As one who works in this field, the transition will not be easy or nice.
Large amounts of pain will occur if the grid fails to deliver reliable
electricity. This is not buggy whips or telephone exchanges. Cause the
grid to fail and we lose the ability to make things, process things,
deliver things, communicate, have internet discussions, pump waste,
supply water, etc. We, as a word wide interconnected technological
society, are totally dependent on a reliable electricity and gas grid.
It can't be dismissed as if it were buggy whips. Love it or hate it, we
need it to be there and working very reliably for at least 30 years.
It is much easier, lower cost and quicker to back-end LENR heat plants
into existing thermal plants. Then we attack CO2 emissions in the
quickest and lowest cost method per tonne of CO2 eliminated, while
stopping the rise in the cost of electricity. In your electricity bill
about 50 - 60% goes to maintain the grid. Only about 15 - 20% goes to
pay for the thermally generated Ac kWhs. Don't expect LENR based plants
to drop electricity bills. The reason they need to have a LCOE of around
$0.02 / Ac kW is to generate a high enough ROI so these plants can
quickly be paid off as otherwise the plant owners will just continue to
burn coal.
AG
On 12/1/2011 11:05 AM, Horace Heffner wrote:
On Nov 30, 2011, at 2:45 PM, Aussie Guy E-Cat wrote:
All the LENR component suppliers need reliable electricity to produce
their components as do their supplier and their suppliers, etc as
well as the employes and their suppliers need reliable electricity.
If the grid becomes unreliable, we may lose the ability to make more
LENR devices and then we have burned our bridges and are F**Ced. That
can't be allowed to happen. The grid must be maintained in a highly
reliable state and the same for the thermal plant driving the grid or
we are seeing the beginning of the end.
LENR devices are the Pandora's box of our generation. The devil you
do, the devil you do not. It would seem the genie is awaking and
can't be put back into the bottle. Heaven help us all for we may not
know what we have created and it's potential to destroy all we have
built if we use LENR devices to power our homes and reduce our
electricity and gas consumption to ZERO.
AG
There were similar worries about the future of horses and buggies.
Telephone switchboard operators jobs were threatened when automatic
switching was invented. Factory automation with robots was fought for
years. The future is coming, and it is better to adapt to it than
fight it.
Above ground power lines are a hazard, and a blight on the country
side. I say good riddance. Oil and gas serves a much better purpose
as feed stocks for materials production rather than burning for
energy. We are likely past Hubbert's peak. If we don't greatly reduce
our consumption of carbon products then future generations will suffer
greatly. If global warming is not stopped there may be few future
generations, if runaway climate feedback occurs.
I say bring it on, the sooner the better. Centralized power
production should be the easiest to implement using CF. If so, the
power utilities should be able to remain highly competitive, given
nearly zero fuel costs. Individuals selling power to the net may
enhance its usefulness and survival time. The grid might ultimately be
nationalized and supported by taxes, similar to highways, for some
period of time.
I expect many new industries to develop, such as old ICE car
conversion to electric or even CF power, or greenhouses that would not
be economical to heat otherwise.
Here in Alaska energy delivery to bush communities occurs only once a
year in many cases, and the cost is 5-10 times the national average.
There are many places that would benefit greatly from off-grid power
because they are already off grid, at least off transmission grids.
Here in Southcentral Alaska, believe it or not, we have a momentary
shortage of natural gas, despite a 1 recent TCF find in Cook inlet.
The media this winter will announce requests to reduce thermostats to
65°F, or 60°F, depending on peak load conditions. People are asked in
these cases to reduce electricity use to a minimum. There are
expected to be rolling blackouts in these cases. For most people this
also amounts to loss of heat when there is no power. Though the
shortages here are a result of very bad planning (until recently we
were exporting LNG and fertilizer made form Cook Inlet gas), and
perhaps corrupt politics, this still serves as an example of the kind
of future everyone can expect if there is anything at all to Hubbert's
peak.
Time is of the essence. If E-cats are a bust it is likely a very
untimely disaster for the field. We need LENR energy now.
Best regards,
Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
