Putting sun and wind in a bottle
September 10, 2009
(8 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
Loading ...One of the main criticisms against renewable energy sources is that they cannot be stored. The intermittence of wind, wave or solar energy creates a lot of trouble to network operators and raises doubts when it comes to security of supply. Some people consider them not to be economic because renewable sources need additional conventional power plants for the days that wind does not blow or the sky is cloudy. They claim that you can store oil, coal, gas or uranium and have them handy for the moment you need them but you cannot put sun or wind in a bottle. Or maybe you can?
The Commission has been financing research in two interesting projects that do precisely this. The first one is in the beautiful island of Hierro, the smallest in the Canary archipelago. It has been declared Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO and its island government has taken the brave decision of producing 100% of their energy needs from renewable sources. The main element in reaching this goal is a wind-hydro-energy system that does store renewable energy. How does it work? Five large wind turbines produce electricity that is sent to the network for local consumption. When there is an excess of production (for instance, at night) the electricity is used to desalinize sea-water and to pump that water up to an artificial lake 700 m above the sea level. When the wind does not blow or there is an increase electricity demand, the water is piped down at high pressure and water-turbines generate electricity from it. When the wind blows again, the cycle re-starts with water being pumped up.
This system is expected to be in operation next year and the experience of Hierro is likely to be exported to other islands or other territories of the EU. Currently, the island of Hierro is producing its electricity from a 10 MW fuel-oil power station. When the new system comes into service, 18.700 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be avoided.
The second project aims at storing solar energy and is located near the sunny city of Seville in the South of Spain. In this case, the heat of the sun is concentrated with large mirrors to the top of a 50m high concrete tower, where temperatures are as high as in any thermal power station. Heat makes the water boil, and high temperature steam moves a normal generator. The real revolution of the system is that the sun’s rays are also used to heat salts to the point that they melt and reach very high temperatures. When the sun sets or the clouds cover the sun, these hot salts are the ones that produce the steam that generates the electricity. When the sun rises the process starts over and the salts again store the energy of the sun.
Those are simply two examples. Other scientists consider that hydrogen and fuel-cells could be another good way of storing renewable energy, while some specialists think that electric cars connected to smart grids may be the solution of the future. In any case, I think it is not acceptable to say that we’d better use fossil fuels instead of renewable energies because wind and sun cannot be stored. As a matter of fact, fossil fuels are nothing but stored solar energy, and we’d better to have something else stored in stock, for the moment they run out.
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September 11th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Yes, some interesting storage solutions you mention
— The first one is used already in practice,
with Denmark windpower stored in off-peak hours in Swedish and Norwegian dams
http://ceolas.net/#ge3x
- Also, the hydrogen storage you mention is being tried out in Uckermark, Germany.
It utilizes wind power to produce hydrogen which in turn is mixed with biogas and used in local power stations. The problem with that and some other kinds of storage solution you mention is the great loss of energy in the conversion chain from wind (or solar etc) generation to eventual power delivery.
– The other way of dealing with renewable energy with storage difficulties is simply to expand grids.
http://ceolas.net/#ge2x
Basically, that someone somewhere in large continental grids wants to use the energy delivered.
Hence the interest in supergrids, smart grids, with improved control and delivery systems that such distribution requires.
However, energy sources running out, as you mention, is in my view not a particular worry:
The price rise entailed means renewable energy becoming more viable
(and is one reason I disagree with the energy efficiency craze sweeping the world,
as expressed by your desire to ban light bulbs etc).
http://ceolas.net/#cc2x
It should also not be forgotten that nuclear energy is not only very long lasting and without emissions in use,
it is potentially renewable via breeder reactors and perhaps by way of fusion technology.
September 13th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Good grief.
Look, we all know that there are storage mechansims. We could electrolyse water and store the hydrogen for example.
But you’ve left out the important part. What’s the cost?
Without knowing the cost of these things it is impossible to know wherther they are sensible things to be doing. For example, those 18,700 tonnes of CO2 saved. At the Stern Review’s $80 per tonne CO2-e that’s $1.5 million in environmetal damage prevented (assuming that the project is zero carbon which of course it isn’t. Wind and hydro are low carbon, about the same as nuclear, not no carbon.)
Excellent, great. Now, is it costing us more than $1.5 million to prevent those emissions? You don’t say but I bet it does. Thus this project is simply making us all poorer.
If you don’t measure the benefits against the costs then you’ll continue to make these stupid mistakes.
September 14th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
The sooner the EU is scrapped the better. You can not oppress millions of people. You have NO support in the UK, apart from the ignorant or the deceitful. What are you going to do? Send in your gendarmerie? Soon the people will realise the lies and deceit, and the Frankfurt School Subversion. Any freedom loving person should abhor the EU and all it stands for!
September 18th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Andris
Your comments on electricity storage are very welcome. In Ireland, the Spirit of Ireland, a group of academics and engineers working with the local people of the west of Ireland are working hard to eliminate the problems of renewable energy. Using a glacial valley as the upper reservoir of a pumped storage hydo station and the sea as the lower reservoir, in conjunction with local wind energy co operatives, we are creating 1 GW natural energy power stations, the result be a dispatchable 1 GW of combined wind and hydro, available 24/7. We have eliminated the intermittency problem and can store energy generated in the middle of the night and dispatch at peak demand the next day.
