Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
No, they can't. You can't just "switch off" a coal-fired power station - it takes weeks to take off-line, or bring back on-line. A coal station cannot, therefore, act as a "backup" for wind power on windless days, and equally you can't take a coal station off-line on windy days. Wind power can replace certain other types of power generation plant, such as hydro-electric plants, because they can be quickly taken on- and off-line.
I worked for many years in the UK power industry. The calculations about what "mixture" of generating plant you need to satisfy the varying demand at different times of the day and years are very complex, and I'm afraid it's overly simplistic to say "if we build more wind farms we can get rid of coal power stations". Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. You need a mixture of "permanently on" power plants to satisfy your "base load" - that's currently basically a choice of coal, gas, and nuclear plants - plus generation capacity which can come on-line when needed to satisfy peaks of demand (and that can include wind power).
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I totally agree.
If I can bring a lame analogy in the mix it would be this. I'd compare energy procurement to the specialty workings of a company. To funtion properly an enterprise needs administrators, accountants, workers, sucontractors etc.
The energy web we need to function efficiently has to be built around a different and varied supply mix most of which is built around electricity transport. Although each form of procurement deemed gren has limitations, all can be used.
To my knowledge there is only one form of power, still experimental at this time, that provides the stability and ecofriendlyness that would suit our needs. Tidal and wave power generation. So far there are, believe it or not, hurdles that would slow its progress down. The first is the way to harness the power, the second, technical aspects surrounding the transmission lines underwater, the third, impediments to maritime activities and the fourth, effects on the marine ecology in relation to sound, vibrations and EM waves. Since 90% of the world population resides close to waterways this type of power generation could bring fascinating possibilities.
An other concept that would help us migrate to more ecofriendly forms of energy that are fragilised by natural instabilities such as wind and solar, is that of storage in massive proportions. It is widely accepted than transmission of power to and from a storage form induces a high loss coefficient that is sometimes deemed too expensive, but some are worthy of investigation and investment. We could use power produced over peak from one type of generation to pump water in an artificial dammed lake and release that water to produce power as needed. Other clever solutions such as this exist.
We face the greed of those profiteering of the actual state of power management as the biggest hurdle to "paint ourselves green".