Energy rationing.

Nor is it as complicated as some folk would have you believe. It is
mired in standing technology investments, patenting/licensing issues
and (natch) political intransigence.

'Hog

 

Maybe it is Renewable Devices just up the road from me. Someone has just
given them 9 million pounds to provide 2000 roof mounted turbines.
http://www.renewabledevices.com/swift/news.htm

The Scotsman article reckoned it will cost £1500 so I gave them a ring
and it's currently about the £5K mark, although they hope to bring it
down to the target price within the year.

http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=352432003


Break even point moves from 15 years to 4.5 if my figures are right,
I've asked them to contact me when the price comes down ;-) .

 

AFAIK the best long term process so far is vitrification, And that doesn't
work either.

 

Well in terms of the specifics of waste disposal, solidification and
wrapping with deep underground disposal. It's not like the deep crust
isn't already radioactive.

'Hog

 

It's not like we can drill down that deep into the crust either. And the
natural radioactivity isn't of the same order of concentration as man made
nuclear shit.

 

Dunno where I first heard about them, but I saw a picture in a Sunday
colour supplement a few weeks ago. Total diameter of the blade
assembly is 2.5 metres - that's all I remember of the details. Sorry,
you'll have to google it.

--
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I never give in to fear or blackmail; I always give in to temptation.
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"You're a national treasure" - porl, 18.1.03

 

Can you imagine the problem after you drill down, weaken the crust, pump
several thousand tonnes of the nastiest shit that can possibly be imagined
in and then it becomes a volcanoe and spits it all back out.

Lets hope the Russians let us drill down there.

 

British Gas:

http://www.britishgasnews.co.uk/index.asp?PageID=16&Year=2005&NewsID=670
http://www.windsave.com/

 

Unfortunately, the huge, huge problem with wind farms - I don't know
much about wave energy - is variation in supply, either too little
wind or, in case of stormy conditions, too much. I have a vague idea
that wind power is proportional to the square of the wind speed but
I'm not sure.

At present, we don't have a means of storing surplus energy in large
quantities apart from schemes like Dinorwig. As a result, backup
generators need to have sufficient capacity to take on the _whole_
load should there be a nationwide period of low wind, such as a high
pressure ridge over the Isles. These generators would need to be in a
constant state of readiness and as such, would almost certainly be
absorbing at least some energy.

I do believe in wind power but it can only ever be _part_ of a
solution unless the oh, so important problem of energy storage is
sorted.

 

On the face of it Dinorwig seems to have solved the surplus energy
problem by using the reservoir as a battery.

If wind power rather than off peak electricity drives the pumps to refill
the reservoir that may go further in providing the answer. My experience
of Summer in Wales means neither wind or rain is in short supply.

 

Also, apparently, they interfere with fishing grounds or something, so
even offshore they're not wanted. Having said that, the last I heard,
the Gunfleet Sands farm was going ahead.

A colleague of mine, a nice and by no means stupid chap, was dead set
against the Cambridge wind farm. His fears, mainly about the look of
the things, but also that apparently if you're half a mile or so
downwind then you *can* get a thudding noise caused (I think) by the
pressure waves as the blades pass the tower. This apparently can cause
nasty resonances in chimneys, etc. If this is true then yes, I guess
that it is a problem than needs to be addressed.

The last I heard it had been denied permission, one reason I read
being that "it might distract drivers on the A14 and cause accidents".
FFS.

Oh, and apparently it would interfere with Cambridge (Marshalls)
airport's radar, despite being over 20 km away from the airport and on
the other side of the city to boot.

It does seem that the anti's are wheeling out *any* excuse they can
think of.

 

Of course!

If we extend the analogy then this explains the tilted axis of
rotation: the Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical and it has to
countersteer at perihelion in order to make it round the Sun.

<sighs and sits back contented with his own brilliance>

 

Yes, but how many reservoirs would we need?

Heh.

 

So does Sellafield - There was a study done some years ago about the
level of radioactivity in seagull guano (I suppose someone enjoys the
job ... !), and it was seriously high

 

"some"

 

So, gods own motorcycle is a chain drive one.

 

The general consensus (from what I've read (i.e. NS)) is that isn't
going to happen, not in the near future anyway

.... which is a relief

Well, not that quickly, in several hundred years maybe

But there's enough to raise the sea level by 70 metres

which is bad news if you live in Norfolk, or almost anywhere in the
Pacific

 

Pillion passenger's don't get the credit for this manouvre you know.

 

That's true of solar electric, but much less so of solar water panels.
There are plenty of well-made panels still around having served usefully
for at least 20 years.

 

'Many'.

Ahem... Cruachan. Predates that Welsh pond by a few years. Frankly, I
think we should fill every valley in places where few folk go or live.

For the greater good and all that.