Offshore Drone Challenge Takes Off
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
German energy company EnBW and its project partner, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), have published the conditions of entry and the specific flight tasks for the Offshore Drone Challenge (ODC) for the first time.
This is the first paragraph.
As part of the Offshore Drone Challenge, drone manufacturers and service providers are invited to demonstrate their technologies for transporting maintenance equipment to offshore wind farms.
It’s an interesting idea and would make a good television program.
But I suspect, that the winner will be a Ukrainian company, as recently, they’ve had a lot of practice delivering cargoes with a high level of precision into confined and difficult places.
A Trip To Kyiv Road
This article on the BBC is entitled Ukraine War: Road Outside Russian Embassy Renamed ‘Kyiv Road’.
This is the sub-heading.
Under a picture of a guy holding the new Kyiv Road sign, there are these three paragraphs.
The new address will cover a stretch of Bayswater Road that is only a short distance from the Russian embassy.
It comes after protest group Led by Donkeys turned the same street blue and yellow on Thursday.
The Kyiv Road sign will be installed on Friday afternoon by Westminster City Council.
I just had to go and take a few pictures before the Russians, some vandals or some political sympathisers cover it in paint.
Note.
- The road had been painted blue and yellow by pro-Ukraine protestors a couple of days ago.
- There were two groups of protestors; Ukrainians and Russians opposed to Putin.
- The Ukrainian protestors have Ukrainian flags.
- The anti-Putin protestors have white-blue-white flags, which are the Russian flag, with the red replaced by white.
It was all very light-hearted and the main job of the Police was to gently urge protestors out of the way of traffic.
Lützerath: German Coal Mine Stand Off Amid Ukraine War Energy Crunch
The title of this post, is the same as that on this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
From her tiny wooden treehouse, which sways precariously in the winter wind, a young woman watches an enormous mechanical digger tear into the earth below, its jaws edging ever closer to the village which she’s determined to save.
And these two paragraphs outline the protest.
Lützerath, in western Germany, is on the verge – literally – of being swallowed up by the massive coal mine on its doorstep.
Around 200 climate change activists, who are now all that stand in the way of the diggers expanding the Garzweiler opencast mine, have been warned that if they don’t leave by Tuesday they’ll be forcibly evicted.
But this is not about coal or bituminous coal, as we know it in the UK, this mine will produce lignite or brown coal.
Read both Wikipedia entries linked to the previous sentence and you find some choice phrases.
For bituminous coal.
- Within the coal mining industry, this type of coal is known for releasing the largest amounts of firedamp, a dangerous mixture of gases that can cause underground explosions.
- Extraction of bituminous coal demands the highest safety procedures involving attentive gas monitoring, good ventilation and vigilant site management.
- The leading producer is China, with India and the United States a distant second and third.
For lignite.
- It has a carbon content around 25–35%. and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat content.
- When removed from the ground, it contains a very high amount of moisture which partially explains its low carbon content.
- The combustion of lignite produces less heat for the amount of carbon dioxide and sulfur released than other ranks of coal. As a result, environmental advocates have characterized lignite as the most harmful coal to human health.
- Depending on the source, various toxic heavy metals, including naturally occurring radioactive materials may be present in lignite which are left over in the coal fly ash produced from its combustion, further increasing health risks.
- Lignite’s high moisture content and susceptibility to spontaneous combustion can cause problems in transportation and storage.
I don’t think, that we’ve ever burned lignite in the UK for electricity, as it is just too filthy.
This map shows the mine.
Note.
- The autobahn at the West of the map, is a six-land highway, so gives an idea of the scale.
- The village of Lützerath is towards the bottom of the map in the middle.
- What has been left after the mining, is going to take a lot of restoration.
It almost appears that some of the scenes of devastation, we are seeing in the Ukraine are also happening in Germany due to the frantic search for energy.
A 1960s-Educated Engineer’s Attitude To Coal
I was one of about four-hundred engineers in my year at Liverpool University in the 1960s.
- Quite a few of those engineers were from coal-mining areas and some were children of miners.
- I remember the graduate recruitment fair at the University in 1968, where the representative from the National Coal Board sat there alone, as if he’d got the 1960s version of Covid-19.
- Some went and talked to him, as they felt sorry for him.
- As far as I know, not one of us, went to work for the National Coal Board.
Engineers and other graduates of the 1960s, didn’t feel that coal was the future.
Had Aberfan and the other pit disasters of the era killed coal as a career, amongst my generation of the UK population?
What Should The Germans Do?
It is my view that whatever the Germans do, burning brown coal, should not be on the list. It’s just too polluting.
