Category Archives: Storing energy

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SUPER-BATTERY

Posted on 8 July, 2017 by

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SUPER-BATTERY, or why I disagree with Elon Musk on batteries for renewables. (I disagree with great sadness, as you might have noted I love everything else Elon does. 😉 ) I don’t get it. Say we take Elon … Continue reading →

Posted in Renewable energy, Storing energy | Leave a comment

What do I make of Powerwall?

Posted on 3 May, 2015 by

While Tesla’s Gigafactory is bringing down the *financial* cost of batteries, the *energy* cost of building them is still the same. And that cost is huge. So huge that once counted in the energy accounting of a wind and solar … Continue reading →

Posted in Renewable energy, Storing energy | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Science show pushing renewables contradicts itself

Posted on 7 January, 2015 by

Try listening to the interesting (but for me ultimately infuriating) ABC Science Show podcast below, and spot the contradiction. I see contradicting renewable philosophies all the time. They push conflicting ideas. Baseload or not? Some claim they’ll make renewables baseload … Continue reading →

Posted in Renewable energy, Solar, Storing energy, Wind | 4 Comments

NREL and the baseload myth

Posted on 8 November, 2014 by

One of the great problems with charging a whole fleet of electric cars is how would the grid cope. Would we have to double our daytime capacity and build out a super-grid as electricity demand skyrocketed! But NREL to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Electric Vehicles, Nuclear, Storing energy | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Battery that could run all Australia for 10 hours?

Posted on 22 March, 2011 by

Imagine a giant hydro dam that acted as a ‘battery’ for Australia for when the renewables went down. Now imagine that it is on a flat desert plain instead of a traditional hydro dam wrecking a beautiful valley somewhere. Meet … Continue reading →

Posted in Storing energy | 5 Comments

Thermal battery

Posted on 28 October, 2010 by

In effect, explained Grossman, this makes it possible to produce a “rechargeable heat battery” that can repeatedly store and release heat gathered from sunlight or other sources. In principle, Grossman said, a fuel made from fulvalene diruthenium, when its stored … Continue reading →

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Pooh power!

Posted on 6 October, 2010 by

Sounds like a great gas to power trucks and other essential heavy vehicles to me, rather than producing electricity which could be supplied by nukes. The biomethane project that turns human waste into green gas that we featured in May … Continue reading →

Posted in Biofuels, Storing energy | Leave a comment