Making the news today....

[Doug Tait]

Our local engineers AB Wight have lost a lot of kit from their new yard. They've been good at keeping us fabricated and repaired for a while now.

 

Must have been a job to actually move all that stuff.

 

Vehicles and tools valued at £35,000 stolen from engineering business in Borders

WWW.BORDERTELEGRAPH.COM

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AB Wight Engineering posted on social media that its new site, was targeted by thieves overnight last night (Tuesday May...

 

[Johnsond]

The wind and solar power myth has finally been exposed

WWW.TELEGRAPH.CO.UK

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The necessary miracle doesn't exist

Am interesting article, admittedly not from today 😞

Edited May 14, 2023 by Johnsond

[coppice cutter]

Meanwhile, in "la la" land,

 

Wind is main source of UK electricity for first time

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

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Wind power overtakes gas for the first time in the UK during first three months of year.

 

[Squaredy]

1 hour ago, Johnsond said:

The wind and solar power myth has finally been exposed

WWW.TELEGRAPH.CO.UK

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The necessary miracle doesn't exist

Am interesting article, admittedly not from today 😞

As most people (myself included) do not subscribe to the telegraph can you summarise the article so we may learn what this myth is please?

[openspaceman]

2 minutes ago, Squaredy said:

As most people (myself included) do not subscribe to the telegraph can you summarise the article so we may learn what this myth is please?

As expected from a right wing rag it was an article pointing out the need for storage of electricity made from renewables and extolling nuclear power as the solution, because that benefits large corporations, when in fact as you and I know for personal use for the summer and most of spring and autumn one day's storage suffices.

 

For PV the hungry gap in November to January is what needs addressing, wind less so.

 

In the meanwhile better weather forecasting means that our biggest traditional generators can be scheduled to come on stream when needed, coupled with current pumped storage.

 

And yes we must remain dependent on natural gas for a fair while yet and will have to pay for under utilising their capacity when not needed, in just the same way we pay to curtail wind power currently because the national grid has not the capacity needed.

 

For the last few weeks I have been curtailing my solar PV production because it is capable of producing more than I use or can export. This is because it is sized to produce what I need in the shoulder months before I have to import in deep winter.

[coppice cutter]

5 minutes ago, openspaceman said:

................ better weather forecasting

I was going to say that that is a joke.

 

But actually the consistent decline in quality of information from the Met Office has gotten to the stage that it has caused so many losses and so much distress amongst those who previously relied on it that it is no longer at all funny.

[Mark J]

15 minutes ago, coppice cutter said:

I was going to say that that is a joke.

 

But actually the consistent decline in quality of information from the Met Office has gotten to the stage that it has caused so many losses and so much distress amongst those who previously relied on it that it is no longer at all funny.

ESA - New weather satellite reveals spectacular images of Earth

WWW.ESA.INT

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Europe’s latest weather satellite, the Meteosat Third Generation Imager, has just delivered its first view of Earth – revealing conditions over Europe, Africa and the Atlantic in remarkable...

 

[openspaceman]

13 minutes ago, coppice cutter said:

I was going to say that that is a joke.

 

But actually the consistent decline in quality of information from the Met Office has gotten to the stage that it has caused so many losses and so much distress amongst those who previously relied on it that it is no longer at all funny.

Strange, I don't depend on it but do check the forecast coupled with the rain radar if I need a clear spell to do something outside and don't have problems. It is good at predicting wind in the context of wind turbines which is why they called for consumption reductions 22 times in the last winter, as well a just testing the concept.

[Johnsond]

1 hour ago, Squaredy said:

As most people (myself included) do not subscribe to the telegraph can you summarise the article so we may learn what this myth is please?

I don’t subscribe neither the article I read wasn’t behind a paywall at the time. 

[Johnsond]

1 hour ago, openspaceman said:

As expected from a right wing rag it was an article pointing out the need for storage of electricity made from renewables and extolling nuclear power as the solution, because that benefits large corporations, when in fact as you and I know for personal use for the summer and most of spring and autumn one day's storage suffices.

 

For PV the hungry gap in November to January is what needs addressing, wind less so.

 

In the meanwhile better weather forecasting means that our biggest traditional generators can be scheduled to come on stream when needed, coupled with current pumped storage.

 

And yes we must remain dependent on natural gas for a fair while yet and will have to pay for under utilising their capacity when not needed, in just the same way we pay to curtail wind power currently because the national grid has not the capacity needed.

 

For the last few weeks I have been curtailing my solar PV production because it is capable of producing more than I use or can export. This is because it is sized to produce what I need in the shoulder months before I have to import in deep winter.

I’m just curious and in no way contradicting what you are saying but how are the profits currently being made within the wind industry any different or less  attractive to corporations than the profits being made by say nuclear energy providers??. I have been involved in the offshore side of things with the wind energy industry and have seen firsthand the absolute free for all cash cow that this has become for predominantly overseas companies. Regarding the solar energy/storage set up you mentioned what may I ask was the installation cost and the projected break even point, and does this provide you with all the power you require on a day to day basis Ive a neighbour up here in Aberdeenshire looking to put in a system that’s costing him around 15k he estimates 8 years to break even and is only putting it up as his air source heat pump system  is proving to be horrendously expensive to run. 

Edited May 14, 2023 by Johnsond