Hydrogen infrastructure

[Larry Caldwell]

Just started to look at this specific area recently..... what a small team at Stanford did a few years ago....

Can splitting water become an efficient way to store solar energy?

It's good to see a lot of initiatives in play, as posted here recently. Much of the general public doesn't understand that while a lot of primary work doesn't necessarily get applied directly, minor aspects of the same work may enable other important developments.

30% ^ may not sound high (esp. if you haven't looked at other processes), but when the I/P energy is zero cost......

Rgds, D.

Catalysts and high temperature electrolysis are improving hydrogen production efficiency. It's good to remember that the process also produces oxygen, which has many industrial uses and is also valuable.

My understanding is that high pressure steam at 800 to 1000 degrees splits more efficiently because the work is already partially done. It's not financially practical at the moment, but solar concentrators in combination with solar PE could work without inputs.

 

[DieselBound]

Cant wait for that.
Maybe the number of breaths we take per day is another new regulation coming?

Here you go (note: this is FAR from the topic of this thread, but since Hay Dude introduced the basic subject): SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals

 

[DieselBound]

I guess you didn't get that memo.... Hydro electric is evil !

JK . It's pretty weird how gravity and water get such a bad rap today. Unless (as I posted in another thread) you are a Nordic country using it to produce The World's Greenest EV battery in the high Arctic (no fragile eco-system there, eh).....

More rounds of Cognitive Dissonance for everybody, I'm buying !

(I do like hydro-electric, always have.....)

Rgds, D.

Average lifespan of dams is something like 150 years. They kill fish: when I was in the computing biz I'd tell people, when asked what I was doing, I said I was killing fish.

I was going to build totally off-grid, using micro-hyrdo (I know a little bit about the subject!).

 

[3930dave]

Take 2H, one O, and gravity.... doesn't get much simpler than that.

I've made reference to mass-psychology here, and no, that's primarily not my usual sarcasm at play.....

There's something I can't quite put my finger on, and I'll wander through an example, different than energy..... I noticed a while back a note on some Wagner brake pads, about the elimination of trace copper in the pads, allegedly due to copper disrupting the breeding cycle of something I don't recall....... that may well be the case, but my next thought was "OK, but we're still expected to believe that dumping billions of tons of salt on the road every Winter does nothing to flora and fauna ?"

On a broad-scale, there's an Emperor's New Clothes feel to this at times, and I see the same vibe with energy.

Protest a hydro dam, because you want to watch videos of free-flowing rivers on the iphone xxyy that you dutifully buy new every 8 months, while cruising along in your Tesla ZZZ, conveniently ignoring the enviro impact of all of your consumption.....

PV production is yet another dirty business that we've exported (the dirt, for now....but it'll be back....) to the other side of the planet...... Wind turbines are already ageing out and failing in Europe..... It all has a lifespan and cost, both in $ and environmental impact. To contend otherwise is intellectually dishonest, or at best, deluded.

That's why I probably need to do some more Psych 201 reading....

Now... back to regular tech programming..... I've seen a few nice micro-hydro projects done on Homepower - 24x7 continuous free power at any level rocks !

Rgds, D.

 

[ArlyA]

Average lifespan of dams is something like 150 years. They kill fish: when I was in the computing biz I'd tell people, when asked what I was doing, I said I was killing fish.

I was going to build totally off-grid, using micro-hyrdo (I know a little bit about the subject!).

Rivers killed people with every flood that came along. They also irrigate with the water behind the dam and increase yields expediently. Dams are a give and take, like most things in life. I worked in a few of them.

 

[Egon]

When talking about Dams the whole river system must be included. That includes the Deltas and flood born silt. Aswan Dam may be a good example.

 

[rademamj1]

PV production is yet another dirty business that we've exported (the dirt, for now....but it'll be back....) to the other side of the planet...... Wind turbines are already ageing out and failing in Europe..... It all has a lifespan and cost, both in $ and environmental impact. To contend otherwise is intellectually dishonest, or at best, deluded.

Rgds, D.

I have done much reading into wind turbines, their design, construction and ultimately their destruction when they reach their age limits. And they wear out much faster than anyone previously thought. The large off shore wind farms in Europe are performing very well and averaging about 2.5 MW per wind turbine. These are high maintenance wind turbines and have a life span of approximately 23 years before replacement. The wind turbines also create significant industrial waste during replacement.

 

[gsganzer]

I recently read an article that GE is working on programs to recycle the old windmill blades.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Here you go (note: this is FAR from the topic of this thread, but since Hay Dude introduced the basic subject): SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals

Technical journals are a racket. They charge a bundle for publication, none of which goes to the researchers. Rather than spending hundreds of dollars for journal subscriptions, email the researcher. They are generally happy to email a copy of their paper to you free of charge.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I recently read an article that GE is working on programs to recycle the old windmill blades.

It's a labor problem. Windmill blades can be resurfaced and they are as good as new. The process requires minimal materials, but a lot of hand labor. Think putting a new gel coat on a fiberglass shower. It's cheaper to tear the old one out and replace it.