Continuing the discussion from Sustainable Power Isn't working:
I was about to post this in the linked thread, but realized this is going more off topic, so I started a new thread.
Denmark working toward more sustainable energy. For 2 days last month, their entire energy needs met by wind power.
Scotland has had similar. Consistency is a problem. Storage?
I saw this about solar energy storage being able to be stored for 18 years. It’s not yet full developed yet, but they’re working on it. I don’t know if it applies to wind power, but if it can be done for solar, I’m thinking that it might be able to be done for wind power as well.
Hydro is better for storage. Dinorweg in Wales is one such but there others that are on a vastly scale. Itaipu is one. The Three Gorges Dam in China is even larger.
We need a long cable from the deserts where the sun is always shining, preferably coming from the southern hemisphere, so in their summer it will be our winter when we need the power most.
It’s hardly surprising that wind turbines can keep Denmark in power for two consecutive days in summer. With a population of less than 8 million a few tesla batteries would probably have done the same.
There are unlimited supplies of free heat in the earths core just waiting to be tapped. Forget wasting money on wind turbines and solar panels. The amount of investment the UK has made on supposedly renewable energy would have provided enough power stations to tap into this massive heat source. Iceland have been doing it for years.
Iceland has over 600 hot springs and 200 volcanoes.
UK has very few.
You do realise that the Earth’s core is 3000km below the surface and the deepest hole ever drilled is about 12km don’t you?
Iceland have done pretty well then Bruce…
I thought Iceland used water heated by thermal springs, no one has drilled to the Earth’s core nor are they likely to. The Great Artesian Basin provides hot water too, just depends where you drill to. The core is just iron and nickel
Good point Besoeker, however, the government are advocating heat pumps where a hole is drilled into the ground and water is pumped down. The water collects heat and is then returned to the surface. Coming from a mining community that used to have one of the deepest coal mines in England, any miner will tell you how hot it can become the further underground you go. So in answer to Bruce’s post, and your own…You don’t really need to burrow 3000km, and in some places - even in blighty - the hot bits are closer to the surface than you think.
Not only for heat pump use Foxy, there is also the geothermal potential as seen in Southampton to name just one. Drill down far enough and then tap the hot-dry-rock to produce steam👍 The earth’s core is molten and that heat is also available from the rock nearer the surface.
Absolutely LongDriver. I was probably a little off tack by mentioning the earths crust. Heat can be obtained long before you get anywhere near the earths crust, even here in the UK.
Ummm… That’s the bit you’re actually standing on. No problem drilling that.
It’s not my forte but a couple of points. We did variable speed drives for bore hole pumps. The deeper the shaft the more power is needed to raise the water. The ones we encountered needed around 100kW to pump the water up the shaft. That’s the opposite of renewable energy.
@Besoeker , " hydro is better for storage" ?
Maybe so, but the places where you can deploy it are very limited !!
Whereas the liquid CO2 method can be used anywhere and is fully
scaleable too !
And compared to hdro is far cheaper to install and saves the time required
to construct a hydro plant !!
All it requires iinitially is enough power to run the pumps etc and two
pressure vessels, one to contain the the liquid CO2, and one to contain the
decompressed CO2 gas !!
A turbine driven by the decompressing gas to drive the generator ,
And a compressor to convert the gas back to liquid and pump it back
into the liquid CO2 container ready for the next generating cycle ??
apparently it can store this pressure for 18yrs ??
It all sounds feasible to me and there is also a pilot plant is up and running
in ltaly !!
Donkeyman! 
California will place solar panels over canals. This will both provide solar energy as well as reduce evaporation of water in the canals. The canals take the water from the north of the state where it originates to the south of the state where it is heavily used.
https://electrek.co/2022/08/26/in-a-us-first-california-will-pilot-solar-panel-canopies-over-canals/
Hi
What a great idea.
Renewable energy means energy security and no more being held to ransome by others.
Should work okay in California butterscotch, plenty of sunshine.
Problem is that solar panels don’t last too long and I believe they are difficult to recycle.
Most articles I’ve seen say that solar panels last 25-30 years. The government says the panels are recyclable.
Thanks Butterscotch.
It seems the panels themselves have a good lifespan. However, the PV inverters don’t.
Solar PV Inverter Replacement Cost in UK (2022) | GreenMatch.
Quote:
The average solar PV inverter replacement cost of a string inverter typically ranges from £500 to £1500 . Your installer can offer you more information on which inverter would best suit your needs and which ones they use most often.
A Summary of String Inverters
The average solar PV inverter replacement cost of a micro inverter typically ranges from £20 per unit to £100 per unit . Considering the average solar PV system in the UK comprises 14 panels, this means that a total revamp can run investment costs upwards of £2,500 — which includes the cost for installation elements, such as wiring.
