Norway Announces $384.5m Clean Energy Fund To Aid In Covid-19 Recovery
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Power Technology.
These are the first one-and-a-half paragraphs.
Last week, Norway announced plans to fund a “green transition package”, investing $384.5m into sustainable power and infrastructure to help the country’s economy and productivity post-Covid-19.
The fund will be used to support a range of initiatives, including investments in hydrogen power and battery storage technology, building offshore wind infrastructure, and renovations to new and existing buildings, as Norway looks to reach the Paris Climate Agreement target of limiting global temperature rise to less than two degrees by 2050.
Perhaps we should follow Norway’s lead.
Understanding Floatovoltaics
Floatovoltaics is mounting panels on floats, on an appropriate stretch of water.
This video, which I think from some of the words in the commentary, is shown to visitors who visit the floating solar farm at Yamakura Dam.
It describes all the advantages of floating solar and shows how this 13.7 MW solar farm was constructed.
We’ve even got a couple of these floating solar farms in the UK.
This Google Map shows the farm in the Queen Elizabeth II Reservoir, near Walton-on-Thames.
There is also this article in the Guardian, which is entitled World’s Biggest Floating Solar Farm Powers Up Outside London. It gives a good description of the project.
The article also states that unlike large solar arrays on land, no planning permission is required.
United Utilities have also installed a system at Godley Reservoir in Hyde, near Manchester, as this Google Map shows.
They must like the first installation, as this Press Release from United Utilities indicates that they are now building a second floating solar farm at Langthwaite Reservoir near Lancaster.
Some points from the Press Release.
- The floats are made locally.
- Godley is three times the size of Langthwaite.
- Godley can generate up to 3 GWh per year.
- It is thought that the panels help to stop the growth of algae in the water.
- United Utilities already has 45 MW of installed solar and intends to add 22 more sites in the next two years.
In some ways, this embracing of solar is a bit surprising, as the North West, is England’s wettest region.
Conclusion
If my excellent physics teacher in the 1960s had said that it will be commonplace by 2020 to generate electricity using solar panels floating on water, I would not have believed him!
Hydrogen Pilot Projects Could Eventually Boost Nuclear Plants’ Bottom Lines
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Energy News Network.
The article discusses in depth. how producing hydrogen can help to improve the economics of nuclear power plants in the Mid-West, with particular reference to a plant called Davis-Besse at Oak Harbor, Ohio.
UK Energy Production
This web site, seems to ask a lot of my questions about UK Energy Production.
150 Hours Of Storage? Company Says That’s True To Form
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Power Magazine.
It is very much a must-read about the emerging technology of high-capacity and long term energy storage, with particular reference to Highview Power and Form Energy.
The article fills out a lot of what I wrote in Will The Real Form Energy Please Stand Up!
I also feel that there’s also an old kid on the block, when it comes to long term energy storage and that is new methods of deploying pumped storage, that I wrote about in The New Generation Of Pumped Storage Systems.
UK Gas Plans A Carbon-Free Future With Hydrogen
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Eco Business.
This is the introductory paragraph.
A mixture of green hydrogen produced by surplus solar and wind power and bio-methane coming from farms and waste food will ensure the British gas industry a carbon-free future in 30 years, according to the country’s gas network operators.
It’s all part of a programme called Gas Goes Green.
It’s all part of a plan for the UK to go carbon-neutral by 2050, which is enshrined in UK law.
But there is competition to a hydrogen gas grid, as this paragraph from the article explains.
This ambitious plan faces some competition from the advocates of ground-source heat pumps as an alternative for heating homes. The pumps have the advantage of running on green electricity, and cut out the need for gas entirely, but they need to be installed in large numbers.
We should use every trick in the engineering locker to avoid generating carbon-dioxide. Ground source heat pumps, are ideal for new build properties.
I used a ground source heat pump for our indoor swimming pool at our house in Debach in the late 1980s. It was no trouble.
‘World-First’ As Bunhill 2 Launches Using Tube Heat To Warm 1,350 Homes
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the Islington Gazette.
This is the introductory paragraph.
A new energy centre using heat from Northern Line Tube tunnels can now provide warmth and hot water to 1,350 Islington homes.
These are some of my pictures of the centre.
If you want to go and see the Bunhill 2 Centre, walk down City Road from the Angel.
