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Short Sharp Science: A New Scientist blog

Renewable power on a grand scale


"Britain has more potential kinetic energy for capture than any other landscape in Europe", says London photographer Toby Smith. His latest project, Renewables, looks at the infrastructure and people involved with sustainable energy, beginning with the hydroelectric dams and associated landscapes found in the Scottish glens.

This giddying view is staring down Turbine Shaft 1 of the 305-megawatt Foyers hydroelectric power station, located at the south-eastern end of Loch Ness. The plant's two generators use a "spinning reserve" system: they spin freely until peak usage hits. This allows the generators to meet increased consumer demand within 30 seconds, rather than 2 minutes from a standing start.

The Renewables project is on display at the Printspace in London until 1 September.

(Image: Toby Smith)

See more: Pictures of the day

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One thing about renewable to think about, when looking at the call by big car companies to sell so called plug in hybrids. In tehUK there are approx 20 million cars, each with at least 10 HP long duration sustained cruise output. Thats 200 million HP.. or about 150 Gigawatts, currently roughly equivalent to peak UK electricity load in midwinter? But cars can generally go from zero to full in 30 seconds when starting, and in only a couple seconds for acceleration.

So, apart from fusion pulses and orbital cannon, what else can we think of that needs over a thousand gigawatts of power for an extended period of time?

The main thing about the distributed, mobile generation method, is that when combined with distributed, mobile computing, communications, lighting, heating etc, that is, power per person requirements, you can end up only needing a top up grid, for maintenance, while the superconductor technology advances to where ti is cheap enough for continent wide transfer grids?

Also, with renewables, is it possible to build a 1 gigawatt output, 75% efficient Stirling cycle engine? If not, is it possible to build 1 million, 1 kilowatt 75% efficient Stirling cycle engines? What would be the cost reduction over a million unit mass production line?

If the application of hammer action to tunneling machines reduces the cost of tunneling by a factor of ten, would it be cost effective to build imense Dinorwic class pump storage systems deep underneath every city, possibly with future upgrades for deep drilling for geaothermal power?


I wonderd if its possible to have a giant container ship / rig ...above or below deep water & use dozens of very large 30cm syphons hundred meters long to fill or empty container faster than it passes through a single turbine in opposite direction SQUID creating electricity delivered to the grid from off shore, lake etc for infinite clean energy, would my idea work now or in the future.


Quote: "Britain has more potential kinetic energy for capture than any other landscape in Europe"

I would assume Norway had Britain beat on that one.


mostly wasted energy?


Odin, it's not how high your peaks are, it's how much water is up there that determines the amount of potential energy. And it has to come down in rivers, not just little streams and creeks. And you need to be able to install a dam, which requires certain landscapes. Et cetera.

In other words: that "Britain has more potential kinetic energy for capture than any other landscape in Europe" seems an eminently reasonable proposition.

I'm not a subscriber so I can't comment on most NS stories. But I would like to suggest here that if people want to disagree with the highly trained and highly intelligent scientists who frequently deign to submit materials for publication in this venue, they would help others greatly by telling us what their intellectual credentials are - what degrees they have. Odin is not the worst example by far, as he admits he is making an assumption. But many of the people who comment here are nutters, to be polite about it. IF NS is to have any sheen on it, it should take commenting a little ore seriously than other news websites, which mostly publish news about political and social issues. Science isn't subject to the "disagreement" of "the masses". It is subject to evidence and proof instead.

NS should replace the "URL" field with a "DEGREE" field. I think most of us would agree that we'd all be better off for it.


"But many of the people who comment here are nutters, to be polite about it"

Welcome to the internet.

It may not be science.


Cover keep in mind the place once i uncover always be within your shoes.


Trying to achieve a balance between giving all the necessary information on your background, while keeping to the point, should be your main aim when selecting what to include and what to omit. Ensure that the highlights of your career are exactly that - highlights and not lost in a mass of irrelevant text.


One annoying thing about sidewalks is how the squares light up when I step on them. #imjesus


Great info, do you mind if I reference back to it? I'm blogging about this too, thanks for sharing it.


Undeniably believe that which you said. Your favorite reason seemed to be on the web the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while people think about worries that they plainly don't know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people could take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks


Cool info, thanks. Green energy is so important to our own futures. Wish everyone would join the green initiative/

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