19-06-2019, 11:16 AM
(18-06-2019, 05:11 PM)ppppenguin Wrote: Unless you have huge amounts of storage or massive interconnects (like the Desertec project, nice idea but I don't see it happening anytime soon) you need backup generation on the system. Since it's only going to be used occasionally it needs to be low capital cost and easy to start. Fuel efficiency is secondary. Open cycle gas turbines are a likely solution.
You are ignoring the elephant in the room. If the use of gas is banned we will lose 50% of our generating capacity and the OCGT stations that we already rely on for temporary periods of excess demand will also be banned. That means that we will need double the amount of all other energy generating plant just to stand still - and it is not going to be used occasionally.
But the problem doesn't stop there. Gas central heating systems will be banned and need to be replaced by electric central heating - at considerable cost to the home owners who will also be facing an increase in running costs of around 400%. I don't know how many households this affects and, of course, the ban will also extend to industrial use as well. Then there are all those electric cars ...
It is very difficult to quantify but I don't think it beyond the bounds of reason to say that a quadrupling of all existing non-gas capacity will be needed. By 2050? I don't think so. Perhaps 2150 would be a more easily attainable target - provided, of course, that we don't wait until 2120 to start planning it!
Whatever happened to the plans for tidal energy? Unlike the wind and sun it never stops apart from the inevitable null every six hours when the direction of flow reverses. That is accurately predictable and, as the times of the tides vary in different parts of the country, pairs of systems with the appropriate timing differences could ensure a virtually constant supply of energy 24 hours a day.
Every little helps, as they say, and I'm surprised that the Thames Barrier hasn't been converted for electricity generation. The barrier already exists so only the cost of conversion would be needed. Convert two central gates into locks so that shipping can still pass up and down the river, install a permanent barrier with the generators across the entrance of one of the other gates and close all the other barriers. Simple!
