Recent posts from Green Tech First glimpse of EU’s solar, windfarm plans Consumers getting more attention in smart grid A day at Zap: The future of electric fleet cars has arrived Austin, NY likely to see first Chevy Volts Tesla Roadster gets version 2.5 upgrade Web campaign vows to blast BP with vuvuzelas Norway, Sweden to get giant GE wind turbines Louvre looks to LEDs to light the way Related New York mulls Great Lakes wind farm Norway, Sweden to get giant GE wind turbines GE to invest $10 billion in Ecomagination initiative N.J. county going solar with unique financing Solexant funded to print thin-film solar cells Solar microinverter firm Enphase bags $63 million Deal brings $100 million for home solar financing Novel design yields energy-efficient air conditioner Add a Comment (Log in or register) (8 Comments) prev next by OniOokamiAlfador July 2, 2010 8:15 AM PDT Wind and solar will both not be viable on the full scale until there is sufficient battery technology to store and release the energy as needed. It’s just a sad fact that when the wind and sun aren’t available, you need to kick up coal, gas, nuclear, or whatever other plants to make up for it. Like this Reply to this comment by solitare_pax July 2, 2010 8:46 AM PDT That’s granted either here or there – but there are a large number of nuclear, hydroelectric and conventional plants already in operation in Europe. This is intended more to supplement the existing power sources and reduce their reliance on foreign fuels as their economic needs expand. Like this by freemarket–2008 July 2, 2010 11:20 AM PDT Apparently the concept of peak load eludes many people. Electricity usage varies all through the day anyways, so peaking plants are already widely used. If more base power (solar) is available during peak usage, these plants will not be needed as often. Demand/supply controls can also reduce peak load. Like this by mike_m_ekim July 2, 2010 7:21 PM PDT Nuke plants almost always run at 100% and are fundamentally unable to add/remove load at will, unless you’re talking about navy reactors.
Also, there are ways to store energy other than with batteries. Like this by mrwater July 2, 2010 9:03 PM PDT Fortunately, it’s a happy fact that variable sources become surprisingly reliable when enough of them are connected to a grid. And, as freemarket–2008 notes, there’s also demand management. Like this by yacahuma July 2, 2010 9:47 AM PDT People always complain. Even if battery tech is not there yet. You can still use the sun during the day. Thats about 10 hours less a day of fuel burning. I will take that over nothing any day. The problem is that a lot of people prefer to do NOTHING. What a shame. Like this Reply to this comment by hackingbear July 2, 2010 10:34 AM PDT And these will be financed using the national debts of the PIGS as collaterals. Like this Reply to this comment by mike_m_ekim July 2, 2010 7:23 PM PDT “For offshore wind we will need significant investments in infrastructure, such as grids, harbors and vessels that can accommodate and transport machines the size of offshore wind turbines across the sea,” said Justin Wilkes…
Wow, it seems like a lot of ‘scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ going on. I find it hard to imagine that we can’t transport a wind turbine because our harbor infrastructure is insufficient. It sounds like a case of, “I’ll vote for your bill if you put something in it for me’. Like this Reply to this comment (8 Comments) prev next Add a comment Comment SUBMIT Click here to add another comment. Popular discussions on CNET: Crave giveaway: Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV HD
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