This article on euronews is entitled Germany And Poland Have A Dirty Big Secret – An Addiction To Brown Coal.
A few years ago, I was in Katowice on Poland and I have never seen such pollution in Europe, since the smogs of the 1950s.
The euronews article says this.
In eastern Germany some members of a little-known group claim they are being ethnically cleansed, not by militia groups, but by the coal mining industry.
Bulldozers have so far destroyed over 130 Sorb villages to make way for the mining of Europe’s dirtiest kind of fossil fuel – brown coal, or lignite as it is also known.
Brown coal mines are open cast and devour vast tracts of land. As well as whole villages farming and wildlife are destroyed.
The Penk family live in the village of Rohne. They feel their whole culture is also being destroyed.
Note that the Sorbs have a Wikipedia entry, which says there are 60,000 Sorbs in Germany.
One thing the Germans are doing is investing in the UK renewable energy industry.
- RWE own or part-own over 7 GW of offshore wind farms in the UK, some of which are under development.
- enBW and BP are developing 3 GW of offshore wind farms in the UK.
- Over twenty offshore wind farms use Siemens Gamesa turbines.
- The NeuConnect interconnector is being built between the Isle of Grain and Wilhelmshaven.
Would it not be better for the physical and mental health of German citizens, if they abandoned their dirty love of brown coal and spent the money in the North Sea?
Ukraine Tender Would Pair Hydroelectric Plants With Large-Scale Battery Storage
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Energy Storage News.
This is a must-read article, as it outlines the damage that Russia is doing to Ukraine’s energy generation.
It also reports how the World Bank is trying to help.
University Of Manchester And National Grid Team Up To Develop SF6-Free Retrofill Solution For Electricity Network
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.
This is the introductory paragraph.
National Grid and the University of Manchester are to collaborate on a four-year project to develop a full-scale demonstrator at the Deeside Centre for Innovation, designed to test at scale how the UK can retrofill sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) across its network of high-voltage equipment.
Note.
- Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) is a gas commonly used in the power industry to provide electrical insulation and arc interruption.
- Eighty percent of sulphur hexafluoride is used in the electricity industry.
- According to Wikipedia, sulphur hexafluoride has several important applications, including a medical one in eye surgery.
- But sulphur hexafluoride is a is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential that is 25,200 times greater than CO2.
It certainly looks to be a good idea to see if the sulphur hexafluoride can be eliminated from electrical equipment and other uses, that may release the gas into the atmosphere.
These paragraphs from the press release outline the project.
The £1.9m project will see experts at Manchester help determine how National Grid can develop a retrofill solution to replace SF6 with an environmentally friendlier alternative without having to replace or otherwise modify the existing equipment.
This solution – to be demonstrated at National Grid’s test facility the Deeside Centre for Innovation – will mean National Grid can avoid the environmental impact and cost of replacing equipment otherwise fit for many more years’ service.
It is not the first time National Grid and the University of Manchester have teamed up on a project exploring SF6 alternatives – a previous initiative which concluded in 2020 is now up for an IET Engineering & Technology magazine innovation award for ‘Best Innovation in Net Zero and Sustainability’.
The press release also says this about the Deeside Centre for Innovation.
National Grid’s Deeside Centre for Innovation in North Wales is the first of its kind in Europe, where electricity network assets can be tested under real life conditions, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It certainly seems that National Grid and Manchester University are on top of the problem and have the resources to achieve success in the project.
The Russian Attack On Ukraine
You may wonder what this has got to do with improving transformers and switchgear in Manchester and Wales.
Recently, the Russians have been targeting the Ukrainian electricity network. Are Ukrainian transformers and switchgear insulated with sulphur hexafluoride and if they are how of this potent global warming gas has been released into the atmosphere?
An Expedition To Muswell Hill To Get Some Lovely Liver
After my plea in Need To Regularly Eat A Large Plate Of Calves’ Liver, I got a recommendation to try The Cilicia at Muswell Hill.
It was delicious and just what my body wanted. The liver had been cooked in sage butter with tomatoes, mushrooms and potatoes.
I shall return!
The only problem is that Dalston and Muswell Hill is not the easiest journey to make by public transport.
My route was as follows.
- I took by taking a 141 bus from close to my house to Manor House station.
- I then got a Piccadilly Line train to Turnpike Lane station.
- From there it was a 144 bus to Muswell Hill Broadway.
It took about 45 minutes.
But it might be quicker to take a 102 bus from Bounds Green station.
Or go to the Angel Islington and get a 43 bus from there to Muswell Hill Broadway.
But my route could all have been so different.
This map shows the Muswell Hill branch which was closed by British Rail and has since been mainly built over.
The Muswell Hill branch would have been part of the comprehensive Northern Heights Plan.
- The Northern Line would have been extended from Edgware to Bushey Heath.
- The Mill Hill East branch would have been extended to Edgware.
- If you look at the maps in Wikipedia, the Northern Line would be very different through London.
- The Muswell Hill branch would have given better access to the magnificent Alexandra Palace.
But Austerity after World War II meant the extension never happened.
I can see a case could be made for some parts of the Northern Heights plan, but it is too late now, as viaducts have been demolished and routes have been built over.
My feeling is that if there was a need for the Northern Heights plan in the 1930s, then as London has expanded, that need will need to be fulfilled in the future.
So when Austerity hits as it did after World War II and as it is happening now due to Covid-19 and Vlad’s war in Ukraine, we should make sure we don’t compromise our plans for the future.
I believe that with a small amount of safeguarding in the 1960s, the Northern Line would now have a useful branch to Alexandra Palace and Muswell Hill.
How Did The Ukrainians Attack The Crimea Bridge?
No-one seems to know what happened on the Crimea Bridge, which appeared to catch fire.
- Was it the Ukranians?
- Was it some of Putin’s enemies in Russia?
- Was it an accident?
- Did a battery in an electric car explode?
- Was it a suicide bomber?
- Was it a drone strike?
- Was it a drunken lorry-driver, who hit something?
We just get more and more questions.
But here’s two questions, that can be answered.
Was the train going from Russia? For my theory to be feasible, it must have been going from Russia into Crimea.
Did more than one part of the train catch fire? Someone said it did.
The Track Layout
I have been looking at the track layout over the bridge on OpenRailwayMap, which shows everything. It appears a couple of kilometres. to the South (Russian) side of the bridge there is a set of sidings and/or freight loops.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the sidings in relation to the bridge.
Note.
- The main line is shown in orange.
- The bridge is in the North-West corner of the map.
- The sidings are shown in black alongside the main line in the South-East corner of the map.
This second map shows the loops and sidings in more detail.
Note.
- Trains in Russia run on the right track, whereas the UK runs on the left.
- There are actually two sets of loops; one has extra sidings and the other doesn’t.
- Both loops can be accessed from both tracks and directions.
Unfortunately, the Google Map of the area shows the construction phase.
Did the freight train stop overnight in these sidings and proceed at first light? After all it might be going a long way and drivers needed time for sleep, some food, vodka and a few ciggies.
Whilst it was stopped did Ukrainian saboteurs sneak in and fix bombs with timers to the train? After all kids sneak into our sidings at night and graffiti the trains.
The timers could even have been fitted with GPS, so they went off on the most vulnerable part of the bridge.
This could explain the timing and how the train appeared to have been hit more than once!
For a raid, it would be much easier than say what the Norwegians did in WW2 to blow up the heavy water plant at Telemark, where they didn’t lose a man.
A Picture Of The Train Fire
This picture shows the train fire.
Note.
- It appears that the carriageway nearest to the camera has collapsed.
- If we assume, the break point is now lying on the seabed, it points to the pier with the light-coloured rectangle on top being the failure point of the road bridge.
- According to OpenRailwayMap, who handily show carriageway directions, that is the carriageway to Crimea.
- The rail bridge is double-track and appears to be reasonably intact.
- The train also appears to be intact, except for some fire damage.
- If the train was going to Crimea, it would be on the track nearest to the camera.
I do think, that if it was explosions on the train that caused the bridge collapse, there would be more damage on the other carriageway and on the railway.
The Collapse Of The Crimea-Bound Carriageway
This reminds me very much of the collapse of the Cleddau Bridge in Wales, during construction in 1970.
Wikipedia says this about that collapse.
Errors in the box girder design caused the collapse during construction in 1970. The bridge became operational during 1975.
If I remember correctly, during construction, the bridge was effectively overloaded. I can certainly remember lots of discussion about the failure in the office, where I worked in ICI at Runcorn.
I am not suggesting, that there were errors in the Russian calculations, but that something happened to take the bridge outside of its safety limits.
Suppose, there was a large explosion near the pier, where the break occurred, could it have caused the bolts holding the sections of the bridge to shear and allow the bridge to fall, as the pictures show.
It is certainly looking that a major truck bomb, is the cause.
CCTV pictures have been shown, that purport to see a truck exploding.
Was It A Suicide Attack?
I don’t think that the type of traditional suicide attacks, as practiced by the Islamic State and others would be carried out by either Ukraine or Russia. Although Chechens did use suicide attacks in their war against Russia.
But I do think it would be possible for a driver to stop a truck, put out warning triangles or whatever is the law in Russia and then be picked up by a friendly driver.
