Renewable energy thread

[Mozambiquer]

And the extra labor needed to run sails...
Maybe it would help to have more stuff made here in the USA, though prices would be higher due to requirements to pay your employees here, lol.

 

[turbobrick240]

By weight ratio they get like 120 mpg.

That has got to be in the top ten dumbest comments I've seen on this forum. And this thread already has some gems. What the heck is this weight ratio garbage, lol. You clearly just pulled a random number out of your arse.

 

[Mongler98]

That has got to be in the top ten dumbest comments I've seen on this forum. And this thread already has some gems. What the heck is this weight ratio garbage, lol. You clearly just pulled a random number out of your arse.

Becuase those engines do not run full time. It's called momentum and currents. There is that,you know, law of diminishing returns!
While most ships like that go by gallons per hour aka about 2500 gallons per mile one hour do the math.... its like a train.
Once you get going its much less. Most of that fuel is used in getting going and operating things. In the end I was trying to compare sails vs fuel. Where you could use a sail you already get what is considered good economy.
Yea I was way off on the 120mpg what I actually meant to say (speech to text) was 120 gallons per hour but I was also way off.
This thread is for stupid comments anyways so I've let my brain switch off a bit here.
Yea it's a stupid commoner but not like putting sails on a cargo ship!

 

[turbobrick240]

And the extra labor needed to run sails...
Maybe it would help to have more stuff made here in the USA, though prices would be higher due to requirements to pay your employees here, lol.

It wouldn't require extra labor. It's not as though they'd have Forrest Gump hoisting the main sail. They would be rigid wing sails. I don't know how successful they'll ultimately be, but there are several pilot projects in development.

Cargo Ships Reclaim Wind Power With High Tech Rigid Sails - CleanTechnica

Shipping industry stakeholders look backward -- and forward -- at wind power to reverse the upward spiral of carbon emissions.

cleantechnica-com.cdn.ampproject.org

 

[Lightflyer1]

and

https://www.stg-online.org/onTEAM/shipefficiency/programm/06-STG_Ship_Efficiency_2013_100913_Paper.pdf

 

[pkhoury]

I think they should make container ships, cruise ships, and private yachts use sails for 75% of the trip. That would cut down on fuel consumption........

Nah. The sails would be ginormous. I saw it would make more sense just putting solar panels on top of every container, and all other surfaces of the boat, and just make the boat 100% powered by electricity. Though sails could be a good backup plan if there's a problem with the electric propulsion.

 

[turbobrick240]

Wind and solar are crushing it in Texas this year! They outproduced nat. gas electricity generation in Jan./Feb./Mar. for the first time.

Solar And Wind Outproducing Gas In Texas - Reform Austin

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis indicates wind and solar power accounted for 34% of all power generation during the first three months of 2022, outperforming combined-cycle gas turbines in the state.

www-reformaustin-org.cdn.ampproject.org

 

[pkhoury]

Wind and solar are crushing it in Texas this year! They outproduced nat. gas electricity generation in Jan./Feb./Mar. for the first time.

Solar And Wind Outproducing Gas In Texas - Reform Austin

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis indicates wind and solar power accounted for 34% of all power generation during the first three months of 2022, outperforming combined-cycle gas turbines in the state.

www-reformaustin-org.cdn.ampproject.org

That does NOT surprise me. This year has been exceptionally windy. Like almost every day in April say at least 10mph winds, but 15-25mph days were pretty routine as well. Couple that with dry brush up until a few weeks ago and it made for great fire weather. :-/

 

[turbobrick240]

Yeah, Texas has really outstanding wind and solar resources. With the amount of renewable generation coming online in Texas this year it should leave nat gas in the dust permanently.

 

[Mongler98]

Yea sure... texas... you know... that state that everyone hates in electrical grid world!
Enjoy your constant blackouts and bailouts when you have another cold winter!

 

[turbobrick240]

Huh? ERCOT got caught with their pants down because they didn't winterize the nat gas plants. But that was unusual weather for Texas. My cousin has never lost power since she's lived in Austin. I lose power 3 or 4 times every year at my place in Maine. One of the perks of living in such a heavily forested state.

 

[Mongler98]

Huh? ERCOT got caught with their pants down because they didn't winterize the nat gas plants. But that was unusual weather for Texas. My cousin has never lost power since she's lived in Austin. I lose power 3 or 4 times every year at my place in Maine. One of the perks of living in such a heavily forested state.

that was a problem but outage was due to being independent from the grid.... a cascade of events that was set in place by Texas being Texas, not a power plant not doing its job.....

 

[pkhoury]

that was a problem but outage was due to being independent from the grid.... a cascade of events that was set in place by Texas being Texas, not a power plant not doing its job.....

Sorry, but I'm going to agree with Ben on this one. ERCOT could've had better accountability, but NOBODY was preparred for the weather we got. Actually, where I live here in Bandera County, we didn't lose power once. It's theorized that it could've been because we are on the same feed as the volunteer fire department and the school, but who knows. We had a few blips, but never totally lost power. And when we had hard freezes and snow here in 2022, we still didn't lose any power. In fact, the only extended power outage we've had in the past 2 years was from a drunk driver hitting a power pole at like 4am, bringing electricity down to about 80 volts (until we lost it all while the co-op replaced the pole and got us back online). Ended up having to make two calls to Tripp Lite to get over 25 surge protectors replaced that blew out their varistors...

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Yeah, Texas has really outstanding wind and solar resources. With the amount of renewable generation coming online in Texas this year it should leave nat gas in the dust permanently.

