tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post8238507645566348373..comments2024-03-28T22:45:51.014+00:00Comments on Capitalists@Work: Energy in the FutureCityUnslickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929544047783163175noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-89782960655241448962020-06-23T12:01:07.654+01:002020-06-23T12:01:07.654+01:00Though the grid limits seem likely to be soluble w...Though the grid limits seem likely to be soluble within the existing right-of-way by converting AC cables on towers to HVDC, which seems to double or treble capacity over long distances. From what I've read you don't even have to change the cables, just the insulators. And you can leave 6+ cable towers as a mixed AC/DC system to service both short and long distance. Newish technology though, just being trialed in Germany, and I have no idea what it costs.rwendlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07861901317813829419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-12385412994037708792020-06-19T16:26:11.594+01:002020-06-19T16:26:11.594+01:00Dunno, Mr W - Germany will certainly encounter ev...Dunno, <b>Mr W </b> - Germany will certainly encounter ever more wild swings on its system (which already depends on its neighbours for balancing via import & more usually export) and in its wholesale pricing (frequently goes negative these days)<br /><br />it maybe a function of their massive constraints on transmission N (where the RES is) to S (where the industrial demand is) <br /><br />the "greens" on local planning authorities won't tolerate any upsizing of the grid (might need to chop down some trees ...), and that includes measures needed to accommodate more "green" energy!<br /><br />crazy country, crazy people<br /><br /><b>Matt</b> - am always cautious with anything by John Constable: can never quite work out what vested interest he's promoting (various people have advaced various theories) but at the end of the day it always feels there's some unspoken agenda going on with himNick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-17938750250816957442020-06-19T08:59:18.157+01:002020-06-19T08:59:18.157+01:00Interesting article I came across from the "W...Interesting article I came across from the "Woke" post BTL comments - https://conservativewoman.co.uk/green-haste-will-burst-the-hydrogen-bubble/Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08141297358269863170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-18572539033758168662020-06-18T15:51:24.983+01:002020-06-18T15:51:24.983+01:00I see that S&P Global Ratings forecasts that i...I see that S&P Global Ratings forecasts that in 2022 "Germany will become a net importer of [electricity] energy". Do you understand what is behind that? I know nuclear is being shutdown, but that is only 8GW now. Is coal generation on the decline in Germany even with cheap nasty lignite supplies?<br /><br />https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/European-power-prices-impacted-by-COVID-19-pandemirwendlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07861901317813829419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-78052649728654803082020-06-16T18:35:32.900+01:002020-06-16T18:35:32.900+01:00That's probably the local DSO (Distribution Sy...That's probably the local DSO (Distribution System Operator), Mr R. Some of them are running substandard businesses with substandard management - not at all FFP for 2020+Nick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-12782983388365308502020-06-16T10:33:15.285+01:002020-06-16T10:33:15.285+01:00As a footnote, the grid-developers impose a very e...As a footnote, the grid-developers impose a very effective tax on new development. Virtually everything I've built in the last 20 years has 'needed' a new substation, with tons of extra capacity for the grid, natch, at £250k - £500k a pop. <br /><br />Even if you're replacing like-for-like with no increased demand, it somehow still needs a new substation if you're installing a new intake point. <br /><br />That's quite a tax on development. Raedwaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11699610899843349594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-27882833571117695492020-06-16T09:48:34.145+01:002020-06-16T09:48:34.145+01:00@Raedwald.
