mogish
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Post by mogish on Feb 28, 2022 17:41:24 GMT
Why don't we go with the RR proposed small, modular, cheap, quick nuclear reactors? These were/are surely good news if we are going to be short of energy. Any energy source is worth considering, spent the day cutting and splitting wood. Back and knees are killing me. Thought life got easier as we get older. Good feeling of satisfaction seeing the wood shed slowly replenish.
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Greenwood2
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Post by Greenwood2 on Feb 28, 2022 18:07:04 GMT
Why don't we go with the RR proposed small, modular, cheap, quick nuclear reactors? These were/are surely good news if we are going to be short of energy. Any energy source is worth considering, spent the day cutting and splitting wood. Back and knees are killing me. Thought life got easier as we get older. Good feeling of satisfaction seeing the wood shed slowly replenish. Our wood shed is also pretty full, we have been taking down an old hedgerow which has delusions of grandeur and has grown to be a series of mainly hawthorn trees. They will shoot again judging by the ones we cut down drastically the previous year and we are putting in other shrubs etc, to fill in.
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Greenwood2
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Post by Greenwood2 on Feb 28, 2022 18:09:24 GMT
Why don't we go with the RR proposed small, modular, cheap, quick nuclear reactors? These were/are surely good news if we are going to be short of energy. Well, 1 do you understand what they mean by small and quick? 2 do you understand where the fuel comes from? (Ends in ..stan if that helps 3 do you understand where the spent fuel will go ( generally end in ..ussia) and 4 are you prepared to have these small units next to your house? Answers on a post card.... The answers are the same as for the big reactors, which we are apparently building at huge cost.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2022 18:26:38 GMT
I don't expect to see a large one built and running in the next ten years. I would point out someone proposed going for small ones.
I'd be happy with none.
I do believe that sun, wind and water can supply all our needs. The calcs are easy.
Of course fewer nimbies would help and dum-arses who insist on heating houses without insulation or driving massive cars with one but in it.
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Greenwood2
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Post by Greenwood2 on Feb 28, 2022 18:30:25 GMT
I don't expect to see a large one built and running in the next ten years. I would point out someone proposed going for small ones. I'd be happy with none. I do believe that sun, wind and water can supply all our needs. The calcs are easy. Of course fewer nimbies would help and dum-arses who insist on heating houses without insulation or driving massive cars with one but in it. If the government are going for nuclear, small will save huge amounts of time and money. If eventually we can go totally renewable fine. Edit: It was RR suggesting small, I think it was basically modified nuclear submarine engines, which they can build easily.
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Post by crabbyoldgit on Feb 28, 2022 18:45:06 GMT
Any energy source is worth considering, spent the day cutting and splitting wood. Back and knees are killing me. Thought life got easier as we get older. Good feeling of satisfaction seeing the wood shed slowly replenish. Our wood shed is also pretty full, we have been taking down an old hedgerow which has delusions of grandeur and has grown to be a series of mainly hawthorn trees. They will shoot again judging by the ones we cut down drastically the previous year and we are putting in other shrubs etc, to fill in. started gathering for winter 2023/24 today, free wood , its rubbish pallets and such . But the new competition is coming fast and when the new gas bills bite every man and his dog with an open fire to resurrect is going to be skip diving.
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jonno
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nil satis nisi optimum
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Post by jonno on Feb 28, 2022 19:01:12 GMT
Why don't we go with the RR proposed small, modular, cheap, quick nuclear reactors? These were/are surely good news if we are going to be short of energy. Well, 1 do you understand what they mean by small and quick? 2 do you understand where the fuel comes from? (Ends in ..stan if that helps 3 do you understand where the spent fuel will go ( generally end in ..ussia) and 4 are you prepared to have these small units next to your house? Answers on a post card.... Well, in answer to (4) I'm more than happy to have these units next to his house.
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mogish
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Post by mogish on Feb 28, 2022 19:01:48 GMT
Our wood shed is also pretty full, we have been taking down an old hedgerow which has delusions of grandeur and has grown to be a series of mainly hawthorn trees. They will shoot again judging by the ones we cut down drastically the previous year and we are putting in other shrubs etc, to fill in. started gathering for winter 2023/24 today, free wood , its rubbish pallets and such . But the new competition is coming fast and when the new gas bills bite every man and his dog with an open fire to resurrect is going to be skip diving. Its already happening. Our council leave the cut up trees from recent storms where they fall, within days they are gone, everybodt has a chainsaw and trailer. A 1 ton bag of firewood is now £120. Im happy to cut up my own, its just getting decent wod thats the challenge. Watch with burning pallets, I cracked the stove top a few years back as pallets burn hot and fast.
