Tobberone
@Tobberone@lemm.ee
- Comment on Australia struggling with oversupply of solar power 1 day ago:
Due to the other comment below, i spoke with the guys that run our panels and they answered “well, in theory…” Why that is, if its because of rules/standardisation issues, or that’s it previously been inconceivable that there would ever be so much panels about that one would want to, I don’t know. But that is the word from a production team counting the yearly production in GWh and running MW-range batteries.
- Comment on Australia struggling with oversupply of solar power 3 days ago:
Interesting! Is the idea to use excess electricity to heat the sand and then reproduce power via Steam turbine? Any idea how the heat is extracted ?
I’ve heard of a similar plant, but that used mirrors to heat up the sand directly, rather than using it as a way to use excess electricity.
Same idea, different material is thermal storage in sand.
- Comment on Australia struggling with oversupply of solar power 3 days ago:
Please expand! Why is this not an issue with solar?
If i remember correctly the person i learnt from works as an aggregator for “small” (typically <1MWh) batteries that cooperates on the frequency regulation market.
- Comment on Australia struggling with oversupply of solar power 3 days ago:
Unfortunately it is a problem that needs solving. Electricity needs to be used as it is produced and if its not, it will be a problem. Where i live, the de facto solution today is to heat the oceans. That’s not a viable long term solution and why we urgently need to find a way to store energy!
- Comment on Australia clears the way for EVs to help save the grid with V2G this summer 1 week ago:
Don’t get me wrong, setting up homes to be more energy efficient also needs to be done and may be a bigger issue, but the V2G has been in the horizon for years but has been held back by lack of standardisation and support. That steps are taken in this regard are also great!
- Comment on Global Installed Solar Capacity To Blow Past 2 Terawatts, USA Or Not 1 week ago:
Well, wind, sun and fossil free heating spells the terms of divorce with the oil industry. No wonder they fight so hard to block it.
What happens when a nation like Norway goes 92% EV? There will not be any demand for the oil infrastructure, so within the time these last fossil fueled cars goes to the scrap yard, so will the market for fuel stations etc.
Don’t get me wrong, the market for rest stops and charging will be the same, but the costs of servicing the pumps and the risks of varying fuel prices will not cover itself. So it will not be carried along.
What about heavy transport? It will take longer, but in time it will go the same way. And prices will increase. With falling demand, perhaps not the price of the fuel, but the costs of keeping the service running. That will be a big upheaval in the automotive service industry.
Geopolitically? Unless you can produce your own oil, it’s a big win on independence. It is also a big win in regards to availability. Instead of knocking out 1 plant, an aggressor would have to knock out 10000 small, private production facilities on roof tops. Also a big win.
And if you are able to produce your own oil, it will instead become a liability when those still dependant on oil needs to secure their supply…
- Comment on A 30-Megawatt Space Solar Power Plant Is Scheduled For 2030 1 week ago:
On one hand: this will reduce the Sunshine reaching earth which will lead to lower temperatures despite the added insulation from the CO2 in the air. On the other hand: this will be the first of many blocking out the sun beneath them. Since the Collector station needs to be so large, many satellites will be pointed to the same stations, clustering in space and create dark spots on land. Guess where the rich won’t be living…
- Comment on No backing down on CO2 targets, says EU's next transport head 2 weeks ago:
I usually don’t agree with “hardliners”, but this one seems to have an agenda I can actually live with.
Literally…
- Comment on Vertical solar panels help farmers produce both energy and crops 4 weeks ago:
In the article the panels look miniturised. The farmer i visited had his start 60-80cm up. Else they would be shadowed by the crop. So the height of the panels are closer to 2m.
None of that changes anything in regards to neither your math nor your reasoning, which is both enlighting and interesting😃
- Comment on Vertical solar panels help farmers produce both energy and crops 4 weeks ago:
The shade and the wind hindrance also helps with crop yield, I’ve been told by a farmer that is part of an experiment using these. The vertical panels help with moist retention, which is what is beneficial.
- Comment on Sweden switches on largest battery energy storage system in the Nordics - Energy Storage 5 weeks ago:
It’s the only chemistry possible to source unfortunately. I read about other chemistries, but they are hard to find.
- Comment on Sweden switches on largest battery energy storage system in the Nordics - Energy Storage 5 weeks ago:
There is usually a 1:1 between MW:MWh at these capacities, to the point where the 1:2 presented on the article was the first time I’ve heard of another set up in Sweden.
- Comment on What inspired you to get into clean energy? 1 month ago:
Nah, just about anything except climate change. Economical, less blackouts, better resilience and sticking it to the man (as in the incompetent power companies) I’d imagine would be the go-to arguments…
- Comment on ‘You basically have free hot water’: how Cyprus became a world leader in solar heating 1 month ago:
As with all heating relying on water for energy transport, absolutely when building new buildings, but will cost an arm if you add it in a remodeling.
As for solar capture in Sweden, there are a few places that try to store heat in sandpits, among others a high school in Stockholm. And on that subject the Finns must be mentioned😊 Will be interesting to follow!
- Comment on ‘You basically have free hot water’: how Cyprus became a world leader in solar heating 1 month ago:
Where I’m from the heating utility was turned on last week and will remain on until April. To me, running a heater for 30 minutes/day during winter seems acceptable:D
- Comment on ‘You basically have free hot water’: how Cyprus became a world leader in solar heating 1 month ago:
The question is: is it efficient enough during the cold season? Cyprus, situated in the middle of the Mediterranean heat reservoir and with plenty of daylight during the off season seems to be well situated.
