Solar, Wind Renewable Energy

[NW-Bound]

In olden days there were battery operated valve, tube radios.
They used "A" and "B" batteries. A for filament, B for plate voltages.
There you have it, I scraped rust off of some brain cells.

The battery-operated vacuum-tube radios were before my time.

However, I recall seeing portable military radios that ran off battery packs. Lots of zinc-carbon cells to run these radios.

 

[ncbill]

The battery-operated vacuum-tube radios were before my time.

However, I recall seeing portable military radios that ran off battery packs. Lots of zinc-carbon cells to run these radios.

Lithium-based, rechargeable nowadays.

Also (lithium) non-rechargeable which are only supposed to be used as backup when the above are out of gas.

 

[explanade]

There used to be Radio Shack radios which required no power source. You had to listen through an earphone though.


Few years ago, I thought about getting emergency flash lights in case of power failure. Never got them but there were these flash lights and radio combo that you could power by cranking a handle a few times.

 

[JoeWras]

There used to be Radio Shack radios which required no power source. You had to listen through an earphone though.


Few years ago, I thought about getting emergency flash lights in case of power failure. Never got them but there were these flash lights and radio combo that you could power by cranking a handle a few times.

I've got one, a CC Crane Solar Observer.

I tested it. Let's just say you have to crank more than "a few" times for this little version. I almost got tendonitis.

But hey, in an emergency, it works.

When hurricane Hugo hit in 1989, much of South Carolina was not prepared. Trees grew like weeds in the previous decades and millions of them went down and took out everything, including local radio station transmitting capability. Our local not-quite-clear-channel but high power AM station (WPTF) out of Raleigh caught wind of this and started broadcasting information and reassurances to the good people of South Carolina. They needed assurance that there still was a world out there.

 

[mpeirce]

There used to be Radio Shack radios which required no power source. You had to listen through an earphone though.
.

As a lad, I used a kit like this to build simple radios.

 

[JoeWras]

As a lad, I used a kit like this to build simple radios.

Great memory. It was easy to get a good signal living in a clear channel city. But it wasn't portable and you were tied to the earpiece, but hey, it worked!

 

[Out of Steam]

We never had a kerosene mantle lantern in my childhood. The ones I saw were neighbors'. I recall that my father did not own one because he was afraid of fire or explosion. Apparently, he had seen or known of such an accident.

Recently, I remembered this type of lantern, and looked up info on it. Yes, its fuel reservoir needs to be pressurized with a small built-in handpump. The kerosene is heated and vaporized, and it's the burnt fuel vapor that heats up the mantle for it to emit light.

Until the past 20 years or so, most small backpacking stoves operated this way with white gasoline, which was stored in aluminum bottles. Some winter campers still use them. Finicky is the right word.

There was the added hazard of people using the same bottles to carry water. I know of one hiker who took in a mouthful of gasoline that way. Fortunately, he didn't swallow it.

 

[Texas Proud]

Savvy folks with some land, tools and skills would better weather a major grid outage. But think of folks in high rises without land, skills, knowledge.

How long would generator back-up last at hospitals? Police/fire stations? Maybe 36 to 48 hours at most?

Let's face it, we are almost totally dependent upon the grid. It's protection and enhancement ought to be front and center when we begin spending all that infrastructure money. Maybe we ought to do that before we build more electric cars?

Oh, on a funny note (or not - depending upon your particular "funny bone" - I think this "grid" subject could use a bit of levity.)

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/...-out-sales-of-new-e-vs-by-2035-200704042.html

YMMV

It is according to what they installed... there is no time limit to generating your own power...


A long time ago I worked at a building that had a lot of computers etc... it ran a big hunk of the ATM network at the time... they had 6 generators on the 13the floor that could run the whole building as long as they wanted... heck, the local utility would sometimes call and ask them to go offline as the demand was high...


I am on a local water board and we have backup generators that can go 'as long as we need'... I am still concerned as they are diesel and will need constant fuel... I am assured that it will not be a problem even though I think it could.... like if we had flooding like California ....


BTW, we have 5 days of fuel when we fill all the tanks...

 

[ncbill]

There used to be Radio Shack radios which required no power source. You had to listen through an earphone though.

Yes, Radio Shack & others use to sell a crystal radio kit for around $5.

Now they sell for $30 or more used.

 

[REWahoo]

^ This sparked a long-dormant memory from my childhood. I was probably around 10 years old when I purchased a "mail order" crystal radio, like this one, now selling for $87! We lived 15 miles from the nearest radio transmitter and I couldn't get the darn thing to work.

