Power stations burning bio mass

[openspaceman]

Nuclear fusion is our only hope.

Fingers crossed.

 

ps using less is our only hope

[openspaceman]

i have to say that with what i have read on hydro power and the latest units that a small mill stream is capable of producing more than a kv of power per hour.

 

I think you mean kilowatt, power is energy per second, energy is measured in Joules, the amount it takes to move a force of 1 newton through a distance of 1 meter.

 

i wanted to find out what some of the mill races round here could produce i di have the formula to do it it was width of stream x depth x speed last bit was how to work out speed without having a knot meter. but water is there harness it not just let if flow out to sea doing nothing apart from the nature side of things. what would the cost be for a small hydro power unit for a mill stream. has to be as cheap as solar and far cheaper than wind. as for nuke power. rather use something else.

 

The sums are fairly straightforward, the power available is the mass flow per second time the velocity squared all divided by 2. On the large scale with the generator optimised for these you may be able to extract 90% of the energy but you disrupt the ecology of the stream if fish cannot get pat etc. So extracting power from a low head flow differs from high head devices are essentially hydrostatic and their power derives from head time massflow times gravity.

 

From an individual family's self sufficiency point of view using electricity just for IT, tv and lighting you could get by with very little electrical energy. Possibly 1 kWhr/day. Modern led lights now challenge fluorescent lighting and come in smaller sizes. LED, LCD screens use less energy than the old cathode ray tubes and of course laptops, PDA, Smart phones use less than desk top pcs.

 

So if you avoid using electricity for heating, can store a couple of day's worth in a battery and have a small free running device in the stream that doesn't impede the flow or wildlife much, possibly with PV in addition then it can be done. Your true costs will likely be far higher than 12p/kWh.

[renewablejohn]

Just to show how little water you require for the average household to be self sufficient.

 

Water Vortex Drives Power Plant - Sepp Hasslberger

[swinny]

Yes I did read the earlier posts and there factually incorrect. Its a myth that you only need a high head to generate electric. The big expansion in hydro electric is occurring in low head vortex schemes with heads less than 5 mtrs which can be found throughout England.

 

not to long ago i was working in the dales doing some trees and clearance for hydro electric project

[Breezeblock]

i have solar pv and water ,used to have a wind turbine have got a wood boiler etc and until you actually start to make/generate your own power you dont realise how much power/heat we actually use if everybody would cut down it would make a lot of difference you dont notice gas going thru a pipe or electricity goin thru the meter until you try to replace it with your own making

[Compo]

None of the so called renewable energy sources can be applied to any purposeful degree without massive environmental costs, particularly in a country so overcrowded as ours. Catweazel is right - the emphasis has to be on using less. Nuclear is too frightening to even think about. There will be an accident because people will cut corners. And just where are you going to put the waste?

[renewablejohn]

I do and I don't agree with some of his conclusions but he's an eminent professor and I chopped trees for a living. I know who's the fool in not getting qualifications so now I just accept free meals from my little brother who chose an academic path and is more than averagely successful in academia.

 

The book is a different approach and it does make one see the limits of technologies.

 

 

This book is full of errors you have to critically appraise the figures to understand the cr-p he is peddling.

 

Ch 8 Page 55: Sustainable Energy - without the hot air | David MacKay

 

Just because your a professor does not mean your opinions have to be accepted it depends more on who is paying for your opinion. (Pro Nuclear)

[Compo]

This is not a new debate. Sustainability is far more than trying to find ways of generating electricity. Unfortunately it has become a buzzword, a marketing tool. There are calculations that can be done to assess the maximum sustainable population but the answers are unpalatable in a spin driven society. It's so much easier to assume that there will be a magic answer so that we can just carry on living like kids in a sweetie shop.

[openspaceman]

i have solar pv and water ,used to have a wind turbine have got a wood boiler etc and until you actually start to make/generate your own power you dont realise how much power/heat we actually use if everybody would cut down it would make a lot of difference you dont notice gas going thru a pipe or electricity goin thru the meter until you try to replace it with your own making

 

Thanks Denny, it's good to see someone who is walking the walk can see the disparity with those of us grid connected.

[face cord]

All new houses built are suppose to be "zero carbon" by 2016.

 

Code for Sustainable Homes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

So if all old houese are gradually knocked down & replaced or upgraded to lvl 6 might help abit

 

I don't think it will happen though