The Breakroom > The Water Cooler
Ban of sales of IC engined cars to support electric cars by 2040
Charles:
Materials in a typical 2MW wind turbine
blades, 3 of 10 tonnes GRP - 3 tones epoxy / polyester / vyinlester resin, 6 tonnes glass fibre, 1 tonne balsa or foam, bolts packers, lightning conductor, balancing mass etc
Hub, 10 tonnes steel plus either 3 giant electric motors or 3 hydraulic rams to pitch the blades, batteries or accumulators in case of power failure, cabinet containing PLC, relays, breakers etc
nacelle, 30 tonnes of steel, including frame, bearings, shaft, gearbox, generator. 500l gearbox oil, 200l hydraulic fluid, sundry motors for pumps, yaw, hydraulics etc, cabinet with PLC etc Large quantity of copper in the generator & cables (any estimates how much copper in a 2MW generator?) Housing, usually GRP, probably a couple of tonnes
Tower, 30 tonnes of steel, big bundle of cable,
somewhere nearby, transformer and switch gear to condition the power so its suitable for the grid probably another couple of tonnes of iron and copper
foundation, onshore varies with ground conditions, but say 7m cube of concrete 750 tonnes offshore steel pilings, or a steel raft
Aluminium not much used except for access ladders platforms etc, maybe 1 tonne total. Concrete towers sometimes used in places where labour is cheep.
The big issue material wise is end of life – all the steel and copper can be re-used, but no-one has yet found a way to recycle the blades
The issue for our charging electric cars is distribution – the best sites for lots of wind turbines are flat empty places like the American Midwest & the Russian Steppes the problem then is how to you move several GW of power hundreds of miles to where all the people are?
AdeV:
--- Quote from: Charles on August 02, 2017, 05:31:49 AM ---
The issue for our charging electric cars is distribution – the best sites for lots of wind turbines are flat empty places like the American Midwest & the Russian Steppes the problem then is how to you move several GW of power hundreds of miles to where all the people are?
--- End quote ---
Hmm, turn it into petrol (see above) and drive it there in tankers/pump it in pipes? :palm: Back to square 1...
The same is true of solar power. The Sahara would be an ideal place to mount millions of square meters of solar panels generating gigawatts of power every day.... most of which would be lost to transmission losses.
I've been reading up on batteries the last couple of days (as the result of an argument on another forum about whether F1 will ever go electric), and some of the new tech that's coming through is literally astonishing. e.g. energy densities are getting close to that of petrol.... So, I wonder, could we actually see the day when electricity is best transported by truck?! It sounds insane... but we already move oil around by truck, why not electricity in batteries?
PK:
--- Quote from: Charles on August 02, 2017, 05:31:49 AM ---Materials in a typical 2MW wind turbine
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--- End quote ---
Hence "To keep it simple". All of these things have calculable CO2 emissions per ton. Point is the payback in terms of CO2 saved is VERY quick.. Because nothing emits CO2 like burning coal to generate electricity.
PK
Jo:
I think we need to keep this greenhouse gas stuff into perspective: In the UK Cows (Dairy & Milk) expel more greenhouse gasses than are generated by all the means of generating electric for our home consumption.
The argument on Electric Cars is to cut down emissions in towns: If you go back 50 years towns had something called Smog and that went away when we got rid of coal fires and installed central heating. Then most people smoked and town air smelt like an ashtray and smoking has been discouraged. As a result of all of this cleaning up the air there are many more cases of Asthma in towns :scratch: What they really should be looking at is gas boiler emissions :coffee:
Ade: As an owner of Solar panels I have learnt a lot about them: they generate best on a cold Spring/Autumn's day when it is about 10 degrees outside, anything above 30 degrees and they sulk. I am at a loss why no one has picked up on solar roofing tiles rather than using concrete ones.
If you want a really interesting read on Sustainability then in 2009 (yes a few years old) David MacKay wrote "Sustainable Energy - Without the hot air" http://www.inference.eng.cam.ac.uk/sustainable/book/tex/sewtha.pdf
Jo
AdeV:
--- Quote from: Jo on August 02, 2017, 10:59:49 AM ---I am at a loss why no one has picked up on solar roofing tiles rather than using concrete ones.
--- End quote ---
Tesla has.... coming to the UK next year apparently, and at a cost of less than re-roofing with traditional materials (allegedly).
Could yet be I wish I'd not re-roofed my house just 4 years ago... that said, solar power in Liverpool isn't really much to write home about. Now, if only I could find a way of harnessing whinging.... :lol:
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