The power has to onshore and distribu...@Raedwald. <br /><br />The power has to onshore and distribute somewhere. The current grid capacity has to increase *if* we all get electric cars. <br /><br />Having the been involved on the fringe of grid building, it is a slow, expensive legal and PR process. The oncost of these sort of delays, court battles ultimately have to be met. <br /><br />We may have seas for offshore wind; or mountains for hydro; or vast areas of moor for solar - but we have a densely populated country and an expensive legal system. It's not all upside. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-74209243139723151872020-06-16T09:06:45.473+01:002020-06-16T09:06:45.473+01:00The Euro consortium estimates the (economic, not p...The Euro consortium estimates the (economic, not physical) capacity of the Dogger Bank to be about 110GW - I think UK peak demand is about half that? That's with sustainable dolphin sanctuaries, fish nurseries etc. Of course is B-all use if the wind isn't blowing. <br /><br />The thing is, the UK has about 70% of the bank in our EEZ, and all the shallow and therefore cheaper parts. Dutch plans for an island in their sliver don't look very economic unless turbines are sited in UK waters.<br /><br />And the buggers can't even blackmail us by threatening to designate bits of our EEZ an Natura 2000 areas etc any more if we don't play ball with their plans. Brexit really is a *very* good thing. <br /><br />For the UK economy, offshore wind can be very good news for east coast coastal communities if we seed construction, transport and maintenance investment and build capacity. Work for UK yards, not Dutch ones. <br /><br />Layman's assessment Nick - feel free to pull it to piecesRaedwaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11699610899843349594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-83438038894664371512020-06-15T22:25:59.765+01:002020-06-15T22:25:59.765+01:00"taxpayer-guaranteed price is worth a stagger...<i>"taxpayer-guaranteed price is worth a staggering amount when you go to the bank for finance"</i><br /><br />Yup, taxpayer guaranteed income stream - we'd all like one of those please.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-55963413011560886942020-06-15T21:01:59.042+01:002020-06-15T21:01:59.042+01:00are wind turbines in the North Sea actually viable...<i>are wind turbines in the North Sea actually viable without subsidy at the moment?</i><br /><br />the key is to be clear what type of sub we're talking about<br /><br />the CASH subsidy has come down and down, thanks to (woefully belated) introduction of competitive bidding. And remember the form the (UK) subsidy takes - a contract-for-difference, i.e. a taxpayer-guaranteed price instead of the vagaries of market price. <br /><br />Onshore wind is definitely viable without cash subsidy (as we'll find out if HMG loosens planning regs for them). Ditto solar. In Germany, there is talk of the next round of bidding for onshore wind licences coming in at negative prices, i.e. developers willing to PAY instead of getting a cash bung<br /><br />Why? same as negative prices for anything - excess supply at very low cost PLUS the NON-CASH aspects of the subsidy, which (at negative bidding-in) is privileged access to the Grid ("must-take" - or alternatively, must be compensated for being "switched off"). That's why developers will quite rationally be willing to buy their way in<br /><br />Offshore? - we'll see in the next round of UK bidding. It's the way things are headed, though. <br /><br />NOTE: you can find (e.g. here <br />https://www.taylorhopkinson.com/subsidy-free-uk-offshore-wind/ )<br />... some folk disingenuously boasting we're "sub-free already" offshore. Not really. A tax-payer-guaranteed price of £40/MWH (as cited in that article) may have been less than prevailing market price of £49 (as it was when that article was published) BUT of course the price today is <£30!<br /><br />taxpayer-guaranteed price is worth a staggering amount when you go to the bank for finance - even if market price ends up being higher than CfD strike price, bringing your cost of capital right down: another BIG non-cash subsidyNick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-85989632279798112072020-06-15T19:59:07.992+01:002020-06-15T19:59:07.992+01:00Just paint the wind turbines black and then it'...Just paint the wind turbines black and then it's ok for the subsidies, just call it reparations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-23410072739504643052020-06-15T19:49:09.149+01:002020-06-15T19:49:09.149+01:00Sorry, Nick. Just responding to Raedwald. Back on ...Sorry, Nick. Just responding to Raedwald. Back on topic, are wind turbines in the North Sea actually viable without subsidy at the moment? Including maintenance, decommissioning etc? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-67390925707493233012020-06-15T17:40:33.614+01:002020-06-15T17:40:33.614+01:00Sorry Nick. I started this. Sorry Nick. I started this. E-Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16657071992016670517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-57440355787901933092020-06-15T15:37:33.950+01:002020-06-15T15:37:33.950+01:00OK, this is an energy threadOK, this is an energy threadNick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-21228261289226030452020-06-15T15:25:04.681+01:002020-06-15T15:25:04.681+01:00"the range can easily be accounted for by cul...<i>"the range can easily be accounted for by culture, home background and education"</i><br /><br />Do you think it's all those racist teachers and professors depressing black IQ scores and raising Chinese and Jewish ones? Or how odd it is that the patterns I outlined occur in pretty much every country (Haiti has one billionaire - he's Jewish)?<br /><br /><i>"culture, home background"</i><br /><br />Make remarkably little difference, as twin studies (studies of twins adopted into different households) show. Read Pinker's The Blank Slate.<br /><br />https://archive.org/details/StevenPinkerTheBlankSlateTheModernDenialOfHumanNature<br /><br />The one I like is that early reading age is all to do with the number of books in the home, as if a trip to Waterstones when the child's two will fix things. Occam's razor says mum and dad have a lot of books cos they are bright, like to read, and those traits are passed on. <br /><br />If you are right, then how do you propose to change black culture and black home background? Black people already have equal access to education in the UK and the US. <br /><br />But if you are wrong, then all such theoretical interventions are a waste of time. President Johnson after the mid-60s Watts/Detroit riots promised <i>"not just equality as a right and a theory but equality as a fact and a result"</i>. That was nearly 60 years ago!<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-54425529240770938282020-06-15T14:48:00.548+01:002020-06-15T14:48:00.548+01:00Assuming that these guesses about IQ are correct, ...Assuming that these guesses about IQ are correct, the range can easily be accounted for by culture, home background and education.<br /><br />Don Cox Don Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06339420519741253080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-28109084941371950992020-06-15T13:04:41.475+01:002020-06-15T13:04:41.475+01:00Judging by Lammy's incandescent fury, I reckon...Judging by Lammy's incandescent fury, I reckon Boris has done just the right thing - a new enquiry, an enquiry of enquiries, to roll-up all the findings of the previous enquiries, which will take some time.<br /><br />What Lammy wants is ..<br /><br />1. More money for black people, now<br />2. Er, that's it, really. <br /><br />By the time the recession hits in September, it will get lost in the noise. Raedwaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11699610899843349594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-57757360430533401392020-06-15T09:44:58.474+01:002020-06-15T09:44:58.474+01:00So Boris has caved in yet again.