After days of trying without success, my oldest brother took me to the field surrounding the transmitter. I clipped the radio to the barbed wire fence surrounding the field and ...it worked!

Unfortunately it was so poorly designed/constructed that it was virtually useless beyond 5 miles.

 

[braumeister]

Recently, I remembered this type of lantern, and looked up info on it. Yes, its fuel reservoir needs to be pressurized with a small built-in handpump. The kerosene is heated and vaporized, and it's the burnt fuel vapor that heats up the mantle for it to emit light.

We used those kerosene lanterns on Boy Scout camping trips. It was a huge step up from the old style kerosene lanterns that just had a burning wick like a candle. Propane came in much later.

 

[NW-Bound]

Six months ago, I shared the info regarding a gigantic solar power project in Northern Australia, with a long cable to provide power to Singapore.

The "mother of all undersea HVDC cable" is the one being proposed to pump power from Northern Australia to Singapore.

At 3,750 km (2330 mi.), it will far eclipse other HVDC submarine feedlines, such as the North Sea Link above.

But the sun does not shine 24/7 in Northen Australia either. Ah hah, that's why they are also building a BIG battery of 36-42 GWh of storage. A true "mother of all batteries".

For comparison, the Moss Landing battery being built for PG&E stores 1.2 GWh.

Unfortunately, that project is now defunct. It appears that the billionaire backers of this project could not come to an agreement on how to proceed. One source said that the dispute is over whether the harvested solar juice should be transmitted over the unprecedented long cable to be built, or to use to make hydrogen and ammonia to transport to the end users.

 

[NW-Bound]

...
I am on a local water board and we have backup generators that can go 'as long as we need'... I am still concerned as they are diesel and will need constant fuel... I am assured that it will not be a problem even though I think it could.... like if we had flooding like California ....

BTW, we have 5 days of fuel when we fill all the tanks...

When I looked at the PG&E power outage map a couple of days ago, I saw some spots that had an outage for 8 days.

When Puerto Rico got hit by Hurricane Maria in 2017, some people did not get electricity back after more than 7 months.

 

[Koolau]

When I looked at the PG&E power outage map a couple of days ago, I saw some spots that had an outage for 8 days.

When Puerto Rico got hit by Hurricane Maria in 2017, some people did not get electricity back after more than 7 months.

I visited PR and had two friends at Megacorp who came from PR. From their description of summer and my experience, I can't imagine 7 months without AC in PR. YMMV

 

[Walt34]

Here's a video on the gas mantle lanterns/lamps and some of the history behind them. Fairly interesting for nerds (I have phases of nerdness). We had one of those when I was growing up and took it on a couple of camping trips that I can remember.

 

[dixonge]

Six months ago, I shared the info regarding a gigantic solar power project in Northern Australia, with a long cable to provide power to Singapore.

Unfortunately, that project is now defunct. It appears that the billionaire backers of this project could not come to an agreement on how to proceed. One source said that the dispute is over whether the harvested solar juice should be transmitted over the unprecedented long cable to be built, or to use to make hydrogen and ammonia to transport to the end users.

Just googled hvdc transmission lines - seems like that have a lot of LOOOONG ones down in Brazil, also in China and Africa. I guess putting one underwater wouldn't be too much of a leap? I wonder what the power loss would be over those lengths?

 

[Samsung4321]

Six months ago, I shared the info regarding a gigantic solar power project in Northern Australia, with a long cable to provide power to Singapore.

Unfortunately, that project is now defunct. It appears that the billionaire backers of this project could not come to an agreement on how to proceed. One source said that the dispute is over whether the harvested solar juice should be transmitted over the unprecedented long cable to be built, or to use to make hydrogen and ammonia to transport to the end users.

From ABC Radio National Via the new 'aether':

What's next for the Sun Cable project?

Mike Cannon-Brookes earnt his wealth in software tools for software development and project management. Little direct experience of developing physical infrastructure.

Andrew Forrest earnt his wealth building iron mines. Lots of experience with physical infrastructure. Been through the 'wringer' a few times but still 'irrationally' enthusiastic.

Andrew Forrest begins work on green hydrogen hub in Gladstone, confirms $3b for renewables farm

My opinion is that it is better to learn to crawl before attempting to run. There is plenty of sunlight right across Australia around latitude 20S. There will be a large global market for ammonia as fertiliser, and possibly for fuel. Yet to be proven that green hydrogen can compete commercially against carbon taxed brown hydrogen. There are a greater diversity of electricity consumers in Gladstone than in Darwin; a cable to Singapore would have one customer.

