tesla’s figures, recharging a battery truck would take thirty minutes.
Once we start looking at practical journeys like say Cologne and Dublin, if you want to do it with one truck, it has to be hydrogen.
But a container between Felixstowe and Holyhead could probably be handled by an electric truck.
If you look at between Dover and Holyhead, that is 370 miles and at 55 mph, it would take almost seven hours. So the driver would need a break.
Conclusion
There will need to be extensive modelling to decide, what type of truck is best for a particular route, operator and cargo.
Daimler’s Philosophy
In Daimler Trucks Presents Technology Strategy For Electrification – World Premiere Of Mercedes-Benz Fuel-Cell Concept Truck, I examined Daimler’s strategy for hydrogen and electric trucks.
This is a summary of their philosophy.
- Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck, a fuel-cell truck with a range of up to 1,000 kilometres and more for flexible and demanding long-haul transport – customer trials in 2023, start of series production in second half of this decade.
- Mercedes-Benz eActros LongHaul, a battery-electric truck with a range of about 500 kilometres for energy-efficient transport on plannable long-haul routes – projected to be ready for series production in 2024.
- Mercedes-Benz eActros, a battery-electric truck with a range of well over 200 kilometres for heavy urban distribution to go into series production in 2021.
Note.
- 500 kilometres is 310 miles,
- The Mercedes-Benz eActros LongHaul will be able to handle Dover or Felixstowe and Holyhead with a thirty minute driver break/battery charge somewhere in the Midlands.
- The Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck will be able to handle Dover or Felixstowe and Holyhead without refuelling.
- The Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck will be able to handle a 620 mile out-and-back journey from Dover or Felixstowe without refuelling. This would allow journeys to Birmingham, Derby, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield
The flexibility built into Daimler’s philosophy is probably a sensible approach and ideal for truck journeys from Dover and Felixstowe.
Daimler would appear to have done a lot of modelling.
There’s Gold In Them There Hills
And lots of other things too!
Since the 1950s, there has always been talk of a mining revival in the UK.
This article on Proactive Investors is entitled The Great British Mining Revival Is Needed Now More Than Ever.
Sixteen mining companies are listed.
Malta Inc Energy Storage Explained
Malta Inc first came to my notice in 2018 and I wrote Gates Among Billionaires Backing Alphabet Energy Spinoff.
But I couldn’t find much information at the time, but they now have a web site that gives a good explanation.
This page on the web site is entitled Our Solution.
This infographic from the web page, lays out the key features.
This sentence outlines the method of operation.
The Malta energy storage system takes electricity, converts and stores that electricity as heat, and then converts it back to electricity to be redistributed on the electric grid. In charge mode, the system operates as a heat pump, storing electricity as heat in molten salt. In discharge mode, the system operates as a heat engine, using the stored heat to produce electricity.
The operation is explained in five stages.
- Collects – Energy is gathered from wind, solar, or fossil generators on the grid as electrical energy and sent to Malta’s energy storage system.
- Converts – The electricity drives a heat pump, which converts electrical energy into thermal energy by creating a temperature difference.
- Stores – The heat is then stored in molten salt, while the cold is stored in a chilled liquid.
- Reconverts – The temperature difference is converted back to electrical energy with a heat engine.
- Distributes – Electricity is sent back to the grid when it is needed.
Note.
- The operation of the system is based on well-understood thermodynamic principles.
- Entergy is stored as both heat and cold.
- It provides several hours of energy storage.
- Systems are built using standard components, that are readily available.
In some ways the Malta Inc PHES is based on similar principles to Highview Power’s CRYOBattery and Siemens Gamesa’s ETES.
Conclusion
This is a company to watch, as they seem to have got the technology right.
The Anonymous Widower 