Really enjoyed this episode as hoped and expected, thanks! It's not at all the same technical depth of course, but some drilling details overlap nicely with Upton Sinclair's book "Oil!" which I'm currently reading due to it inspiring the incredible film There Will Be Blood. Highly recommend both for film or fiction fans.
No piano intro. Boooo! (And on YouTube you might want to create a playlist dedicated to the masterclass episodes. Not needed by me but might be a handy thing to index on there.)
You don't understand how current battery technology works or you wouldn't include it as an important element of renewable practicality. And if your comment connecting e.v.s to solar panels as if the panels will enable the mass adoption of e.v.s, then you don't understand how solar panels work. Not setting out to be offensive but I mean .....really!
Battery backup for renewables using current battery technology is useful only for smoothing out power fluctuations on the grid. It is not intended to be a backup in the sense of an alternative power supply while waiting for optimum conditions to return for renewables to function.
It is not necessary to be an engineer. You simply have to look at the two billion dollar battery backup projects to see what it is that is the best the engineers can claim. Namely that such a project will supply enough energy for a medium sized town for about ........two hours. Consider the cost to currently run at about a billion dollars per hour of actual backup. For one town! A medium sized city would be ten billion dollars an hour. A megalopolis would be about a hundred billion dollars per hour.
As soon as power is restored it will be first in line to get the returning power. Every thing else is secondary. In other words, such projects can be considered an impediment to the return of normal stabilized power to the grid.
One of the world's largest grid battery backup systems is the California Moss project. It cost a billion dollars to build and provides full output to the grid for a theoretical maximum of 4 (four) hours.
The Moss project is sited on a former natural gas power plant. Thus it did not have any permitting issues, few of the environmental burdens and a one hundred per cent commitment from all jurisdictions. Plus all the necessary grid connection and related infrastructure was in already place which again relieved the project of massive regulatory burdens. It could likely have at least twice as much if not those considerations.
The Moss Landing project can support a town of fifty four thousand (54000) people for four hours at full output. Full output at that level raises serious overheating problems which the project is famous for.
Please do not take my word for it. Forget what you remember from your couple semesters of electrical engineering (likely from before anybody even imagined building such projects) Check out what real engineers are building when given a billion dollars. Use A.I. chat bots to get past press releases meant to mislead.
Really enjoyed this episode as hoped and expected, thanks! It's not at all the same technical depth of course, but some drilling details overlap nicely with Upton Sinclair's book "Oil!" which I'm currently reading due to it inspiring the incredible film There Will Be Blood. Highly recommend both for film or fiction fans.
Thanks for the recommendations.
No piano intro. Boooo! (And on YouTube you might want to create a playlist dedicated to the masterclass episodes. Not needed by me but might be a handy thing to index on there.)
Great masterclass like always. Looking forward to future ones - and the next episode on oil. Probably a good opportunity to (re)discover old ones.
EVs + solar panels + batteries will make this happen
But we need to eliminate tariffs and trade barriers
Let it happen
You don't understand how current battery technology works or you wouldn't include it as an important element of renewable practicality. And if your comment connecting e.v.s to solar panels as if the panels will enable the mass adoption of e.v.s, then you don't understand how solar panels work. Not setting out to be offensive but I mean .....really!
I realize battery backup allows intermittent sources of electricity to be useful 24/7
I survived two semesters of electrical engineering. I understand batteries but I am weak in wave shaping
Battery backup for renewables using current battery technology is useful only for smoothing out power fluctuations on the grid. It is not intended to be a backup in the sense of an alternative power supply while waiting for optimum conditions to return for renewables to function.
It is not necessary to be an engineer. You simply have to look at the two billion dollar battery backup projects to see what it is that is the best the engineers can claim. Namely that such a project will supply enough energy for a medium sized town for about ........two hours. Consider the cost to currently run at about a billion dollars per hour of actual backup. For one town! A medium sized city would be ten billion dollars an hour. A megalopolis would be about a hundred billion dollars per hour.
As soon as power is restored it will be first in line to get the returning power. Every thing else is secondary. In other words, such projects can be considered an impediment to the return of normal stabilized power to the grid.
You are desperately incorrect
Good luck with the knowledge base you are using
One of the world's largest grid battery backup systems is the California Moss project. It cost a billion dollars to build and provides full output to the grid for a theoretical maximum of 4 (four) hours.
The Moss project is sited on a former natural gas power plant. Thus it did not have any permitting issues, few of the environmental burdens and a one hundred per cent commitment from all jurisdictions. Plus all the necessary grid connection and related infrastructure was in already place which again relieved the project of massive regulatory burdens. It could likely have at least twice as much if not those considerations.
The Moss Landing project can support a town of fifty four thousand (54000) people for four hours at full output. Full output at that level raises serious overheating problems which the project is famous for.
Please do not take my word for it. Forget what you remember from your couple semesters of electrical engineering (likely from before anybody even imagined building such projects) Check out what real engineers are building when given a billion dollars. Use A.I. chat bots to get past press releases meant to mislead.