"We must d...So Boris has caved in yet again. <br /><br />"We must do much more to eradicate racism."<br /><br />He's fallen for this white Left wing insurrection. <br /><br />How nice it would have been for BLM to have looked at Minneapolis and said "Look how so much better the UK police are."<br /><br />No. <br /><br />Instead they battered kneeling unarmed coppers in summer blues and ordered the PM to get the Cenotaph out of sight. <br /><br />What's this to do with energy ? Or the PM's lack of ???E-Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16657071992016670517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-14478133331156749562020-06-15T09:25:08.147+01:002020-06-15T09:25:08.147+01:00" If you calculate the NPV of 10,000 years of..." If you calculate the NPV of 10,000 years of having to guard the waste products,"<br /><br />What you call "waste products" is partly used nuclear fuel. Most of the energy is still there, and it will be used in new or updated power stations. We have enough partly used fuel stored in Britain to provide us with all the electricity we want for a couple of centuries.<br /><br />The fossil fuel companies have managed to sell the idea that this fuel is some kind of bogey man. It is not.<br /><br />Don CoxDon Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06339420519741253080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-5640539278163082702020-06-14T23:43:13.660+01:002020-06-14T23:43:13.660+01:00ultimately its about the economics. if spinning a ...ultimately its about the economics. if spinning a turbine in the north sea is cheaper than poking a hole in the ground thats what will happen.<br />electrolysis to and from water a good trick and if you can build em big enough and cheap enough, then someone will buy it.<br /><br />america, china & india dont care two hoots about what we get upto. if they stop digging coal its because its more expensive than the alternative, seems gas is cheaper in america these days. <br /><br />global warming and subsides be dammed, if the cost is too high you can only suspend disbelieve for so long.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-14364148420283663022020-06-14T17:09:30.699+01:002020-06-14T17:09:30.699+01:00It's a well it's a comic, as it's a co...It's a well it's a comic, as it's a complete fantasy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-3949955993493892512020-06-14T13:49:40.440+01:002020-06-14T13:49:40.440+01:00Obligatory xkcd on global temperatures
https://x...Obligatory xkcd on global temperatures <br /><br />https://xkcd.com/1732/<br />andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07311993288675111834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-83606352664906413962020-06-14T12:32:54.527+01:002020-06-14T12:32:54.527+01:00DJK, around 70% of US power is fossil fuel derived...DJK, around 70% of US power is fossil fuel derived, with clean out of the EPA, som of the Obama legacy Greenwich is going, allowing clean coal to continue as the Forbes article covers.<br />The US also massively subsidisesngreen energy, although they are now experiencing.problems with how to deal with the toxic end of life legacy of wind turbines, long term land fill etc.<br />Currently as societies we are choosing not to use the most efficient methods of power generation, we think we are wealthy enough to use inefficient methods because it makes us feel better, all ok as long as our competitors don't drive us out of business.<br />There is no evidence that unsubsidised electricity generation is economic anywhere on the planet, it all depends on feed in tariffs or fossil fuel powered being hobbled in some way.<br /><br />https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2020/06/13/dummies-guide-to-renewable-subsidies/Nessimmersionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04368279239973641917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-49973921462081176192020-06-14T12:20:34.232+01:002020-06-14T12:20:34.232+01:00Before North Sea Gas, the domestic supply was Town...Before North Sea Gas, the domestic supply was Town Gas. It was a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. When our conversion was done (1971 or 72) the only change was to the burners in our stove and central heating boiler.decninehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13596065522088717061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-35665365538170683472020-06-14T11:48:27.653+01:002020-06-14T11:48:27.653+01:00Man-made climate change is myth. Any form of carb...Man-made climate change is myth. Any form of carbon tax is essentially a life tax though, so good luck getting around that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com