On Mar 13, 2006, at 6:05 AM, Jed Rothwell wrote:
Robin van Spaandonk wrote:
you would
>continue to supply some electricity with quick response
>load-balancing generators, which I suppose would be natural gas
turbines.
I don't really see the need for this. Current which is being
diverted through an electrolysis cell can very rapidly be
redirected to the grid almost effortlessly. . . .
Or were you referring to times when no wind was blowing?
Exactly right. Or when too much wind is blowing, and the turbines
have to be feathered. No matter how many turbines you erect, I
doubt you could ensure they always meet 100% of demand.
Actually, instead of natural gas, the obvious choice would be
hydrogen turbines. I should have thought of that! Old assumptions
often blind us to obvious solutions.
- Jed
Large volume hydrogen transmission, distribution and storage are
fairly obvious problems to any engineer serious about a hydrogen
economy. The fact so little attention is being given to these things
is a clear indication government policy is not currently aimed at
developing a true hydrogen economy. See:
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/Hpipeline.pdf
Horace Heffner
