Author Topic: An alternative approach to global warming  (Read 706 times)

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Offline Omni

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Re: An alternative approach to global warming
« Reply #45 on: August 05, 2018, 01:58:01 pm »
Its called pumped storage and it is only storage mechanism that can theoretically provide the quantity of power that we need. The trouble is it is geographically limited and lots of places which don't already have access to hydro power will still need natural gas and nuclear base load.

MIT study looks at the limitations of batteries and why people pushing for solar/wind are clueless:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611683/the-25-trillion-reason-we-cant-rely-on-batteries-to-clean-up-the-grid/
Fortunately, there is a technically and economically viable solution: nuclear power. But the green zealots would rather see society driven back to the dark ages than accept a source of power they don't like.

This is different and more efficient than pump storage. Put simply, you are not wasting hydro electricity to spin a turbine backwards.

Offline kimmy

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Re: An alternative approach to global warming
« Reply #46 on: August 06, 2018, 11:29:49 am »
This is different and more efficient than pump storage. Put simply, you are not wasting hydro electricity to spin a turbine backwards.

Using solar or wind power to pump water uphill is pumped storage.

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Paris - London - New York - Kim City

Online wilber

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Re: An alternative approach to global warming
« Reply #47 on: August 06, 2018, 12:03:29 pm »
Using solar or wind power to pump water uphill is pumped storage.

 -k

The catch is you need water and a hill to pump it up.
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC

Offline Omni

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Re: An alternative approach to global warming
« Reply #48 on: August 06, 2018, 12:58:19 pm »
Using solar or wind power to pump water uphill is pumped storage.

 -k

Actually no, the current form of pumped storage is using electricity already produced by a hydro dam to spin the turbine backwards to pump water uphill. Using wind/solar is a new and more efficient approach since the station continues to send power to the grid.

Offline kimmy

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Re: An alternative approach to global warming
« Reply #49 on: August 06, 2018, 01:48:05 pm »
Actually no, the current form of pumped storage is using electricity already produced by a hydro dam to spin the turbine backwards to pump water uphill.

That doesn't even make sense.

Some existing facilities do use pumps as generators and vice versa, but they aren't using hydro dam power to pump water uphill, they're using solar and wind generated electricity to drive the pumps.  And they wouldn't be at hydroelectric generator dams, they'd be at things like open-pit mines that have been converted to storage reservoirs.

Using wind/solar is a new and more efficient approach since the station continues to send power to the grid.

This isn't actually new.

 -k
Paris - London - New York - Kim City

Offline Omni

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Re: An alternative approach to global warming
« Reply #50 on: August 06, 2018, 01:57:11 pm »
That doesn't even make sense.

Some existing facilities do use pumps as generators and vice versa, but they aren't using hydro dam power to pump water uphill, they're using solar and wind generated electricity to drive the pumps.  And they wouldn't be at hydroelectric generator dams, they'd be at things like open-pit mines that have been converted to storage reservoirs.

This isn't actually new.

 -k

Well they actually do use hydro power to spin the turbine backwards and push water back uphill for re-use. Been doing it for awhile. The current "big deal" proposal is to pump water using solar and wind back into the Mead Reservoir. A hefty price tag at $3 billion but I can see it paying off over time.

Offline TimG

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Re: An alternative approach to global warming
« Reply #51 on: August 06, 2018, 02:54:15 pm »
The catch is you need water and a hill to pump it up.
Yep. And the Colorado river does not have a lot of water to spare that is not already used by others.

This blog has a good summary of why the entire proposal is pretty dubious: http://euanmearns.com/the-hoover-dam-pumped-hydro-proposal/

Offline Omni

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Re: An alternative approach to global warming
« Reply #52 on: August 06, 2018, 03:37:16 pm »
Yep. And the Colorado river does not have a lot of water to spare that is not already used by others.

This blog has a good summary of why the entire proposal is pretty dubious: http://euanmearns.com/the-hoover-dam-pumped-hydro-proposal/

You seem to think this process would take water out of the river. Nope, it just recirculates it to provide more clean power. During drought periods in mid summer you simply turn the pumps off and revert to the existing system until the rain returns and the snow melts.

Offline Omni

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Re: An alternative approach to global warming
« Reply #53 on: August 20, 2018, 09:26:42 pm »
I've been enjoying sitting in my backyard in the shade of my fruit trees with a cold one in the afternoons before supper, but I live near the ocean so the temperature is moderated somewhat. It's concerning though that what I'm enjoying is in part due to the effects of global warming.

 https://www.carbonbrief.org/powerful-evidence-global-warmings-effect-seasons-found-troposphere