Time To Revert To Nuclear Power?

[Anna B 1,414]

16 hours ago, Dromedary said:

Hardly mention because we don't have many rivers that flow fast enough so it's not very cost effective.

 

Again, the reasons are because it is very expensive and also causes problems.

The early industrial revolution was powered by water wheels, created by  diverting water and coralling it. Workrd for them.

[Dromedary 166]

5 hours ago, Anna B said:

The early industrial revolution was powered by water wheels, created by  diverting water and coralling it. Workrd for them.

They were fine for what they were usually used for and that is turning a grinding wheel slowly for making flour but that's about it. How much energy do you think a water wheel on the Don would be able to generate?

[Guest sibon]

11 minutes ago, Dromedary said:

They were fine for what they were usually used for and that is turning a grinding wheel slowly for making flour but that's about it. How much energy do you think a water wheel on the Don would be able to generate?

More to the point, once you have removed that energy from the river, what becomes of the river?

 

It isn't free energy.

[Baron99 794]

7 hours ago, Anna B said:

The early industrial revolution was powered by water wheels, created by  diverting water and coralling it. Workrd for them.

As Dromedary says, small scale hydro projects are very expensive. 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Bain_Hydro#:~:text=The River Bain Hydro is,off to the National Grid.

 

£450,000 to supply power to 40 homes. 

 

To be an effective hydro project you need something on the scale of  Dinorwig in Wales but you also require the geography & geology as well. 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinorwig_Power_Station

Edited May 24, 2022 by Baron99

[ads36 217]

Hydro Power : We don't have the geography. You need big rivers flowing through mountains, so that you can build a dam, *AND* have the height, to generate pressure. Power = pressure x volumetric flowrate, without height you have no pressure, without pressure you have no power.

 

Pumped Hydro Storage : again you need mountains, so you can build 2 reservoirs with a height difference (see equation above), you don't need a big river as the water is contained, which is handy. But which valley, in which national park are we going to flood? - just so we can store a few hundred megawatts, for a few hours.

 

Tidal Power : you need fast currents, which means narrow straits - there really aren't many locations where it will work.

It *will* work though - there are a few lovely prototypes, but it's a long, long, loooooooong way from being able to deliver significant (GigaWatts) power, and they only function a few hours a day. Remember, we don't have storage - unless we start flooding National Parks.

 

We have a mountain of nuclear waste, left to us by our grandparents. At some point we'll accept that the safest thing to do is bury it - while we're down there, we might as well bury a _little_ bit more, and have safe reliable power for the next 200 years. 

Edited May 24, 2022 by ads36

[Cyclecar 24]

10 hours ago, sibon said:

More to the point, once you have removed that energy from the river, what becomes of the river?

 

It isn't free energy.

Rain falls in the catchment area, creating a head of energy upstream. As water evaporates, it forms clouds, etc. Its a 'free' cycle

 

A chap I know lived in Ashford, alongside the River Wye. He had a couple of small turbines installed, however the power generated ws very small. But, unlike wind and sunshine they never stopped........................

[Guest sibon]

5 minutes ago, Cyclecar said:

Rain falls in the catchment area, creating a head of energy upstream. As water evaporates, it forms clouds, etc. Its a 'free' cycle

 

A chap I know lived in Ashford, alongside the River Wye. He had a couple of small turbines installed, however the power generated ws very small. But, unlike wind and sunshine they never stopped........................

All true. But damming and extracting energy from rivers will profoundly affect their flow.

[Anna B 1,414]

What about a law saying that every new home built has to have solar panels, a wind turbine and grey water system, as well as top notch insulation.

 

We have eco house technology, so why aren't we using it.

Edited May 24, 2022 by Anna B

[ads36 217]

We just had a quote for a solar panel installation - last Week in fact!

 

£10k.

 

let's be generous, and say that it would save us £2/day (10KWh)

 

that's £720/year (definitely less, in reality - we don't have an arc furnace)

 

that's a 13 year payback (definitely longer, in reality).

 

No Thanks.

.

small wind turbines look cute, but it's much more efficient to put the resources (copper, neodymium) into larger units, built on towers, on hills, or out at sea. Putting them on houses is just a waste of magnets.

Edited May 24, 2022 by ads36

[Baron99 794]

28 minutes ago, Anna B said:

What about a law saying that every new home built has to have solar panels, a wind turbine and grey water system, as well as top notch insulation.

 

We have eco house technology, so why aren't we using it.

I've often thought the same.  Look at all those brand new high rise buildings that have sprung up in the city centre.  Very few appear to have any energy saving measures.  I believe that one of the Hallam Uni buildings on Arundel Gate has a number of solar panels & the Sheffield College off Granville Rd clearly has 3 wind turbines on its roof. 

[Anna B 1,414]

30 minutes ago, ads36 said:

We just had a quote for a solar panel installation - last Week in fact!

 

£10k.

 

let's be generous, and say that it would save us £2/day (10KWh)

 

that's £720/year (definitely less, in reality - we don't have an arc furnace)

 

that's a 13 year payback (definitely longer, in reality).

 

No Thanks.

.

small wind turbines look cute, but it's much more efficient to put the resources (copper, neodymium) into larger units, built on towers, on hills, or out at sea. Putting them on houses is just a waste of magnets.

That's why they should be automatically installed on new builds. OK the house price might rise by £10K, but that's a very small percentage of the final price. 

[Padders 2,863]

Plenty of posters on SF whose energy and spouting nonsense could, if harnessed properly power a small city.......