Liquid hydrogen as energy storage

[meriwether]

Great to see all the thought going into high-tech solutions.

There is an easier solution though - the bicycle.

We don't NEED cars, but we have gotten used to the convenience of them, and we take them for granted.

If there were no cars, we'd go back to the bicycle and the horse. It's not a big deal.


On the topic of the Citaro buses struggling going up a hill - Virgin Railways in the UK bought a multimillion pound fleet of new trains last year which are not able to climb hills. I think Siemens and the local Electricity Company are still arguing over where the fault lies.

We dont need cars?
Are you sure about that?

[Simon.D]

I hate to be a profit of doom but the combustion of hydrogen has a major drawback, it produces water vapour. Water vapour, like CO2 and Methane, is a green house gas.

What you're forgetting is that unlike CO[size=7]2 [/size]& CH[size=7]4[/size], H[size=7]2[/size]0 vapour condenses and falls out of the atmosphere as rain.. So it can't hang about in the sky..
The only downside of burning bucket loads of hydrogen is more rain!

[soubresauts]

All these windfarms are essentially useless unless we employ some process to store the energy..

Useless?? Surely all the electricity produced by windfarms will, for the foreseeable future, feed directly into the national grid and thus be used immediately? Am I missing something?

I suppose the long-term aim is that at least some of the time the windfarms would be generating electricity surplus to the national requirement. From what others have written above, it looks like hydrogen could then be a good form of energy storage. (Though... enormous tanks of hydrogen?)

[Pidge]

I hate to be a profit of doom but the combustion of hydrogen has a major drawback, it produces water vapour. Water vapour, like CO2 and Methane, is a green house gas.

But unlike CO2, it cools when it rises, falling as water or some form of precipitation.

[SPN]

We dont need cars?
Are you sure about that?

We managed fairly well without them for 40,000 years. :idea:

[Pidge]

We dont need cars?
Are you sure about that?

We managed fairly well without them for 40,000 years. :idea:

Yes, we also managed without ambulances, police cars, fire brigades, and transport for people who can't walk.

The answer isn't the elimination of cars, the answer is a massive reduction of both car use and their emissions.

[SPN]

We dont need cars?
Are you sure about that?

We managed fairly well without them for 40,000 years. :idea:

Yes, we also managed without ambulances, police cars, fire brigades, and transport for people who can't walk.

The answer isn't the elimination of cars, the answer is a massive reduction of both car use and their emissions.

Exactly!

[Simon.D]

All these windfarms are essentially useless unless we employ some process to store the energy..

Useless?? Surely all the electricity produced by windfarms will, for the foreseeable future, feed directly into the national grid and thus be used immediately? Am I missing something?

Maybe useless was the wrong word to use! As wind energy can be used in this manner fine & dandy to supply 15 - 20% of electricity to the national grid.. As at this level the flux in wind generation can be accommodated for by cranking up/down the traditional methods of power generation (i.e. gas/steam turbines).. But for wind to be a major supplier of energy (supposedly on this island we have enough wind energy on and around this island to power the country 10 times over, 1000% >> 20%), it needs to be stored..

[Auditor #9]

We dont need cars?
Are you sure about that?

We managed fairly well without them for 40,000 years. :idea:

Yes, we also managed without ambulances, police cars, fire brigades, and transport for people who can't walk.

The answer isn't the elimination of cars, the answer is a massive reduction of both car use and their emissions.

Exactly!

Wise up lads, Hobbiton is not going to happen. As a half-green I like my car and I look forward to getting myself in future a modified diesel S40 which will burn McDonalds biodiesel, sold at Drive-thrus by the time I get my hands on it too.

Cycling is caca without proper cycle lanes or dedicated boreens. Listening to morning ireland this morning at least someone's making an effort to push for this.