The Times Had A Hydrogen Saturday
The Times had a feature on Saturday about converting our gas grid to hydrogen and especially about using hydrogen boilers in our homes.
I believe that perhaps in ten years, our gas grid will be full of hydrogen and our central heating boilers will be powered by hydrogen.
The carbon emissions saved with be massive
I don’t know about cooking, but my Michelin-starred Scottish friend and chef, says that we’ll all cook on an electric induction hob.
A Large Collateral Benefit?
I think there will be a large collateral benefit.
At present there are only two feasible methods to power a vehicle without producing carbon emissions; battery or hydrogen.
- Battery vehicles need to be recharged and we need an enormous number of charging stations.
- Hydrogen vehicles need to be filled up from a hydrogen filling station.
It should be noted that the current Hyundai ix35 FCEV has a range of 369 miles on hydrogen.
But as you have a hydrogen gas supply to your house, could you fit a compressor in your garage to pump up your car’s hydrogen tank, when it needs it?
The technology is well-proven.
The only problem, that I can see, is that how will the Government tax it?
The future’s not orange it’s hydrogen.
Renewable Energy Outperforms Fossil Fuels For A Whole Quarter
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in today’s copy of The Times.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Wind and solar farms and other sources of renewable power have produced more electricity than fossil fuels for the first time in a three-month period.
This is a good figure, but how do we compare with the rest of the world.
This Wikipedia entry is entitled List Of Countries By Electricity Production Prom Renewable Sources.
These are some example percentages of renewable energy production.
- Albania – 100 %
- Australia – 14.5 %
- Belgium – 16.6 %
- Brazil – 80.4 %
- Canada 65.0 %
- China – 24.5 %
- Denmark – 60.5 %
- Egypt – 8.2 %
- Ethiopia 93.6 %
- France – 17.5 %
- Germany – 29 %
- Hungary – 10.1 %
- Iceland – 100.0 %
- India – 16.88 %
- Indonesia – 15.9 %
- Iran – 5.8 %
- Iraq – 6.4 %
- Ireland – 24.7 %
- Israel – 2.5 %
- Italy – 37.3 %
- Japan – 15.0 %
- Kuwait – 0.1 %
- Libya – 0.0 %
- Malaysia – 13.7 %
- Netherlands – 12.1 %
- New Zealand – 83.9 %
- Norway – 97.2 %
- Poland – 13.7 %
- Qatar – 0.3 %
- Pakistan – 32.7 %
- Russia – 16.9 %
- Saudi Arabia – 0.0 %
- South Africa – 3.2 %
- South Korea – 2.8 %
- Spain – 38.1 %
- \sweden – 57.1 %
- Switzerland – 59.8 %
- Taiwan – 4.2 %
- Turkey – 32.9 %
- UAE – 0.3 %
- United Kingdom – 27.9 %
- United States – 14.7 %
Figures are for 2016
North Sea Wind Power Hub
I have just found the web site for the North Sea Wind Power Hub.
The Aim
This introductory paragraph details the aim of the project.
A coordinated roll-out of North Sea Wind Power Hubs facilitates an accelerated deployment of large scale offshore wind in the North Sea required to support realizing the Paris Agreements target in time, with minimum environmental impact and at the lowest cost for society (urgency & cost savings), while maintaining security of supply.
There is a lot to read on the site, however this article on the Daily Mail gives a good summary with lots of drsawings.
This is the sub-headline.
The world’s biggest wind farm? ‘Crazy’ artificial power island in the North Sea that could supply renewable energy to 80 million people in Europe is set to open in 2027.
Crazy comes from this paragraph of the article.
In an interview at the time, Torben Glar Nielsen, Energinet’s technical director, told the Independent: ‘Maybe it sounds a bit crazy and science fiction-like but an island on Dogger Bank could make the wind power of the future a lot cheaper and more effective.’
Another quote sums up the engineering problems as the Dutch sea it.
Addressing the engineering challenge ahead, Mr Van der Hage said: ‘Is it difficult? In the Netherlands, when we see a piece of water we want to build islands or land. We’ve been doing that for centuries. That is not the biggest challenge.’
Having spoken to one of the engineers, who planned and developed the Dutch sea defences after the floods of the 1950s, I’ll agree with that statement.
The Anonymous Widower 