The technology thread

[Bada-Bing!]

Solar panel sales boom as energy bills soar

More people are turning to renewable energy as a way to cut energy costs.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Which Tyler]

It's a good thing, but a pity it took this to do it.
As ever, it's a solution that's only available to those with existing capital (the Vimes model).

 

[Bada-Bing!]

The right capital and right house facing the right way.

 

[Which Tyler]

The right capital and right house facing the right way.

That too - which buggered me when they were heavily discounted a decade or so back.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Solar panel sales boom as energy bills soar

More people are turning to renewable energy as a way to cut energy costs.

www.bbc.co.uk

When I eventually have a place of my own (that isn't a flat, which I'm currently going for) I'm going to be looking at fitting all sorts of home generation and efficiency upgrades. Big up front cost but I've been watching various videos of people who did this and the payback can be surprisingly fast.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Crypto.com pulls out of Uefa Champions League deal

The cryptocurrency exchange site had been lined up by Uefa to replace Gazprom as a sponsor.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Amiga500]

So by the end of next year 114 wind turbines in a single wind farm will power 1.1 million out of the 27 million homes in the UK.

Agh, I've a real pet hate on f**king reporters about this subject.

Their bullsiht numbers.
It won't power anything like 1.1 million homes. That divides up as 1.1 kW per home.

For context:
1x kettle ~ 2.5 kW
1x electric shower ~ 9 kW
1x oven ~ 3.5 kW

In the morning when getting ready for work, households every where will be sticking the kettle on and showering.
In the evening, they'll be sticking the kettle on and cooking.

Furthermore, typical load factors for an offshore turbine is only around 30-35% last time I looked (i.e. produces rated power only around 30-35% of the time), so the quoted production load actually needs to be divided by at least 2, if not nearer 3 to give the actual energy produced - assuming it could be stored with great efficiency.


That said, its a good step forward for Scottish power - but the real problem will be sufficiently large and efficient storage to make it replace base-power generators.

 

[Amiga500]

Been looking through this:

Scottish Energy Statistics Hub

scotland.shinyapps.io

... and the numbers are really good.

Obviously, the nucler plants are forming the back bone of it, and I'd wish they'd be a little clearer on their sources:

But clearly that mix is the way to go.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Why the folding phone revolution has a way to go

After 13 months, technology editor Zoe Kleinman's Flip3 screen breaks, but can the concept live on?

www.bbc.co.uk

Still a way to go for the folding phone market.

 

[Amiga500]

Why the folding phone revolution has a way to go

After 13 months, technology editor Zoe Kleinman's Flip3 screen breaks, but can the concept live on?

www.bbc.co.uk

Still a way to go for the folding phone market.

IMO folding phone is a bit of a a gimmick.

However, an unfolding laptop certainly isn't.

A 14" chassis that unfolds to give you something like a 37" 16:3 screen? Yes please.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Hydrogen boilers: everything you need to know - British Gas

In this article, we’ll bring you up to speed with the latest info and why it’s not really something to worry about.

www.britishgas.co.uk

Was reading this. Ok, by BG who have an incentive for hydrogen gas boilers to come to market but gives a rough idea.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Hydrogen boilers: everything you need to know - British Gas

In this article, we’ll bring you up to speed with the latest info and why it’s not really something to worry about.

www.britishgas.co.uk

Was reading this. Ok, by BG who have an incentive for hydrogen gas boilers to come to market but gives a rough idea.

I didn't know UK new build houses wouldn't be allowed gas boilers by 2025. A good step. I also didn't know about this 20% hydrogen mix in gas happening. Definitely need to get my next boiler (if I go down that route rather than a heat pump, which will be if they continue to artificially inflate the price of electricity in the UK) to be enabled to take the hydrogen mix. The BG article is also inaccurate because you can already get electric 'boilers' that look just like normal boilers and plug into existing radiators. The only downside being currently they are so heavy they can only be installed on the ground floor and can't be wall mounted.

Hydrogen is better than nothing because you can use renewable electricity to produce hydrogen. So you could have wind farms going at full tilt 24/7 to produce hydrogen. My understanding though is its currently inefficient because you use around 5 times the electricity to produce the hydrogen as you would if you were just using the electricity to power the grid. So really, the number 1, 2 & 3 focus should be household batteries, community batteries and massive battery farms* so that 100% of renewable energy produced is stored and ultimately used. Everything else will be inefficient by comparison and smells a bit like the fossil fuel industry trying to find an inefficient alternative to pure electric so they can control the market more.

Hydrogen Production: Electrolysis

Electrolysis is the process of using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The reaction takes place in a unit called an electrolyzer.

www.energy.gov

*and 'vehicle to grid' EVs, which is existing tech.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Hydrogen boilers: everything you need to know - British Gas

In this article, we’ll bring you up to speed with the latest info and why it’s not really something to worry about.

www.britishgas.co.uk

Was reading this. Ok, by BG who have an incentive for hydrogen gas boilers to come to market but gives a rough idea.

Conveniently leaves out how the Hydrogen will be produced. Only a fraction of Hydrogen production is green, most of it is "blue" Hydrogen, which is basically a way of avoiding saying it is produced from fossil fuels. Burning Hydrogen in the homes may release fewer CO2 emissions but that's because that happened in the process of separating the Hydrogen from the Hydrocarbons earlier.

This may be better if there is proper carbon capture technology involved but if there isn't, it makes no difference and is just a con.

 

[Which Tyler]

Does anyone have any idea about the practicalities of using mechanical (kinetic / potential) batteries?

Presumably relatively small scale, with plenty of inefficiency in the system.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Been looking into starting a human hamster wheel energy company, hasn't seen big in roads in the tech wet but like water wheels if I can lure I mean hire 100 people who want to lose weight and get them to run during the Morning and Early Evening whilst I have breakfast and play games it should save me some good wedge

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Been looking into starting a human hamster wheel energy company, hasn't seen big in roads in the tech wet but like water wheels if I can lure I mean hire 100 people who want to lose weight and get them to run during the Morning and Early Evening whilst I have breakfast and play games it should save me some good wedge

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Ok 1000 people and some hamsters

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Ok 1000 people and some hamsters

Also reminded me of this: I do wonder though how many hamsters it would take running simultaneously to make a cup of tea and toast in the morning.

 

[die_mole]

Been looking into starting a human hamster wheel energy company, hasn't seen big in roads in the tech wet but like water wheels if I can lure I mean hire 100 people who want to lose weight and get them to run during the Morning and Early Evening whilst I have breakfast and play games it should save me some good wedge

I've been advocating we use the 13th amendment for energy creation here in the states for over a decade and I'm always given a stink eye. Maybe now people will see things my way.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Does anyone have any idea about the practicalities of using mechanical (kinetic / potential) batteries?

Presumably relatively small scale, with plenty of inefficiency in the system.

https://www.tesla.com/powerwall

I think you're referring to this? Not sure about the whole inner workings of Tesla's battery. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable able to spread more light.

But whole idea is to connect and power using solar panels on the roof. Again going back to whether your house is facing the right way to capture enough sunlight and up front capital cost. So not cost effective for a lot of people.

But alternative to solar powering them, it would mean the grid being connected to it and storing energy for when it is needed. Which means how the energy is produced in the first place.