As for the need: I’m from up north, our houses are built to keep heat inside as that is most positive for our energy consumption. In the south, houses try to limit the need for cooling. The effect of which became very clear to me when I went to the Mediterranean in November. Heating? Yea please.
- Comment on Mozilla launches privacy friendly AI addon called "Orbit" 1 month ago:
Well, that’s been the basis for some other products. AMD and Intel comes to mind😊 They both have IP the other need and historically Intel has been the dominant one, but now the tables have turned somewhat.
- Comment on Solar will get too cheap to connect to the power grid. 2 months ago:
As long as we find a way to make use of the excess electricity produced, yes. Today we don’t have enough intermittent energy users. For storage, or otherwise.
There are initiatives calling for/demanding an expanded hydrogen infrastructure, for instance, so that could be one thing. I believe Germany is the leading country of such initiatives.
- Comment on Solar will get too cheap to connect to the power grid. 2 months ago:
That’s what we are reduced to. That is what I mean. I also say that in the EU directive called EED, the union demands that, starting 2026, every public body needs to put PV-cells on the roofs of the buildings they use.
That will be noticeable.
- Comment on Solar will get too cheap to connect to the power grid. 2 months ago:
I wish we could. That capacity is already booked. Our batteries needs to be used as local storage. And this is before the EU mandate on solarpanels on all roof tops has taken effect. The grid can’t expand at that rate, unfortunately.
- Comment on Ain't no way 2 months ago:
slow clap
- Comment on AI models collapse when trained on recursively generated data 3 months ago:
Well… Its built on statistics and statistical inference will return to the mean eventually. If all it ever gets to train on is closer and closer to the mean, there will be nothing left to work with. It will all be the average…
- Comment on World passes 30% renewables milestone for the first time, decline of fossil inevitable 4 months ago:
Which states is it you are referring to? And which countries? And what is it that you think qualifies as being “further left” in this case?
- Comment on Capturing CO2 With Copper, Scientists Generate 'Green Methane' 4 months ago:
Oh, you are aussie:) i should have guessed by your username.
Ok, for starters, where I live that big yellow thing stops shining. Practically (for electricity production anyways) for almost 6 months of the year and almost totally for 3. And even with heat pumps we still use several MWh of electricity every year to heat our homes. A battery park can keep a city running for 1h. Even those planned in NSW (BESS is it?) would struggle to keep things running for mire than a day. To be clear:
We need more energy storage than can be provided by electric batteries, than can be bought at battery prices and in scales larger than can be produced with any technology current or in the overseeable future. And we needed it yesterday. Any form of low cost, stable, easy to store solution we can use is a huge step forward. Solar is great! But we need the electricity when the sun doesn’t shine. Heat pumps are awesome! But their awesomness is needed when the sun doesn’t shine so much. That is why we need more energy storage solutions.
Summertime there are almost limitless electricity available, but that energy needs to be stored somehow. And with limitless (in practice) efficiency isn’t an issue. Even storing 1% is better than 0%. Regardless of efficiency.
- Comment on Capturing CO2 With Copper, Scientists Generate 'Green Methane' 4 months ago:
You said it yourself. Still undiscovered. The technology we have today can’t be used to save more than a day or so of electricity. We need to handle months. Finding more energy dense ways of doing it is crucial.
And even if we burn it and put it back in the air, it is still positive, because we won’t have added more from oil. And if we get enough of the stuff we can let the trees grow, which would be a carbon sink.
Step 1: stop using oil. If we use the methane as is, we’ve accomplished this step. Step 2: scrub carbon from atmosphere. Upping the game and replacing wood for heating would let the trees scrub the atmosphere, creating carbon sinks Step 3: accelerate. Can processed methsne be stored in energy dense compounds? Like oil was?
- Comment on Capturing CO2 With Copper, Scientists Generate 'Green Methane' 4 months ago:
Batteries may be more efficient, but we can’t use them to store all the energy we need. And heat pumps still need electricity when there is less renewable electricity available.
Looking at nature, long carbon chains are the way to store lots of energy and being able to use just electricity to get carbon out of the air is a great first step. Capturing the methane will allow us to process it further.
This is the best news regarding energy storage I’ve seen in a long time.
- Comment on How is the hydrogen made? 7 months ago:
And better yet, if the excess heat can be used. Last Friday i heard a sales rep from a (green) hydrogen company describe their solution as a heating solution that produce hydrogen at an energy storage conference. Seems fair to me😊
- Comment on Forget boomers vs millennials, the next conflict is millennials vs each other 7 months ago:
Exactly! That confrontation line isn’t age, gender or background. Always the haves Vs the have nots. But it is convenient when those with legitimate demands are tricked to fight windmills
- Comment on Sulfur Better than Hydrogen for Energy Storage, Engineers Find 7 months ago:
I’m struggling to get a grasp on the numbers she’s citing for efficiency, almost to the point that I began questioning if there was an agenda here.
And she is doing the same thing most influencers are around this tech, being one-dimensional. Take hydrogen, the optimum scale is neither national energy storage, nor single person vehicles. But if you look at more of a city block level, where the excess heat can be used for hot water instead of fossils/electricity, efficiency ramps up!
- Comment on New ZenHammer memory attack impacts AMD Zen CPUs 7 months ago:
And unlike the rowhammer report which came a few years ago, neither AM4 nor AM5 is reported at 100% success rate, which asks the question why? What made those specific systems vulnerable?