I GW of electricity, generated by natural energy, available 24/7/365, with absolutely no emissions, all for the cost of a conventional pumped hydro unit. The stations will be able to compete on price with conventional thermal stations. Happy Days !!
September 21st, 2009 at 8:07 pm
I would like “to put over the table” one simple idea. Why not Europa add some efforts, (money), in the same direction is doing google.org about clean energy technologies?.
For example, google.org has donated or invested almost 11 million $ to help advaced geothermal energy systems. I ask mysefl how much more fast could we advance in this field if the European Union multiply these funds by… perhaps… 10?.
A company which employs some of the brightest minds in the world is pointing us the direction in which our efforts could we more efficient to resolve, in my opinion, the biggest problem the humanity has in the XXI century, the shortage of energy resources. Why not join our forces in the same direction?.
http://www.google.org
http://www.potterdrilling.com
http://www.nanosolar.com
September 24th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Sustainable energy sources and their bottling
Offshore wind
A very simple question: How offshore wind generation will resist at high winds and high waves?
Force coming Climate change supposes to provoke earthquakes so how sustainable is gonna to be this “new renewable energy economy” under tsunami?
Shore wind
Shore wind sounds better economically but this industry needs to take into consideration potentially higher winds due to climate anomalies. Here is a place to mention ground - based “Gale generators” able to provide high-energy output at any wind speed.
Climate and economically sustainable generation solution would be circulation of water between cascade dams where:
- Upstream water move is based on high wind generation at mountains and hills
- Downstream water move provides commercial generation.
Small and medium scaled projects might provide sustainable energy supply in the front of climate challenge.
September 26th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
how irresponsable is this guy, commissioner of energy…no comment. This project is so expensive with public money budget destined for a local contruction company, the great green speculation…what is self-defeating for renewable energy development.
It has been asked a parlamientary question by MEP Willy Meyer Pleite http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=WQ&reference=E-2008-6014&language=EN
and the team of Stavros Dimas has been asked to spanish authorities because it has a huge impact in very protected areas. But the conservative party that is promoting this project started the project as soon as possible and now called de energy commissioner to gain credibility because there is a green delirium with spanish environmental association support too. I just can´t believe, its so mental EU behavior. From El Hierro island, bye bye idiot, we don´t want your support.
September 30th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
you cannot put sun or wind in a bottle. Or may be you can?
Yes, I can
Re: the original project of global warming resistance is proposed.
The idea is to increase the cloud cover of Earth by initiation whirlwinds of atmosphere in equatorial zone of World Ocean and locking these whirlwinds by Coriolis forces in this zone. The whirlwinds could be developed by the energy ocean heated by Sun, releasing in cold troposphere layer the hidden warm condensation of steam evaporated from the ocean. The project will help also to reduce the danger of the origin and development of powerful hurricanes on tropic latitudes by decreasing the temperature of ocean surface and decreasing the humidity of ocean surface air. The project does not need the restriction of carbohydrates usage and changing the chemical of atmosphere and ocean composition
.
See :
September 30th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
See:http://sir35.ru/pages/N_712.htm#beg
It is possible to consider as advantages of such project the following:
1. The project does not interfere with technical development as it is not adhered to restriction of emissions of hotbed gases in atmosphere and not limiting to burn hydrocarbons.
2. Adjustability of process. Degree of heating of ocean depends on the area of a cloudy cover it, i.e., actually, from quantity initiated whirlwinds.
3. Convertibility of process. Having stopped these, we come back to an initial condition.
4. Ecological cleanliness. Practically atmosphere, ocean and a circumterraneous space do not get littered. The natural substance- water- is used.
5. Power profitability. Power expenses for project realization are insignificant, as whirlwinds develop at expense of heat of ocean heated by the Sun. Moreover, triple effect is simultaneously reached: cooling of ocean at the expense of selection of heat for formation of clouds, shielding of ocean from sunlight by the clouds and atmosphere’s purification from the carbonic gas due to its absorption by precipitation from the formed clouds.
6. As far as temperature of a surface of ocean during such works, the probability of development of powerful hurricanes in tropical latitudes decreases, too.
7. Small expenses for carrying out of experiments on check of a solvency of the offer and possibility of its realization. The mankind already has all that is necessary for this purpose. It is possible to start check immediately, having fixed on a runway of an aircraft carrier a pair or some pairs of planes so that their jet engines «have twirled» air in an equatorial zone of ocean in the absence of natural overcast and temperatures of a surface of ocean about 26,5 degrees Celsius. I believe, it would be most economically expedient check of a solvency of the offer.
8. Having studied ways of migration of the formed clouds, and having learnt to lower them on a land in the necessary place, it is possible to soften a problem of shortage of fresh water in droughty regions of the Earth.
October 27th, 2009 at 6:15 am
Here you have, this page http://elhierrorenovable.blogactivo.net/ (in spanish), where you can find the project of the conservative party AHI that handle the Cabildo de El Hierro since 70`s, it has some similarities with a communist regime (…), I mean, take the control over economic sectors. This project is done with EU funds, please stop it. Stop demagogy, with that money there must be an ambitious project with different renewable energy resources, not just a public works project to feed a local contruction company. Don´t let destroy nature values with EU funds. In Bonaire island there is a project done with private capital fron Rabobank, half of the investment per capita and electric rate reduction (20%). I know, I live in the south, that doesn´t make me so rubbish, to impress you with a silly project. Cabildo de El Hierro has used you because Stavros Dimas did answer a parlamentary question quite angry, be aware, my friend.