Are current renewable energy strategies worth it?

[Anders Lindman]

"Ray Kurzweil: Solar Will Power the World in 16 Years

Currently, solar power supplies less than 1% of the world's energy needs, which has led many to disregard its future significance. Where they're wrong is that they fail to understand the exponential nature of technology, says eminent inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil." -- http://bigthink.com/think-tank/ray-kurzweil-solar-will-power-the-world-in-16-years

Kurzweil has also talked about other energy sources than solar. It will not only be solar energy, he said (I don't have the link).

 

[Mikemcc]

Certainly aluminum refineries already do.
That's one reason I'm kind of excited about the aluminum/air batteries. Very high energy density and sourcing can be from off peak power and remote plus straight forward recycle into the aluminum stream.
It has the elements of a strong component of sustainable industrial.

Aluminium smelters also get a preferential rate on the electricity used as they provide large scale power factor correction for the grid since they have a large capacitive load. Most workplaces have an inductive load due to the motors used for pumps, machine drives, fans and aircon units.

 

[aleCcowaN]

...they provide large scale power factor correction for the grid since they have a large capacitive load...

Thanks for that. I didn't know that fact.

 

[macdoc]

Utah Utility Cuts Deal For 20 Years Of Solar Power Because It’s The Cheapest Option
BY JEFF SPROSS JUNE 20, 2014 AT 12:57 PM UPDATED: JUNE 20, 2014 AT 2:08 PM

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/06/20/3451429/utah-solar-purpa/

 

[macdoc]

The British government has approved what could become the world’s largest offshore wind farm, a 1,200-megawatt endeavor that is slated to begin producing energy by 2019.

On Tuesday, the U.K.’s Department for Energy & Climate Change, a government body that’s responsible for getting the U.K. to meet a goal of getting at least 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, gave the OK to ScottishPower Renewables and Swedish utility Vattenfall to build their East Anglia One offshore wind farm.

Right now, the plan is to build up to 240 offshore wind turbines which together will generate 1,200 megawatts of power — making this project larger than the 630 megawatt London Array offshore wind farm, currently the largest offshore farm in the world.

The companies estimate that the farm will have the potential to power 820,000 households.
“East Anglia and the rest of the U.K. have a lot to gain from this development,” DECC Secretary Ed Davey said. “The project has the potential to inject millions of [British pounds] into the local and national economies and support thousands of green jobs.”

According to the DECC, the wind farm, which will be located about 26 miles from England’s Suffolk Coast, is projected to create nearly 2,900 jobs and provide a $873 million boost to the U.K. economy.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/06/18/3450230/uk-worlds-largest-offshore-wind-farm/

 

[jimbob]

Aluminium smelters also get a preferential rate on the electricity used as they provide large scale power factor correction for the grid since they have a large capacitive load. Most workplaces have an inductive load due to the motors used for pumps, machine drives, fans and aircon units.

I like the idea of using plug-in hybrids as a possible load-smoothing mechanism, discharging instead of charging at times of peak load. I'd guess that they would also be a mainly capacitive load.

 

[aleCcowaN]

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/06/18/3450230/uk-worlds-largest-offshore-wind-farm/

Something suspicious. I couldn't find the expected yearly generation. Even Vattenfall's website had nothing. Finally, their website (http://www.eastangliawind.com) has an estimation with a capacity factor of 0.3, a value taken from other Vattenfall's wind farms.

On the other hand, as 4700 kwh is the average annual UK household electricity consumption, the 820,000 figure give us 3.85 Twh (the whole UK consumes 350), which implies a capacity factor of 0.37, what is OK, or even an itsy-bitsy low, if it includes unrestricted use of all the electricity generated on Sundays at 5.00 a.m. So, what's their plan?

 

[macdoc]

japan plays a long game

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...-near-future-reality/articleshow/37147810.cms

 

[macdoc]

japan plays a long game

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...-near-future-reality/articleshow/37147810.cms

 

[Trakar]

japan plays a long game

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...-near-future-reality/articleshow/37147810.cms

Probably a more workable solution in Japan than in most industrialized nations where range per tankful is a very important characteristic. H2 possesses such low energy density per volume and requires bulky cryo-tanks that need to be periodically vented, that its primary problems have never really been about production or the choice of technology used to extract transportation energy out of it. One of the main issues is having a large tank that eats up space and adds a lot of mass while only providing a very limited range before requiring refueling.

 

[macdoc]

But there are hydrogen porous materials that do not need space or cryogenics.

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) plan to use nanoparticles to increase the onboard storage capacity of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Using $1.2 million from the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) over three years, LLNL scientist Brandon Wood said that through theory and modeling, his team will tackle the existing kinetic limitations when it comes to making the most efficient nanoparticles for onboard hydrogen storage.

SEE ALSO: GM, Honda to Develop Next-Gen Fuel Cells Together

The project begins in July and involves additional participation from the University of Michigan and Georgia Tech, as well as experimental support from Sandia National Laboratories.

Wood and colleague Tae Wook Heo will use multiscale modeling to investigate the kinetics of a high-capacity hydrogen-storage candidate based on nanoparticles of magnesium borohydride for light-duty vehicles. The modeling framework, originally developed by Heo and Wood, was created using Laboratory Directed Research and Development funds.

“This approach will substantially accelerate the development of borohydride-based hydrogen storage materials by providing the necessary understanding of the underlying kinetic limitations and how to overcome them,” Wood said. “It will lay the foundation for meeting ultimate light-duty vehicles.”

http://dailyfusion.net/2014/06/magnesium-borohydride-h-storage-29711/

and

Solid storage in containers that hold an unlimited amount of hydrogen as required (from a few tens to hundreds of kilogrammes or several tonnes) by multiplying them..

After creating small 4 kg hydrogen storage prototypes to validate its technology in 2011, McPhy will be able to provide from late 2012:

HES adiabatic storage of 24 kg (830 kWh),
HDS non-adiabatic storage of 100 kg of hydrogen (3.3 MWh),
For large hydrogen quantities (hundreds of kg or tons) we design engineered solutions.
Then from early 2013, we will market MGH storage for 300 kg of hydrogen (10 MWh).

http://www.mcphy.com/en/products/solid-hydrogen-storage/

The advantage of hydrogen is that it can work in ICE engines with minor refits.

 

[aleCcowaN]

http://www.mcphy.com/en/products/solid-hydrogen-storage/

The advantage of hydrogen is that it can work in ICE engines with minor refits.

But how much does the container/storage unit weigh? I could confirm 24 kg of hydrogen have a bit above 830 kwh of heat of combustions, but the storage unit?

 

[jimbob]

http://www.smartgridelectronics.net/2014/06/stationary-fuel-cells-will-experience-continued-strong-growth/

Although some sectors of the fuel cell industry, such as portable fuel cells, continue to struggle, stationary fuel cells have seen 2 years of strong growth, with an ongoing boom in prime power and residential combined heat and power (resCHP) fuel cell system shipments. According to a new white paper from Navigant Research, while the broader fuel cell industry continues to struggle, the stationary sector will continue to expand rapidly in the coming years. The white paper, which details ten key trends for the fuel cell market in 2013, is available for free download on Navigant Research’s website.

 

[Trakar]

But there are hydrogen porous materials that do not need space or cryogenics.

http://dailyfusion.net/2014/06/magnesium-borohydride-h-storage-29711/

and

http://www.mcphy.com/en/products/solid-hydrogen-storage/

The advantage of hydrogen is that it can work in ICE engines with minor refits.

Much like fusion, they have been working on these issues with the same types of "solutions" for the better part of fifty years, and we are still ~20 years away from commercial deployment. It would be a nice addition to the arsenal I just don't count on it and will wait until there is a significant break-through before I give H2 a shot at playing a widespread transportation role.

 

[Trakar]

http://www.smartgridelectronics.net/2014/06/stationary-fuel-cells-will-experience-continued-strong-growth/

And they don't depend upon H2, the CO2 emissions (from non H2, Methane/NG fuel cells) would be relatively easy to capture even if the technology was widely adopted. If it was used widely enough we could lay CO2 emission pipes alongside the NG pipes to carry the CO2 exhausts back to a central location for collection, compression and storage until it could be transported to sequestration facilities. Clean coal is nearly impossible to do while extracting significant energy from the combustion/energy production process. Clean NG particularly if we are talking about large stationary fuel cells to process the fuel to electricity, are a different matter, waste emissions are much easier to capture. There are still a lot of problems with sequestration, but natural gas fuel cells remove a lot of the capture problems.

 

[macdoc]

Trakar

Much like fusion, they have been working on these issues with the same types of "solutions" for the better part of fifty years, and we are still ~20 years away from commercial deployment.

How hard was it to get fuel circa 1890 for horseless carriages?

