3 ms·

>> thus a relatively small amount of electricity demand That doesn’t smell right to me. Finland’s pretty chilly. Surely their energy usage has to be high? Acc

>> thus a relatively small amount of electricity demand That doesn’t smell right to me. Finland’s pretty chilly. Surely their energy usage has to be high? According to world data bank, Finland has one of the highest kwh per head of population demands in the world. About 3-4x more than the US for example. >> where wind turbines The energy supply breakdown for Finland appears to be predominantly about a successful Nuclear deployment for electricity and social / district heating.

doikor 4y ago
> The energy supply breakdown for Finland appears to be predominantly about a successful Nuclear deployment for electricity and social / district heating. Sadly nuclear isn't used for district heating at all. There is a LOT of waste heat (in the GW range) that is just pumped into outside to "heat" the sea (very locally). There has been some plans about building pipelines from the nuclear plants to big cities to transport the heat to them (Loviisa to Helsinki would only require ~90km pipe) but isn't currently possible without a change in nuclear safety laws/codes. Even the town of Loviisa is not using the waste heat of the 2 nuclear reactors there to heat the town itself. edit: Obviously the electricity produced by the nuclear plants is used in district heating to power heat pumps but that is very inefficient (already ~60% loss just from heat -> electricity at the nuclear plant).
- jabl 4y ago
  > edit: Obviously the electricity produced by the nuclear plants is used in district heating to power heat pumps but that is very inefficient (already ~60% loss just from heat -> electricity at the nuclear plant). Well, heat pumps are pretty efficient, with a COP of ~3(?), the overall efficiency is better with heat pumps. Even better, however, is by combining both with cogeneration producing both electricity and heat for district heating. District heating in cities use the waste heat from the plant, and electricity can be used to run heat pumps outside the cities where the district heating grids don't reach. Of course the problem with cogeneration is that we have to get away from burning stuff, and siting nuclear plants in cities has its own challenges as well.

doikor 4y ago

> The energy supply breakdown for Finland appears to be predominantly about a successful Nuclear deployment for electricity and social / district heating. Sadly nuclear isn't used for district heating at all. There is a LOT of waste heat (in the GW range) that is just pumped into outside to "heat" the sea (very locally). There has been some plans about building pipelines from the nuclear plants to big cities to transport the heat to them (Loviisa to Helsinki would only require ~90km pipe) but isn't currently possible without a change in nuclear safety laws/codes. Even the town of Loviisa is not using the waste heat of the 2 nuclear reactors there to heat the town itself. edit: Obviously the electricity produced by the nuclear plants is used in district heating to power heat pumps but that is very inefficient (already ~60% loss just from heat -> electricity at the nuclear plant).

jabl 4y ago
> edit: Obviously the electricity produced by the nuclear plants is used in district heating to power heat pumps but that is very inefficient (already ~60% loss just from heat -> electricity at the nuclear plant). Well, heat pumps are pretty efficient, with a COP of ~3(?), the overall efficiency is better with heat pumps. Even better, however, is by combining both with cogeneration producing both electricity and heat for district heating. District heating in cities use the waste heat from the plant, and electricity can be used to run heat pumps outside the cities where the district heating grids don't reach. Of course the problem with cogeneration is that we have to get away from burning stuff, and siting nuclear plants in cities has its own challenges as well.