Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: blam

Using chemical polluting batteries which are made of materials that are mined and therefore cause environmental damage before they are even used. And they use a lot of energy to make. Then in a few years they have to be replaced.

And the scale needed to store any significant energy for power is just massive.

You want energy storage then how about this. You have two very large tanks holding a million Gallons. One is placed above the other in elevation. The taller one has a discharge through a turbine to produce electricity. The water then drains into the lower tank. The lower one has a pump to pump water back into the upper tank. When demand is low then you do the pump back. When demand is high then you do the discharge. Works just like a gigantic battery. And environmentally friendly.


18 posted on 06/26/2021 9:33:26 PM PDT by Revel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]


To: Revel

The volume of water that goes through, say, one of Grand Coulee’s turbines is far more than you could hold in any “tank”, that is if you want a useful amount of electricity out of it. Plus the losses and overall energy needed to pump the water back up would be astronomical. Grand Coulee’s head water does get pumped to a higher elevation for irrigation but that is a little different.


28 posted on 06/26/2021 10:49:40 PM PDT by steve86 (Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc O'Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies ]

To: Revel

A lot of lakes in California are designed to do just that. San Louis reservoir... Courtright and wishon resivors work this way. Look up the Helms project, very genius from a hundred years ago.


33 posted on 06/27/2021 2:26:52 AM PDT by Pocketdoor (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uufeEhq25rc)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies ]

To: Revel

Sequoyah Nuclear Plant and Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage


103 posted on 07/03/2021 5:45:06 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) Like BLM, Joe Biden is a Domestic Enemy )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies ]

To: Revel
U.S. pumped storage capacity:


112 posted on 07/10/2021 9:55:59 AM PDT by TexasGator (UF)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies ]

To: Revel
Back in 1952 when Massachusetts was still sane, they built a hydroelectric facility at Northfield Mountain in Northfield, MA. (I am told the 10th Mountain Division used to train there)

From Wikipedia:
The plant was built entirely underground, and located about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) up the Connecticut River from Turners Falls Dam. A stretch of the Connecticut River, extending some 20 miles (32 km) north from this dam to the Vernon Dam, Vermont, serves as the station's lower reservoir. During periods of lower electrical power demand, the plant pumps water from this lower reservoir through the Northfield Mountain Tailrace Tunnel to a man-made upper reservoir. At times of high demand, water is released to flow downhill from this upper reservoir through a turbine generator, where it then collects in the lower reservoir to be stored until again pumped to the upper reservoir.

Northfield Mountain's upper reservoir covers 300 acres (120 ha) at 800 feet (240 m) above the river, with total storage of 5.6 billion US gallons (21 Gl) of water. Its underground powerhouse lies at 700 feet (210 m) below the surface and is accessible through a 2,500-foot (760 m)-long tunnel; it includes four large reversible turbines, each of which can pump 15,200 cubic feet (430 m3) of water per second and release 20,000 cubic feet (570 m3) of water per second to generate 1,143 megawatts (1,533,000 hp) of electricity. The turbines can ramp up in 10 minutes, and deliver full power for 8 hours

So basically, they use cheaper and more available energy at night to fill the reservoir, then during the day, when energy is more expensive and scarcer, they empty the reservoir through hydroelectric generators.

Back when Massachusetts was sane.

121 posted on 07/12/2021 5:16:11 AM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies ]

To: Revel

About 60% efficient IIRC. Thermodynamics not your strong suit?

Don’t feel bad, it isn’t for most opining on this stuff, especially those on the Left.


132 posted on 07/19/2021 5:35:51 PM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson