An Appropriate Story For Today
On Page 58, The Times has an article entitled Frictionless Flywheels Hold Balance Of Power.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Flywheels will be used to balance supply and demand on Britain’s electricity grid in a £3.5million project that could help the country to cope with more wind and solar power.
Sophisticated flywheels that can store electricity for long periods of time are to be installed next to the University of Sheffield’s battery storage facility at Willenhall near Wolverhampton, in the first project of its kind in the UK.
By using batteries and flywheels together, this makes a responsive battery that can fill in demand and overcome the degradation problems of lithium-ion batteries.
It looks a promising way of creating an affordable and reliable energy storage system.
Who needs coal? Trummkopf obviously does to buy votes!
In the United States, with its massive mountain ranges, it would be better to create construction jobs by creating hydro-based energy storage systems, as we did in the 1970s at Dinorwig and the Americans, themselves did at Bath County Pumped Storage Station a few years later.
To gauge the size of these plants, Bath County has about the same generating capacity as the UK’s largest power station at Drax, with Dinorwig being about 55% of the size.
Bath County and Dinorwig are big bastards, but their main feature, is the ability to pump water to store the energy.
Energy is like money, the best thing to do with excess is to put it in a secure storage facility.
Amber Rudd Puts Onshore Wind Out Of Its Misery
I don’t like onshore wind farms so I was pleased to see this announcement by Amber Rudd on the BBC, which is titled Earlier end to subsidies for new UK onshore wind farms.
Onshore wind blights the countryside and you have to use a lot of subsidy to make a development viable.
But, I mainly don’t like the concept of wind power, because it is too mechanical, as opposed to solar, where you put up a panel and its control system and you get electricity.
Solar’s other big advantage is just emerging and that is the ability to link it to an intelligent battery such as the Tesla Powerwall to provide an independent power system for a building or something remote that needs good clean energy.
In a few years time, I predict that all new houses will have solar panels on the roof and the next generation of storage battery in the garage. Coupled with increases in insulation quality, I also think, we’ll see the likes of Barratt advertising houses with no external gas and only a stand-by electricity connection, for use on the dullest days.
The big energy companies won’t like it! But surely this is the sign of a good idea?
My energy usage isn’t high, but when the solar/battery powerplant drops in price sufficiently, I’ll fit one!
Altaeros
At a brief glance, the idea of a flying wind turbine, is akin to putting cows and pigs in the sky.
But enter a company called Altaeros Energies.
Look at their press release and video here.
It may seem wacky and totally off the wall, but the designers could have something.
When I did my electrical engineering degree in the 1960s, power was generated by either water from dams or steam generated by burning coal or oil or from nuclear.
There was no natural gas in the UK, and using it to generate electricity wasn’t in anybody’s book of ideas.
Now a good proportion of our electricity is generated directly from gas.
So don’t make any predictions about how we will generate electricity in ten or twenty years time.
The only certainty, is that a good proportion of our electricity will come from an unexpected source, that is totally discounted or even unheard of at the present time.
Are Wind Turbines Not What They’re Cracked Up To Be?
The news this morning that RWE Innogy are not going ahead with the Atlantic Array of 240 wind turbines is to some surprising.
The developers cite engineering difficulties and that it is not the right time for the project, although others are saying that there are financial problems with the project.
If we are going to have wind turbines, which I’ll admit, I think are an eyesore in the British landscape, then offshore is probably the best place for them.
I think that this array might well be built at some time, but only after new and better technology has arrived.
It would be wrong to increase the subsidy for the project to get it built.
If subsidies go anywhere they should go into energy research.
1. We should try to find better ways of getting the gas out that is there, that would otherwise use crude fracking techniques.
2. Our buildings are notoriously badly insulated and research should be directed to find better ways of cutting energy use.
3. Research could also be directed towards better ways of generating heat and power, to widen some of the techniques used at places like the Bunhill Energy Centre.
Just using subsidies to put up wind turbines, is like giving an alcoholic or drug addict, money to fund their habit. It might give some a good feeling, but it does nothing for the overall good of society.
Stories About Wind Power
I don’t like large onshore wind turbines, as I believe they destroy wonderful views and the economics are not very sound.
On the other hand, when they are offshore, they are less intrusive and the economics might be better. But even so the arrays have to be properly designed and sited.
The real place for wind turbines is to provide distributed power to difficult places, where a small amount of electricity is required and running a cable would be expensive.
I’ve not been happy on the effect of turbines on birds ever since, I read several articles about how in the United States, wind farms kill eagles and other large birds. Yesterday The Times published a similar article about their effect on bats.
I’m always sceptical about the reasons for publishing these articles, as I’m pretty certain, that they are very much the sort of story that pleases Middle England, who feel the turbines will make their house drop in value.
The Times also published a story about a wind turbine on the Welsh Assembly, which is also reported on the BBC. This is the first paragraph.
A wind turbine that cost the Welsh government £48,000 to buy has been generating an average of just £5 worth of electricity per month.
It all goes to show that wind turbines may not be as economic, as their proponents say they will be.
One thing I’d like to see is an open database on the Internet of all turbines, with their detailed cost, subsidy and revenue, so anybody who wanted to, could check the efficiency and economics of any turbine.
Only if that information wee to be freely available, would we be able to know if they were money well spent.
And People Worry About HS2 And Other Developments!
I do sometimes worry about the grip some people have on sense. Look at this article, about the damage done by the slag heap from a coal mine to the railways near Doncaster.
We should have got rid of our coal mines just after we found we had North Sea Gas and Oil, and probably developed nuclear power for most of or electricity. Instead we struggled on with the world’s most polluting fuel for many years.
Now the Nimbys don’t want any developments, be they fracking, nuclear power, wind power or even new railways like HS2. I suspect, if you had a vote on new motorways it would pass, provided they didn’t build one near to the voters.
But how many people will call this trouble with the trains near Doncaster, an environmental disaster caused by not getting rid of coal years ago? I will!
Are Wind Farms A Good Idea?
A wind turbine in Devon has collapsed in high winds according to this article on the BBC.
I suspect engineers and investigators will find the cause of the collapse, but it illustrates one of the problems with turbines.
Failures like these stiffen the resolve of people, who don’t want them nearby, making the costs of the installation even more uneconomic.
If we need to develop renewable power sources, there are better systems available, than putting multiple blots on the landscape.
Is This A Serious Or Crazy Idea?
There has been a story today about large numbers of very large wind turbines being built in the Irish midlands and the power generated being exported to the UK. Ireland would get quite a few jobs.
I think it could be one of those schemes, that may be al right in theory and budget, but doesn’t perform as it should, when it is built. In the article on the BBC web site, there are these closing paragraphs.
Richard Tol, professor of economics at University of Sussex, said he felt that the whole scheme was “crazy” and would not work in the long term .
“From an Irish perspective this is not selling the family silver; this is giving it away. There is no money staying in Ireland that I can see.
“But from the British perspective it is a good deal,” he said.
It would appear it’s being very much imposed on the Irish people and the Irish are not stupid.
So I would be very surprised if the scheme is ever fully implemented. But then I don’t like blots on the landscape, whether I can see them or not!
If we are going to have large wind farms, in my view the best place for them is offshore.
A Rant From France
I received this comment last week and feel it should be posted.
Hello Anonymous,
I came across your blog whilst doing my daily research regarding wind farms.
I live in rural France and now have six x 140 metre high wind turbines…….one of which is under 600 metres from my home.
The value of my property has dropped by around 40%? Exactly how this percentage is arrived at I do not know. I can say the estate agent I asked to come and see my property was “shocked”! by the size of the turbines and the close proximity of them to my home.
He was also amazed that I was not getting any money for having them so close to my property.
He declared that I had a lovely home, beautiful garden and extremely attractive gite, he then said what a pity about the windfarm…….getting people to come to the house would be the biggest hurdle as the turbines loomed from every angle over my property,enough to put most people off before they even got here. He felt ( and I can only agree) that given a choice most people would not choose my property over a property without a wind farm so close. Now how bloody obvious is this!!!? For goodness sake…….so here I am with a blighted home, with a mortgage, with noise issues. I am just one of many in this situation.Our neighbours host the turbines on their land and receive around 25,000 Euros a year plus, the village 2.5 kilometres from where I live also receives around the same amount. I have received absolutely nothing apart from a complete change of circumstances as to how I now live my life. There are of course worse things in life then having a wind farm next door but it is the way “we” are simply overlooked and referred to as selfish! that I cannot understand.People need to “wise up” as to just how crushing it can be to have turbines so close to them.I am forever reading about people not understanding why turbines can be so unpopular……it is only the people who have to live next to them who really know why.Visiting a wind farm is not anything like living with one and yet again and again groups of people are taken on a visit for a couple of hours so they can make an “informed” decision about having a wind farm near them………please everybody wake up! bit of a rant I suppose.?
All I can do is sympathise!
My views on wind farms are detailed here.
The Anonymous Widower 