In other news:

Gold Hydrogen natural hydrogen exploration

Natural hydrogen

 

[Samsung4321]

^ This sparked a long-dormant memory from my childhood. I was probably around 10 years old when I purchased a "mail order" crystal radio, like this one, now selling for $87! We lived 15 miles from the nearest radio transmitter and I couldn't get the darn thing to work.

After days of trying without success, my oldest brother took me to the field surrounding the transmitter. I clipped the radio to the barbed wire fence surrounding the field and ...it worked!

Unfortunately it was so poorly designed/constructed that it was virtually useless beyond 5 miles.

May have been better with a better aerial and earth.

At night home made ones could received signals from transmitters more than 250 km away, sometimes 1,000s km.

The ones I made were low-Q, received many stations within a broad range of frequencies. Several 'taps' on coil which, with other measures, could be used to improve the Q but also require more knowledge and patience than typical for a kid.

 

[Texas Proud]

When I looked at the PG&E power outage map a couple of days ago, I saw some spots that had an outage for 8 days.

When Puerto Rico got hit by Hurricane Maria in 2017, some people did not get electricity back after more than 7 months.

I do not disagree with what has happened... the original post stated that some places would be hard pressed to go 2 or 3 days...


I gave a real life example where 5 days is not a problem and am told that it would be 'easy' to get more fuel to keep it going...


I doubt that any place in the US mainland would be out longer than say 30 days... it would be interesting to see what has happened in the real world..



I have a whole house generator and am told that it can run for weeks... they recommend that it be shut down an hour a day to cool and check the oil..

 

[Chuckanut]

After days of trying without success, my oldest brother took me to the field surrounding the transmitter. I clipped the radio to the barbed wire fence surrounding the field and ...it worked!

Unfortunately it was so poorly designed/constructed that it was virtually useless beyond 5 miles.

I also built a crystal radio as a kid. It only picked up two stations, but one of them was the station that broadcast the Dodger games. I would use it to listen to Vinny call the game when I was supposed to be asleep.

I also had a kit that allowed me to build a very low power AM transmitter that maybe went 100 feet. But, we had a blast playing radio DJ games.

 

[camfused]

I am not sure if solar panel systems are actually discussed much in this thread, but...

FYI, I contacted a real estate friend to ask her if adding solar to a house increases the value of the house any when you go to sell it. I read somewhere (probably on a solar advocacy site) that it could be 3-4%. She said her expert told her that appraisers are reluctant to raise the price at all on a house that has solar. The expert said that in areas like CA and AZ, then there is a bump, but in NC (where I am), there is not.

Since I don't think I will be in my house more than 5 more years, this means I would NOT get the price of the system back in an increased house value.

More input for me, before I sign up for a solar panel system.

 

[Samsung4321]

Just googled hvdc transmission lines - seems like that have a lot of LOOOONG ones down in Brazil, also in China and Africa. I guess putting one underwater wouldn't be too much of a leap? I wonder what the power loss would be over those lengths?

'The electrical loss through HVDC cable is approximately 3% per 1000 km. Hence, it is anticipated that total electrical loss through this interconnector will be approximately 10% for the subsea portion.'

Subsea cable key challenges of an intercontinental power link: case study of Australia–Singapore interconnector

 

[JoeWras]

We used those kerosene lanterns on Boy Scout camping trips. It was a huge step up from the old style kerosene lanterns that just had a burning wick like a candle. Propane came in much later.

If you ever toured Mammoth Cave, the NPS offered specific tours using kerosene lanterns. This was intentional, to put you in the mood of an early explorer. At times they could flick on hard-wired installed lights so you could see the good stuff because the lantern light was way, way dim.

I see that these tours are on hiatus, and I'm going to guess they are done, never to be seen again.

 

[Time2]

As I often say, when it comes down to freezing to death or burn something, people choose the latter.

Hence, I don't judge people who don't have the option I do.

Well how about saving the earth or starving?


I saw this 'short' recently and it has to make you wonder what the future holds as far as food. Do I think we can use science and technology to avoid this, maybe, but it is not just flipping a switch, it will take a lot of time.

This is by Jordan Peterson, please don't spend the 1 minute it takes to watch if that troubles you.

 

[Montecfo]

^^^ He makes yet another part of the case as to why efforts to eliminate natural gas are ill conceived and will make us worse off.