Hydrogen safety – a matter of design
JUNE 6, 2014 BY THEENERGYLOFT LEAVE A COMMENT
For anyone who visited Hall 27 at Hannover Messe this year it was clear that hydrogen is becoming widely accepted as a viable, sustainable energy carrier. Over 150 exhibitors from 25 countries displayed hydrogen related products 8 ranging from automotive fuel cell power applications, residential generation (micro-CHP), distributed power generation to a wide array of grid scale ‘power-to-gas’ energy storage solutions.

http://theenergyloft.wordpress.com/2014/06/06/hydrogen-safety-a-matter-of-design/

2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell: Hydrogen-Powered Motoring for $499 a Month

Fuel's included too. (Well, until the lease is up.)

http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2015-hyundai-tucson-fuel-cell-photos-and-info-news

There are several technologies that are converging.

Published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (January, 2014), the research found that, in principle, the energy efficiency of the proton flow battery could be as high as that of a lithium ion battery, while storing more energy per unit mass and volume.Read more at: http://www.electricvehiclesresearch...ances-hydrogen-power-00006293.asp?sessionid=1

And here is a sun to wheel vehicle under testing in the field for specific purpose.

Forget the old quip that hydrogen-powered vehicles are five years in the future—and always will be. They’re almost here.

This June, a test fleet of 10 lightweight vehicles running on hydrogen will start delivering mail for La Poste, the French postal service, to the towns of Audincourt and Lons-le-Saulnier, both in eastern France near the Swiss border.

http://theinstitute.ieee.org/techno...pic/hydrogenpowered-vehicles-start-delivering

 

[aleCcowaN]

http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2015-hyundai-tucson-fuel-cell-photos-and-info-news

The Tucson is giving more than 100 km with one kilogram of Hydrogen (giving the same heat of combustion in one and a fifth gallons of gasoline). That's pretty good.

One kilogram of hydrogen requires 52 kwh of electricity -75% efficiency, only electrolytic generation; compression not included-, and that gives a reference.

 

[macdoc]

I think the biggest barrier for hydrogen is Hindenburg fears. Tank technology is covered in some of those grants.
One of the reasons a controlled release hydride storage is appealing.

There is a LPG network already in place and would seem that hydrogen is a fairly easy sub in.

What's needed is a $5k solar to hydrogen kit for households and a $20k solar/wind kit for farms and remote areas.

It really all comes down to storing electricity in some useable form.....especially renewable electricity which is often erratic.

This looks promising from Toyota..

The Toyota FCV fuel cell vehicle: Has the code for a hydrogen car been cracked?

By Eric Mack

January 16, 2014


If the hype is to be believed this time around (and you'd be forgiven for being skeptical about the arrival of this long-promised but never really delivered technology), then the stars could be aligning for hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars to take some modest steps toward reality.

First off, Toyota seems like the right company to move this vehicle forward. It's had the most luck of anyone pushing forward lower-emissions vehicles like its Prius, particularly in the hard-to-crack fuel-guzzling North American market.

As Gizmag has reported, the FCV would use Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive from the Prius, with a hydrogen fuel cell replacing the gas engine. Toyota claims the vehicle will have a range of 300 miles (483 km) and could be refueled in as little as three minutes, rivaling Tesla's plan to swap out entire electric vehicle batteries in just 90 seconds.

In a press conference at CES 2014, Bob Carter, a senior vice president for Toyota's automotive operations in the US, spent a significant amount of time talking not just about the FCV itself, but also about the planned 2015 rollout beginning in California. He also touched upon what is perhaps the biggest stumbling block to the whole thing – the needed fueling station infrastructure.

“The issue of infrastructure is not so much about how many, but rather, location, location, location,” said Carter. “If every vehicle in California ran on hydrogen – we could meet refueling logistics with only 15 percent of the nearly 10,000 gasoline stations currently operating in the state.”

And it does not stop them still being ICE fuel suppliers.
So not a long way into the future - somewhat depends on gov willingness to tax ICE vehicles out of play as Copenhagen is doing ( 180% tax at purchase on a new ICE vehicle).

Here is the Gizmag link
http://www.gizmag.com/toyota-fuel-cell-car-ces/30343/

snip

he announcement means that FCVs will be available to consumers less than 20 years after Toyota developed its first Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) in 1996, as part of its research into vehicles powered by alternative energy. The company sold its first Prius in Japan the following year and to-date estimates a reduction in CO2 emissions of 34 million tons (30.8 million tonnes) as a result of subsequent sales.

The FCV will use the Hybrid Synergy Drive technology that is used in the Prius, with a hydrogen fuel cell in place of the gas engine. Toyota anticipates that its FCVs will have a range of 300 miles (483 km) and that refueling will take as little as three minutes.

so yes 20 years out.....starting in 1996

 

[aleCcowaN]

Here is the Gizmag link
http://www.gizmag.com/toyota-fuel-cell-car-ces/30343/

I'd never buy it, just based on the looks of its ford-edsel-meets-transformers front-end.

 

[macdoc]

Form before function eh??...