overthere Posted August 24, 2016 Report Share Posted August 24, 2016 A forthcoming major economic challenge for utilities will be how to plan their grids for much more input from small producers. That assumes that producers of intermittent power want to be connected to the grid for those times when their own sources are not adequate. Diesel backup? How is that going to work in terms of carbon output, particularly in urban areas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dre Posted August 25, 2016 Report Share Posted August 25, 2016 Diesel backup? How is that going to work in terms of carbon output, particularly in urban areas? Depends. The engines in the diesel backup I showed you are tiny compared to the ones in cars and trucks. And in places with enough sun they would hardly ever come on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dre Posted August 25, 2016 Report Share Posted August 25, 2016 That assumes that producers of intermittent power want to be connected to the grid for those times when their own sources are not adequate. Well not only that but a lot of places have net metering so they could sell their excess power during times when there's lots of sun. On sunny days when there's lots of power available, they could stop running water over hydroelectric dams, or even pump it back up to store power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overthere Posted August 26, 2016 Report Share Posted August 26, 2016 Well not only that but a lot of places have net metering so they could sell their excess power during times when there's lots of sun. On sunny days when there's lots of power available, they could stop running water over hydroelectric dams, or even pump it back up to store power. The reason I raise this is that the cost of upgrading distribution lines for this scenario is immense. You have to build the lines to 110% capacity to provide for times when intermittent sources are offline, then what happens when they start to add load? You cannot shut off a big generating plant when a puff of wind makes extra juice on the grid. The capital costs are very substantial, and the need to overbuild will add to that. It is not about net metering, it about building a system that works cheaply and efficently in an industrilazed envirnoment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overthere Posted August 26, 2016 Report Share Posted August 26, 2016 Depends. The engines in the diesel backup I showed you are tiny compared to the ones in cars and trucks. And in places with enough sun they would hardly ever come on. What happens in midwinter in Toronto when a few hundred thousand diesels start on a dark or cloudy day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dre Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 What happens in midwinter in Toronto when a few hundred thousand diesels start on a dark or cloudy day? What happens in midwinter in Toronto when a few hundred thousand diesels start on a dark or cloudy day? There's hundreds of thousands of combustion engines on the streets every single day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overthere Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 (edited) There's hundreds of thousands of combustion engines on the streets every single day. LOL. Lets convert all furnaces to coal and wood too. Both are natural and organic products. Edited August 29, 2016 by overthere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dre Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 LOL. Lets convert all furnaces to coal and wood too. Both are natural and organic products. Huh? That makes no sense in the context of what we were talking about. Did you accidentally quote the wrong post? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
?Impact Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 Diesel backup? How is that going to work in terms of carbon output, particularly in urban areas? C02 is not a local issue, it is a global one. The local issue would be particulate and nitrogen oxide emissions; that all depends on the engine, modern diesel engines are generally way better than those of a decade or more old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dre Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 C02 is not a local issue, it is a global one. The local issue would be particulate and nitrogen oxide emissions; that all depends on the engine, modern diesel engines are generally way better than those of a decade or more old. Not only that but if that system was deployed in places with 5 peek hours or more the diesel generator would almost never come on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 Maybe being told about it from a Gay Comedian on the CBC will make people realize how hypocritical opponents of this thing are. http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2682577073/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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