Alternatively, they could wait until the truck exploded and then make a getaway under cover of the fire. They could even jump into the water and be picked up by a boat.
If the Russians were behind it, they would have the ability to use a hired driver from perhaps a local agency.
Suppose, a hired driver were to be told to take a truck load of watermelons to Sebastopol and bring the truck back. A quick look would confirm the watermelons, but I doubt, the driver would find the bomb underneath.
If the driver was killed would the Russians mind.
The Ukrainians might not either, but they’d have the problem of getting the truck deep into Russian territory, without being detected.
The Truck On The Bridge According To The BBC
This article on the BBC is entitled Crimean Bridge: Who – Or What – Caused The Explosion?.
The article says this about the truck.
Security camera footage released on social media showed a truck – allegedly from the Russian city of Krasnodar, an hour’s drive from the crossing – moving west across the bridge at the time of the explosion.
Russian officials named a 25-year old Krasnodar man, Samir Yusubov, as the owner of the truck, and said an older relative, Makhir Yusubov, was the driver.
But close examination of the footage seems to show that the truck had nothing to do with the explosion.
Note.
- If the truck was going West it was going from Russia to Crimea, this meant it was on the carriageway furthest from the railway.
- The truck was on the carriageway that collapsed.
Does that rule out a truck bomb?
The View Of A British Army Explosives Expert
The BBC article also says this.
“I’ve seen plenty of large vehicle-borne IEDs [improvised explosive devices] in my time,” a former British army explosives expert told me. “This does not look like one.”
A more plausible explanation, he said, is a massive explosion below the bridge – probably delivered using some kind of clandestine maritime drone.
“Bridges are generally designed to resist downwards loads on the deck and a certain amount of side loading from the wind,” he said. “They are not generally engineered to resist upward loads. I think this fact was exploited in the Ukrainian attack.”
That sounds feasible to me, but the BBC article also has this paragraph.
If this is how Ukraine managed to attack the Kerch Bridge, hundreds of miles from Ukrainian-controlled territory, then it’s one of Kyiv’s most ambitious operations so far.
If that is true, it certainly is an ambitious operation, that ranks alongside the St Nazaire Raid in World War II.
A Structural Engineer’s Thoughts
This article on New Civil Engineer is entitled How The Crimean Bridge Explosion Caused Multiple Spans To Collapse.
It is the thoughts of Andrew Barr at the University of Sheffield and it well worth a read.
Conclusion
We’re still a long way from the truth.
‘A Gift For Putin’: Czech E-shop Sells Tanks And Grenades To Support Ukrainian Army
The title of this post, is the same as that of this story on expats_cz.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The Czech Republic has been among the most active countries in supporting the Ukrainian military with donations and sales of weapons and ammunition, including shipments of Soviet-era tanks, multiple rocket launchers, howitzers, infantry fighting vehicles, and anti-aircraft weapons.
I hope the gift, will calm Vlad the Mad.
Should The World Call A Halt To Large Nuclear Power Stations?
When I left Liverpool University in the 1960s with an engineering degree, my fellow graduates and myself felt that nuclear power would be a sensible way to provide the electricity we need. Aberfan and other disasters had ruined coal’s reputation and not one of my colleagues joined the National Coal Board.
Over the intervening years, nuclear power has suffered a greater proportion of adverse events compared to other forms of electricity generation.
Large nuclear has also suffered some of the largest time and cost overruns of any energy projects.
My optimism for nuclear power has declined, although I do hope and feel, that small modular factory-built reactors, like those proposed by Rolls-Royce and others, might prove to be as reliable and economic as gas-fired, hydro-electric and tidal power stations, or solar and wind farms.
The smaller size of an SMR could be advantageous in itself.
- Smaller factory-built power stations are more likely to be built on time and budget.
- The amount pf nuclear material involved is only about twenty percent of that of a large nuclear station.
- A smaller site would be easier to protect from terrorists and Putinistas.
- Would the risk of a serious accident be reduced?
- SMRs would be less of a blot on the landscape.
- SMRs would not need such a high-capacity grid connection.
- An SMR integrated with a high temperature electrolyser could be the easiest way to generate hydrogen for a large customer like a steelworks.
Overall, I believe an SMR would be involve less risk and disruption.
Zaporizhzhya
Zaporizhzhya is probably the last straw for large nuclear, although the incident isorchestrated by an evil dictator, who is much worse, than any of James Bond’s cruel adversities.
I doubt Putin would get the same leverage, if Zaporizhzhya were a gas-fired or hydroelectric power station.
Conclusion
I feel, the world must seriously question building any more large nuclear power stations.
The Anonymous Widower 