Shetland windfarm - Viking Energy

[stilldellin]

From todays Telegraph :-

Perhaps, ever so gradually, wind is moving from being a technology of the future to being a technology which was the future once.

How very true !

[Skunnered]

^^

[Graeme_Storey]

The Washington Post

 

The Arctic ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in

some places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a

report to the Commerce Department yesterday from Consulafft, at

Bergen, Norway . Reports from fishermen, seal hunters and explorers

all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto

unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic zone. Exploration expeditions

report that scarcely any ice has been met as far north as 81 degrees

29 minutes. Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters showed the gulf

stream still very warm. Great masses of ice have been replaced by

moraines of earth and stones, the report continued, while at many

points well known glaciers have entirely disappeared.

 

Very few seals and no white fish are found in the Eastern Arctic ,

while vast shoals of herring and smelts which have never before

ventured so far North, are being encountered in the old seal fishing

grounds. Within a few years it is predicted that due to the ice melt

the sea will rise and make most coastal cities uninhabitable.

 

See Below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oops! Never mind. This report was from November 2, 1922, as

reported by the Associated Press and published in the Washington Post

- 88 years ago!

[stilldellin]

Nice to see still the odd sensible project going ahead :-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-12206615

[mate64]

This may not be a serious suggestion, just a point to debate.

 

Half a £ billion is a lot of money. That is roughly the cost of the connecter cable. Could some of this not be used instead to develop a hydrogen production plant. The Viking project could then easily power Shetland (even in a calm day) and have tonnes of hydrogen to export. Also the diesel backup would not be necessary.

 

In the longer term when wave and tide become more viable we could connect to the North Sea super-grid. That would be a shorter cable than the route to Scotland.

[ArabiaTerra]

It's an interesting suggestion, however, as far as I know there are no commercial hydrogen production facilities of the scale which would be required so any plant would essentially have to be developed from scratch. Also, hydrogen is quite difficult to store and transport.

 

You would also need to modify a gas turbine generator set to burn the stuff, both here and at the export destination.

 

All in all, I doubt whether this could be done for less than the half billion that the cable would cost.

[mate64]

Alex Salmond seems excited by hydrogen energy. See the BBC report at

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-12215386

 

It was interesting to see that the Pure guys from Unst are involved. This technology does not have to be developed from scratch. I reckon that someone in the know should investigate what £500 000 000 could do to advance this idea.

[BigMouth]

We should stop faffing about and get a nuclear power station built up here. They could put it in Scalloway, where the school will be closing down, or instead of the pharmacy, or where the homeless housing or fish processing plant was going to go until the local community blocked it.

[Guest Anonymous]

I doubt AT will go for this idea like the wind farm line their own pockets brigade.

without the interconector there is no need for such a large windfarm and therefor less guaranteed payments to land owners.

in fact the whole thing could fit on an island with little soil and no peat allready owned by the council.

[Skunnered]

^^Ah yes - Forvik!

[shetlandpeat]

taly has come up with world’s first hydrogen power plant. This power plant is situated in Fusina, near Venice in the Veneto region of Italy. Enel is constructing this power plant producing no undesirable greenhouse gases. It is Italy’s largest power company with a track record of fifty million power and gas customers. Enel is procuring hydrogen from an accompanying production from Polimeri Europa’s petrochemical plant. This hydrogen will be brought to the establishment by especially built pipelines. Polimeri produces a wide range of petrochemical products, and its ethylene-cracking process will be responsible for the hydrogen feedstock. This hydrogen power plant will be operational in 2010. It will provide power to 20,000 households.

 

This hydrogen power plant is an off shoot of the Environment and Innovation Project known as Hydrogen Park. 7.4 billion euros will be assigned for the whole project by 2012. Another 40 million euro plant will be established on the line of Enel’s existing coal-fired power station in Fusina. It will have an investment of 4 million euros from the local Veneto region. According to Enel this power plant will save the emission of more than 17,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. This power plant has a capacity of 12 megawatt and burns hydrogen gas in a turbine developed in partnership with General Electric.

 

We know that the only byproducts of the hydrogen fuel burning process are hot air and water vapor. These two are used to produce steam. This steam can be utilized by a coal-fired plant to produce another potential four megawatts of energy.

 

http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/first-hydrogen-power-plant-in-italy/

 

And you would need a store, look at the problems a car tank has

 

Liquid Hydrogen Tanks

 

 

The energy density of hydrogen can be improved by storing hydrogen in a liquid state. However, the issues with liquid hydrogen (LH2) tanks are hydrogen boil-off, the energy required for hydrogen liquefaction, volume, weight, and tank cost. The energy requirement for hydrogen liquefaction is high; typically 30% of the heating value of hydrogen is required for liquefaction. New approaches that can lower these energy requirements and thus the cost of liquefaction are needed. Hydrogen boil-off must be minimized or eliminated for cost, efficiency and vehicle range considerations, as well as for safety considerations when vehicles are parked in confined spaces. Insulation is required for LH2 tanks and this reduces system gravimetric and volumetric capacity.

 

So you would need to manufacture your own

 

You need a good gas supply to heat the plant, quite an expense.

 

Hydrogen is very dangerous, if it goes wrong, bang.

[Guest Anonymous]

Forget all the waffle that we are used to but what is the problem with scaling this up

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-12215386

 

to suit Shetland and not building a behemoth to suit Scotland

[Guest Anonymous]

This whole viking energy thing is pushed on us to suit the ambitions of a few, we are being told it is this or back to the stone age for Shetland.

I have no problem with alternative energies but I certainly do have a problem with the VE monstrosity and the way it being sold to the public.

I do have a problem with the AGW brigade and their pay more tax or its back to the stoneage for the human race.

 

Notice the similarity in their arguments if we don't do it their way we're all screwed. Not many original thinkers on the board of directors or the supporters group.

[MuckleJoannie]

 

 

 

Hydrogen is very dangerous, if it goes wrong, bang.

 

If you're in any doubt here is a video of the most famous fire involving hydrogen, the loss of the Hindenberg

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE9UpU8PDIE

[Guest Anonymous]

Nice video but irrelevant today and for this discussion, nobody is suggesting we store the stuff in balloons