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The problem with wind and solar energy is that you can't plan for when you need power, and you can't feasibly store large amounts of electricity. This means tha
by mixmax 15y ago
The problem with wind and solar energy is that you can't plan for when you need power, and you can't feasibly store large amounts of electricity. This means that wind and solar can't be the primary powersource, at least until the storage problem is solved which doesn't seem to be on the horizon.
On windy sunny days you'll have too much electricity and on windless nights you won't have enough.
There's a EU project underway to scale up powerlines so that electricity can be moved across the EU as needed. The thinking is that it's always windy somewhere, and though you can't store electricity you can move it without too much loss. So if the wind is blowing in Portugal they can export theis excess power to a windless Denmark and vice versa.
- timdorr 15y agoActually, MIT solved the storage problem 2 years ago. It's just got to make it's way to market: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oxygen-0731.html http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oxygen-0731.html
- mixmax 15y agoVery interesting article. Unfortunately there's usually a long way from the lab to industrial production, but of course if you don't try you won't succeed.
- lispm 15y agoGermany is currently planning to build two HVDC (High-Voltage Direct Current) lines to Norway. They will provide us here in North Germany with Hydro backup. There is a lot of research going on in new storage systems. In solar thermal power plants, there is already storage. It is not that Germany switches over night to renewable. The shutdown process of the nuclear power plants will take ten years. The plan for the 100% deployment of renewable energy has a target of 2050. Without a goal, nothing will happen. Germany sets a goal and the framework to reach it.
- woodpanel 15y agoWho in Germany has those plans!? No one. Norway proposed them to Germany, to the Netherlands and Great Britain. None of these HVDC are currently even close to be projected. Of course, they'd be glad if Germans elect a Government that will force it's citizens to buy the luxury of clean norwegian energy.
- lispm 15y agoOh, yeah? Funky. The German regulation authorities then seem to have given permission to a project that nobody plans, nobody has heard of, does not exist? Please inform them of your findings. Hamburg Abendblatt, November 2010: >NETZAGENTUR GENEHMIGT STROMLEITUNG >Deutschland und Norwegen vernetzen sich >Das 600 Kilometer lange Unterseekabel soll Netztschwankungen der beiden Länder ausgeichen. Nur die EU-Kommisssion könnte widersprechen. > Das 600 Kilometer lange Unterseekabel soll Netzschwankungen aus der norwegischen Wasser- und deutschen Windkraft ausgleichen. >BONN/HANNOVER. Deutschland und Norwegen vernetzen sich: Die Bundesnetzagentur hat den Weg für eine direkte Stromverbindung zwischen Deutschland und Norwegen durch die Nordsee frei gemacht. Das Konsortium NorGer erhielt am Donnerstag eine Ausnahmegenehmigung der Bonner Behörde. Sie befreit das Projekt damit von bestimmten Vorschriften zur Regulierung des Energiemarkts. Agenturchef Matthias Kurth nannte die Entscheidung ein „positives Signal für die Integration erneuerbarer Energien“. >Eine Funktion des 600 Kilometer langen Unterseekabels wird es sein, Netzschwankungen aus der norwegischen Wasser- und deutschen Windkraft auszugleichen. Niedersachsens Umweltminister Hans-Heinrich Sander (FDP) lobte den Beschluss: „Ich bin davon überzeugt, dass die Verbindungsleitung eine sinnvolle Ergänzung zum landseitigen Netzausbau darstellt.“ Das Kabel soll ab 2015 von Flekkefjord an der norwegischen Südküste über den Meeresgrund bis an die ostfriesische Küste führen. Für den deutschen Abschnitt wurde bereits im Mai ein Raumordnungsverfahren gestartet. Der innereuropäische Stromhandel wird nach Einschätzung Kurths von der deutsch-norwegischen Direktverbindung profitieren. Die Gleichstrom-Leitung leiste „einen wichtigen Beitrag für die Marktintegration“. Eine Voraussetzung für die Befreiung von den üblichen Bestimmungen zum Netzanschluss und -zugang sei gewesen, dass sich das Projekt insgesamt positiv auf den Stromwettbewerb auswirkt. Das Bundeskartellamt sprach sich ebenfalls für eine Genehmigung aus. Zwar könne die EU-Kommission als oberste europäische Wettbewerbsbehörde bis Ende Februar noch Einwände erheben, sagte Kurth. „Ich gehe aber davon aus, dass dieses grenzüberschreitende Projekt auch von ihr unterstützt wird.“ Norwegen ist kein EU- Mitglied, gehört jedoch zur Europäischen Freihandelszone EFTA. Das Konsortium NorGer umfasst die norwegischen Unternehmen Agder Energi AS, Lyse Produksjon AS und Statnett SF sowie die Schweizer Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Laufenburg AG.
- holri 15y agoThere are huge electr. pumped storage hydro power stations in use in Austria und Switzerland for decades... http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpspeicherkraftwerk#.C3.96sterreich http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpspeicherkraftwerk#.C3.96ste... Also smart grids (trinding price due to current demand and consumption and intelligent consumer hardware automatically controlled by this price) are emerging. Also the weather forecast and therefore solar and wind energy producing forecast for the next 24 hours is very accurate nowadays. Far-sighted and intelligent planning of the energy-mix in the smart grid is therefore possible.
- rmc 15y agoAlso smart grids (trinding price due to current demand and consumption and intelligent consumer hardware automatically controlled by this price) are emerging. Sounds terrible. Can you imagine half the lights in your house automatically turning off due to price increases? If it's enforced on people then it's basically rolling brownouts. If it's optional people will leave the lights on, pay more and grumble, but you'll still to generate the electricity (unless you do rolling brownouts).
- holri 15y agoMy washing machine or dish washer is programmable at the moment. They often wash in the night. I don't mind when they are washing given them a target finishing time. My 2 thermal heat pumps for hot water and heating could easily take the price into their on/off calculations without any nuisance. They just store the heat energy in the house / water bowl when electric is cheap. If I am going to buy an electric car or a plug hybrid, I don't mind when it is charging, I just want that the batteries are full at 7 am. There is a lot of room for intelligence in our energy consumption. Owning my own battery buffer could also become profitable. The volatile wholesale price is there at the moment, what is missing is a volatile consumer price and an XML / JSON whatever webservice with the current price information and some WIFI chips and logic in my hardware. Not a big deal actually.
- Tichy 15y agoI don't think there is a physical law that says you can not store energy.