What data are you looking at? I poked around a bit and find that wind can meet as much as 20% of demand, except the grid is not good at getting the power from where it's generated to where it's needed. And solar only contributes a very small percentage of power, less than 5%. But maybe you've found different data.

One article speculated that, if the grid can get its act together, wind could obsolete coal use. But not natural gas.

 

[vandermic07]

To all

the sail idea was supposed to be sarcasm. I should have used a different emoji. It was meant to point out the unreachable/unpractical goals that the government puts in place. I realize how big these container ships are compared to a sailing ship.

 

[Mongler98]

To all

the sail idea was supposed to be sarcasm. I should have used a different emoji. It was meant to point out the unreachable/unpractical goals that the government puts in place. I realize how big these container ships are compared to a sailing ship.

Fair enough and this entire thread is sarcasm and just jaw jacking about stuff none of us actually have any professional or political experiance with. We are all just regurgitating what the other sheepole have been telling us.
My sister actually does work as a journalist for the power grid this side of the Rockies! But we never talk work so I have no idea!

 

[turbobrick240]

What data are you looking at? I poked around a bit and find that wind can meet as much as 20% of demand, except the grid is not good at getting the power from where it's generated to where it's needed. And solar only contributes a very small percentage of power, less than 5%. But maybe you've found different data.

One article speculated that, if the grid can get its act together, wind could obsolete coal use. But not natural gas.

Right here:
https://ieefa.org/ieefa-u-s-wind-an...f-ercot-electricity-in-first-quarter-of-2022/

Wind and solar (combined) nudged out combined cycle nat gas in Q1 this year. I guess there could be a percent or three of nat gas generation coming from ancient non combined cycle plants. I'll dig a little deeper and see if I can find those stats.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

That helps. I was confused by your post: I read "leaving nat gas in the dust" as replacing it. That's not the case, but wind and solar may generate a higher percentage of power than natural gas. That makes more sense.

And of course then there's that 20% of power that's generated by coal. So over half of Texas's power is still generated by fossil fuels. And what's that nearly 20% of "other" on the chart? I guess about half of it is Nuclear, but not all of it. Hydro seems to be a tiny percentage.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

So this made me curious, so I looked at what sources of electricity Massachusetts uses:

• Natural Gas: 53%
• Nuclear: 27%
• Renewables: 12%
• Hydro: 7% (most of this from Quebec, I think)

So overall MA isn't using any more fossil fuels than Texas. Massachusetts' coal use is minimal. Clearly the Nuclear number is going to go down, and I wonder what will replace it. Wind turbines aren't popular here: lots of citizens fighting them.

 

[turbobrick240]

I think offshore wind is about to see a boom off the northeast Atlantic coast. Sure, not everyone will be happy about it, but you can never please everyone all of the time. I know in Maine the lobster fishery has some concerns, but they're mostly fired up about having to change their gear so as not to ensnare endangered Right Whales at the moment.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

I can't remember when people started talking about Cape Wind, but it was a long time ago. It's come back to life but I think it'll get shot down again. There are three windmills in towns near me that are getting shut down or disassembled because of neighbor lawsuits. And there are zero towns in my area that allow any kind of stand alone windmills. That's too bad, as I think the best application for windmills is as close as possible to the point of consumption. I'd love to put one up, but it would probably require a 60 ft. tower. That's not happening in my town.

 

[turbobrick240]

There's definite benefits of having generation as close as possible to point of use, but the new generation of commercial wind turbines are absolute behemoths. Having them 12 miles or so offshore mitigates a lot of the nimby-ism. Solar is much more practical (and cheaper) for homeowners these days, imo.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Having them 12 miles or so offshore mitigates a lot of the nimby-ism. Solar is much more practical (and cheaper) for homeowners these days, imo.

There are a lot of people on Cape Cod and the Islands that feel that is their back yard. And I agree solar works well, but often when it's not sunny the wind is blowing. Having both would be a great setup here.

 

[turbobrick240]

The Dutch adapted to having windmills on their landscape hundreds of years ago. I'm sure the coastal communities will adapt as well.

 

[Mongler98]

The Dutch adapted to having windmills on their landscape hundreds of years ago. I'm sure the coastal communities will adapt as well.

Yea... like 200 years ago... and they were not a quarter mile tall!

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

There were windmills on Cape Cod in the 1800s. People didn't mind those. The ones we build now are hideous.

 

[turbobrick240]

Wind Turbines: the Bigger, the Better

Since the early 2000s, wind turbines have grown in size—in both height and blade lengths—and generate more energy. What’s driving this growth? Let’s take a closer look.

www.energy.gov

This may be why Texas is doing so well with wind- Texans generally aren't skeered of big things.

 

[turbobrick240]

Just came across this article- seems offshore wind is generally pretty popular in New England. Maybe somewhat less so with the minority lucky enough to live right on the coast.

New Englanders support more offshore wind power – just don’t send it to New York

theconversation-com.cdn.ampproject.org

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Wonder why they didn't ask people in the states that make up the majority of coastline in New England, Maine and Massachusetts.

 

[turbobrick240]

I'm sure more polling will be done. The regionalism cited in the above article was artfully exploited by largely foreign fossil fuel interests in an advertising blitz in Maine designed to kill/delay the energy corridor from Quebec. I don't think they will be nearly as successful at derailing the offshore wind projects in progress. The "Vineyard" offshore wind development in Mass. should be coming online next year, followed by a host of similar projects.

Offshore wind is the future for Massachusetts - The Boston Globe

Offshore wind energy can help us realize our emissions reduction goals, create thousands of good-paying jobs, and transform the state to a clean energy exporter.

www.bostonglobe.com