Energy storage
One of the problems with energy sources is its availability. The sun goes down, the winds slow down, even the tides fluctuate. That’s what make oil and coal from the ground so appealing. It just sits there waiting for you to use it and it’s easy to store while waiting for its use.
Using the word harvest like the word gather we can say we “harvest” the sun’s rays, the wind and water, and various crops. Then there is a conversion of that harvest to energy. Directly (like photovoltaic), mechanically (like wind and water), and by chemical processing (like crops). The challenge is to match demand with supply. This is a complicated process given the large scale involved. The sooner you can match the creation of the usable energy to its use the more efficient the process is. Ideally, there would be an energy source that can be used based on demand.
That said, the next best option is to be able to use an energy source as efficiently, cleanly, and cheaply (did I leave one out?) as possible and consume that energy on demand. That means storage. An old method of storage was moving water up hill – still works very well today. Another method is to create another fuel. Ethanol, methane, hydrogen, flywheels, even compressed air are all ways of storing energy (you might not consider the last two to be fuels but they behave that way). Each has its benefits and drawbacks. Please see the news section for mone info on these developments.
Economics is the next factor. Besides creating the system itself there are logistics like getting the energy to the customer. Here there are entrenched interests who have already made large investments. Changing the system requires more large investments. It’s not that it’s not doable, it’s a matter of motivation. Here again is where the small outfits come to the fore. This is a risky venture for which they want to be financially rewarded generously. You can either pay these people directly or the government can take the money from you and pay them. Not being confident in the “government’s” ability to make wise decisions (they are humans, after all) I prefer the former.
Now we are down to hearts and minds. That is where the battle will be won or lost. Do the humans really care?
- Posted in : Environment, Renewable Energy
- Author :Rt
Comments»
One of the greatest renewable energy storage devices is already invented, already installed, and ready for almost everyone to use. The national electric grid. If you have solar panels on your house or a giant wind farm off the coast, it works the same. You pump what you don’t need into the grid and someone else some place else uses that energy. If the grid is large enough (as ours is) there will almost always be someone some place that needs some of that energy.
What these stroage techs are really good for is evening out the bumps in the system. Check out the post I made a couple of days ago about flywheels. (http://www.blog.thesietch.org/2007/01/17/flywheel-storage-technology/)
Kinda. The grid isn’t perfect. The electric companies, even now, balance power needs by slowing some production (typically coal or gas facilities) while maintaining the “base” source (typically nuclear.
Turns out a good source is solar, which – more or less – tracks our consumption.
This is a poorly writen statement (I tried to delete my entry but failed). I meant to make a better argument for the need for the next logical step in sustainable energy but started rambling instead.
My friends have created a greenhouse that uses thermal mass. In this case a large water tank to regulate temperatures and create a stable
year round growing environment even in the hashest of conditions.http://www.geodesic-greenhouse-kits.com/
[...] have spoken of the economic impact (energy storage, carbon tax, biodiesel, politics, finance, and if you want to try your hand at it) of trying to [...]