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Greenwood2
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Post by Greenwood2 on Feb 28, 2022 19:01:54 GMT
Our wood shed is also pretty full, we have been taking down an old hedgerow which has delusions of grandeur and has grown to be a series of mainly hawthorn trees. They will shoot again judging by the ones we cut down drastically the previous year and we are putting in other shrubs etc, to fill in. started gathering for winter 2023/24 today, free wood , its rubbish pallets and such . But the new competition is coming fast and when the new gas bills bite every man and his dog with an open fire to resurrect is going to be skip diving. Lucky we have a lot of trees which have also been shedding loads of branches in the recent winds + the hedgerow. Be careful what some wood has been treated with if you burn it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2022 19:07:51 GMT
A quick glance at grid.iamkate.com shows the issue with wind power It can vary anywhere from around 2GW-13GW at any time, depending on the weather. When its windy, our fossil fuel usage can drop under 10%. When it isn't windy, it can be nearly 75%. So - yes, wind power is very capable of powering the country, and some days we are very close to a carbon-free grid already - but we will still need a 'predictable' source to provide a baseline. Nuclear is a good option for this.
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Post by overthehill on Feb 28, 2022 19:26:01 GMT
A quick glance at grid.iamkate.com shows the issue with wind power It can vary anywhere from around 2GW-13GW at any time, depending on the weather. When its windy, our fossil fuel usage can drop under 10%. When it isn't windy, it can be nearly 75%. So - yes, wind power is very capable of powering the country, and some days we are very close to a carbon-free grid already - but we will still need a 'predictable' source to provide a baseline. Nuclear is a good option for this.
So is hydroelectric. I saw cruachan on a programme the other day, I remember going there about 35 years ago while on a work placement, awesome, think it is 50-60 years old now I think they said it was 400MW, two downpipes open full blast. Hunterston B nuclear is shutting down this year.
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ilmoro
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Post by ilmoro on Feb 28, 2022 19:29:58 GMT
A quick glance at grid.iamkate.com shows the issue with wind power It can vary anywhere from around 2GW-13GW at any time, depending on the weather. When its windy, our fossil fuel usage can drop under 10%. When it isn't windy, it can be nearly 75%. So - yes, wind power is very capable of powering the country, and some days we are very close to a carbon-free grid already - but we will still need a 'predictable' source to provide a baseline. Nuclear is a good option for this. Have you factored in the need to power £32m cars? AIUI we would need 4 x the current wind capacity planned for 2035. The other big problem is balancing the grid, you need considerable amount of standby power and that is very expensive. (Drax apparently got £4k per mw/h in Nov against a wholesale price of £70) High prices for standby power are resulting in fossil providers dropping out of the wholesale market and just providing more lucrative standby power.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2022 19:37:11 GMT
Have you factored in the need to power £32m cars? AIUI we would need 4 x the current wind capacity planned for 2035. So we need to build more then, and faster. OK. Wind power (especially offshore) is the UKs superpower when it comes to renewables. We are a windy island, so a massive coastline to landmass ratio. Why would we NOT exploit this natural advantage? What we are lacking badly is storage capacity to smooth out the peaks and troughs. And yes, we'll still need a baseline and some standby capacity, obviously. And interestingly, electric vehicles also fall into that category - ie they can be charged off-peak, thus reducing the demand peaks and troughs.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2022 19:43:27 GMT
And one thing is for sure, we are going to have to redefine our definition of 'cheap'. Especially not just in monetary terms.
Russian gas has been nice and 'cheap' in pure monetary terms for the West, and where has that got us now? Are the consequences of that addiction still 'cheap'?
Its time to start factoring things like energy security and geopolitical cost into our energy supply decisions as well.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2022 21:27:46 GMT
Thinking you know the size of water surrounded military power unit stuck in an air based civil environment is the problem
You need to actually Know the answer. Which is why I asked the question.
Baseload needs have been disproved, still Gates thinks you still need it but hasn't proven it
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