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Great news! Ireland needs to become less reliant on coal and peat, two of the absolute worst energy sources in terms of pollution. Funny quote from the article

Great news! Ireland needs to become less reliant on coal and peat, two of the absolute worst energy sources in terms of pollution. Funny quote from the article: "A single megawatt is equivalent to around 1,000 kilowatts." A single megawatt is equivalent to _exactly_ 1,000 kilowatts.

teh_klev 7y ago
Might be a typo and they meant "MebiWatt" :) /gets coat.
sambe 7y ago
Immediately followed by: "Boiling a kettle, for example, takes around two kilowatts." I guess that was a very small amount of water or it was already pretty hot.
- evandijk70 7y ago
  While I agree that the word 'boiling' should probably be replaced by 'running', the power draw of a typical kettle is indeed around 2 kilowatts. The amount of water or the starting temperature is not relevant for the power, but just for the total energy required, measured in kWh.
  - sambe 7y ago
    You are right. I mis-read the latter part due to the former implying total energy.
pjfin 7y ago
Read this book on peat use in Ireland a while back -> http://www.books.ie/brown-gold-a-history-of-bord-na-mona-and-the-irish-peat-industry http://www.books.ie/brown-gold-a-history-of-bord-na-mona-and... It was part of DeValeras mad drive for "national self-sufficiency" back in the 40s and 50s. The inefficiency of the plants is mind-boggling. Peat burns at an extremely low heat in comparison to coal or gas. Another interesting article on why peat is such a bad idea -> https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/why-peat-is-most-damaging-fuel-in-terms-of-global-warming-even-worse-than-coal-1.3674537 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/why-peat-is-most... [peat] has a lower calorific value than coal (generating less energy per tonne when it is burned) and yet it produces higher CO2 emissions per unit, so it is the least climate-efficient way to produce electricity or heat in Ireland bar none.

teh_klev 7y ago

Might be a typo and they meant "MebiWatt" :) /gets coat.

sambe 7y ago

Immediately followed by: "Boiling a kettle, for example, takes around two kilowatts." I guess that was a very small amount of water or it was already pretty hot.

evandijk70 7y ago
While I agree that the word 'boiling' should probably be replaced by 'running', the power draw of a typical kettle is indeed around 2 kilowatts. The amount of water or the starting temperature is not relevant for the power, but just for the total energy required, measured in kWh.
- sambe 7y ago
  You are right. I mis-read the latter part due to the former implying total energy.

pjfin 7y ago

Read this book on peat use in Ireland a while back -> http://www.books.ie/brown-gold-a-history-of-bord-na-mona-and-the-irish-peat-industry http://www.books.ie/brown-gold-a-history-of-bord-na-mona-and... It was part of DeValeras mad drive for "national self-sufficiency" back in the 40s and 50s. The inefficiency of the plants is mind-boggling. Peat burns at an extremely low heat in comparison to coal or gas. Another interesting article on why peat is such a bad idea -> https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/why-peat-is-most-damaging-fuel-in-terms-of-global-warming-even-worse-than-coal-1.3674537 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/why-peat-is-most... [peat] has a lower calorific value than coal (generating less energy per tonne when it is burned) and yet it produces higher CO2 emissions per unit, so it is the least climate-efficient way to produce electricity or heat in Ireland bar none.