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