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They should use the power to disassociate sea water into hydrogen, store it, then have a barge come by and collect it. See the "Sea change" ferry project by t

They should use the power to disassociate sea water into hydrogen, store it, then have a barge come by and collect it. See the "Sea change" ferry project by the SF port for inspiration. Weird that this got down voted, what for?

davedx 3y ago
So a lot of the bigger hydrogen projects in Europe are doing that except at the onshore connection point. Electrolyzers are hideously expensive so you probably don’t want to cosite them on the actual wind turbine itself. But IIRC there is a pilot project to build a “hub” in the North Sea like this. Edit: yes here it is: https://northseawindpowerhub.eu/hydrogen-production-could-take-place-sea https://northseawindpowerhub.eu/hydrogen-production-could-ta...
- ben_w 3y ago
  > Electrolyzers are hideously expensive I can easily believe the piping is hideously expensive, likewise the storage, but I find it difficult to believe that the actual electrolysers themselves are expensive, given I built a small one at such a young age I’m not even sure how old I was (single digit, but apart from that, IDK).
  - lazide 3y ago
    efficient hydrolyzers are expensive, both to build and to maintain, especially if they use seawater. Sticking wires in saltwater is cheap.
BobaFloutist 3y ago
Weird that this got down voted, what for? I suspect it's because people get a bit tired of every article on infrastructure challenges getting responses along the lines of "They should just do this thing that I just read about that sounds really cool!" Chances are that the possibility occurred to at least one of the numerous technical experts and professional engineers involved in the project, and there's a reason that's not the favored approach. Sometimes it's because the linked idea has other complications that aren't actually that much easier to solve than the present complications (hydrogen is notoriously difficult to store, because it's so dang small, and it's pretty volatile too), and sometimes it's because a super cool emerging technology that might become the standard for the future isn't actually ready for large-scale deployment, because people literally just figured out how to make it work (why don't people simply have large batteries in every home to balance out grid loads? It seems like a really good idea!). Sometimes problems are hard, and as smart as I'm sure you are, I don't know that you're smarter than everyone involved in this project combined.
- iancmceachern 3y ago
  Wow. I did not imply any of that in my comment. I also did not violate any HN guidelines that I'm aware of. You are assuming I'm a bunch of things I'm not, and then acting accordingly. I don't think that's fair. My comment was applying a classic problem solving technique of combining two problems into one symbiotic solution. Things like using waste heat from industrial processes to heat offices, etc. Check out TRIZ I am not just some random idiot on reddit, I have deep experience here. I don't really feel the need to explain why or how.
  - LeanderK 3y ago
    Random people proposing unrealistic solutions is something I personally am very tired of. It just really derails any intellectual discussion with baseless fantasising. For example it often happens for discussions on EV. So if you don't state your experience in any convincing way your comment is just noise to me. I won't research your credentials and google you just to judge wether it's random sci-fi or a realistic comment, there are just to many of these comments. I think the down-votes you got reflect this general sentiment. You don't have to explain your experience but then your proposition might not be taken serious. Your comment is also so short that it is really indistinguishable from the sci-fi spam comments.
    - iancmceachern 3y ago
      Random people trying to make the world a better place is how we move the world forward. There are a million examples of this. Getting outside ideas, outside blood into these kinds of projects is exactly what moves us forward. I'm a engineer, I've been designing large complex systems for 2 decades and I always welcome and even encourage outside perspectives and folks from other industries lending their advice. I was just chatting with the head of a robotics automation startup who found some great synergies in the cabinet making industry. It sounds like you are just tired. It doesn't matter much what your tired of, it sounds like you are tired of all new ideas unless they come from the same old places. That's just exclusionary.
    - iancmceachern 3y ago

davedx 3y ago

So a lot of the bigger hydrogen projects in Europe are doing that except at the onshore connection point. Electrolyzers are hideously expensive so you probably don’t want to cosite them on the actual wind turbine itself. But IIRC there is a pilot project to build a “hub” in the North Sea like this. Edit: yes here it is: https://northseawindpowerhub.eu/hydrogen-production-could-take-place-sea https://northseawindpowerhub.eu/hydrogen-production-could-ta...

ben_w 3y ago
> Electrolyzers are hideously expensive I can easily believe the piping is hideously expensive, likewise the storage, but I find it difficult to believe that the actual electrolysers themselves are expensive, given I built a small one at such a young age I’m not even sure how old I was (single digit, but apart from that, IDK).
- lazide 3y ago
  efficient hydrolyzers are expensive, both to build and to maintain, especially if they use seawater. Sticking wires in saltwater is cheap.

BobaFloutist 3y ago

Weird that this got down voted, what for? I suspect it's because people get a bit tired of every article on infrastructure challenges getting responses along the lines of "They should just do this thing that I just read about that sounds really cool!" Chances are that the possibility occurred to at least one of the numerous technical experts and professional engineers involved in the project, and there's a reason that's not the favored approach. Sometimes it's because the linked idea has other complications that aren't actually that much easier to solve than the present complications (hydrogen is notoriously difficult to store, because it's so dang small, and it's pretty volatile too), and sometimes it's because a super cool emerging technology that might become the standard for the future isn't actually ready for large-scale deployment, because people literally just figured out how to make it work (why don't people simply have large batteries in every home to balance out grid loads? It seems like a really good idea!). Sometimes problems are hard, and as smart as I'm sure you are, I don't know that you're smarter than everyone involved in this project combined.

iancmceachern 3y ago
Wow. I did not imply any of that in my comment. I also did not violate any HN guidelines that I'm aware of. You are assuming I'm a bunch of things I'm not, and then acting accordingly. I don't think that's fair. My comment was applying a classic problem solving technique of combining two problems into one symbiotic solution. Things like using waste heat from industrial processes to heat offices, etc. Check out TRIZ I am not just some random idiot on reddit, I have deep experience here. I don't really feel the need to explain why or how.
- LeanderK 3y ago
  Random people proposing unrealistic solutions is something I personally am very tired of. It just really derails any intellectual discussion with baseless fantasising. For example it often happens for discussions on EV. So if you don't state your experience in any convincing way your comment is just noise to me. I won't research your credentials and google you just to judge wether it's random sci-fi or a realistic comment, there are just to many of these comments. I think the down-votes you got reflect this general sentiment. You don't have to explain your experience but then your proposition might not be taken serious. Your comment is also so short that it is really indistinguishable from the sci-fi spam comments.
  - iancmceachern 3y ago
    Random people trying to make the world a better place is how we move the world forward. There are a million examples of this. Getting outside ideas, outside blood into these kinds of projects is exactly what moves us forward. I'm a engineer, I've been designing large complex systems for 2 decades and I always welcome and even encourage outside perspectives and folks from other industries lending their advice. I was just chatting with the head of a robotics automation startup who found some great synergies in the cabinet making industry. It sounds like you are just tired. It doesn't matter much what your tired of, it sounds like you are tired of all new ideas unless they come from the same old places. That's just exclusionary.
  - iancmceachern 3y ago