- Location
- Northumberland
Its why God gave us a Moon.We just havent cottoned on yet.Gets to me why tidal energy has never been harnessed. Predictable and clean. Probably because nobody would make any money.
Its why God gave us a Moon.We just havent cottoned on yet.Gets to me why tidal energy has never been harnessed. Predictable and clean. Probably because nobody would make any money.
Whats the difference between it and hydro electric from dams?Because the sea is an incredibly destructive environment. Not only are there incredible physical forces at work, its salty to boot, so everything corrodes like mad. Lots of wave/tidal energy capture devices have been tried, they work fine, until a storm comes along and the whole lot gets smashed to pieces.
Dropping simple tidal generators into an existing risk flow is OK imho.Its why God gave us a Moon.We just havent cottoned on yet.
Hydro from dams only flows one way, is much more controllable and doesn't suffer storms.....Whats the difference between it and hydro electric from dams?
If thats true,then wind power is just a scam as well. The cost of construction with concrete etc must be massive.Offshore wind turbines take a massive beating. The supposed expected lifespan is 20 years, but reading some of the B2B mags I get at work there's increasing evidence that most won't last even half that.
There is bound to be a way of letting the tide back in unhindered,and then driving turbines on the way out.Hydro from dams only flows one way, is much more controllable and doesn't suffer storms.....
What do we want though, clean energy and climate,or wading birds in the estuaries?Dropping simple tidal generators into an existing risk flow is OK imho.
Erecting a barrier to create a total lagoon with a restricted outlet, like the Swansea Bay proposal that keeps being pushed by its promoter seeking huge public funds, is incredibly ecologically damaging as it totally changes the characteristics of the estuary including the silt flows.
The 2 approaches are "Chalk and cheese".
The domestic RHI scheme, which will have paid generously for those heat pumps (& biomass boilers) pays out for 7 years. The first systems installed will have been paying out for just about 7 years now, our biomass boiler included.
Without the RHI payments, those systems are dearer to run than a condensing boiler, or they were until the last month or so.
If our pellet boiler needs any expensive repairs, it will probably be scrapped and replaced with something cheaper/less green.
The whole thing is utter madness. So you get landed with a system you know is more expensive and more complex than a regular system? Fudging madness. Tell me the carbon footprint of having to renew the whole thing once it is fudged?
Fair question. Depends who is answering.What do we want though, clean energy and climate,or wading birds in the estuaries?
As soon as you create a slack water lagoon the silt will settle there. In Swansea Bay that will Bury risk bay wildlifeThere is bound to be a way of letting the tide back in unhindered,and then driving turbines on the way out.
If thats true,then wind power is just a scam as well. The cost of construction with concrete etc must be massive.
Not so much an intentional scam, more a case of over-optimism on the part of the manufacturers.
So why can't we have a single generating body that sells us electricity at wholesale price or cost price + regulated profit and cut out the middle man taking his cut?I forgot to mention this earlier- you are no doubt aware of the handfuls of energy businesses who are going out of business right now. These are the smaller 'backyard' types who have been selling wholesale energy and flogging it to retail customers like everyone on this forum. Now, having 200,000 customers paying a couple of hundred quid a year is just great. You have fudge all overhead besides a computer and a few call centre workers. You make money hand over fist by buying cheap (refer to earlier post) wholesale energy and flogging it for retail prices like say, 15p a unit (no idea what it is is these days. The same can be done with gas, too.
Now, a quick look at the Ofgem site will tell you that the daily electricity wholesale price averages about £90 per MWh. That's a megawatt mind but there are a lot of units in one of those so your 15p a unit is actually about £150/MWh. So these companies buy a megawatt hour for £90 and then sell it for £150. The difference is profit. And remember they don't have a powerplant to buy, run, staff or decommission. Sounds great doesn't it? Well it was and they all made a lot of money over the last 20 years where the wholesale price has actually be sat at £40MWh or thereabouts for years.
Fast forward to today mind and suddenly gas is pretty expensive. As I said before the UK generates a LOT of electricity from burning gas. Now suddenly, wholesale off peak electricity prices are £4000/MWh at periods during the day when demand is high and production (no wind or solar lately) is flat on its arsh. But you are a middle man energy company who agreed to sell Doris at 13 whippersnapper street her electricity on a contract which said 15 p a unit. Suddenly you are obliged to continue buying the stuff at unheard of prices and you can't get that out Doris every time she wants to put the kettle on. Multiply that by 200,000 Dorises and Oooof you've got an expensive problem where one rough night and you are losing serious cash and the writing is on the wall. You bust the company and disappear off into the sunset to buy a farm, leaving the larger energy companies to pick up Doris and her tariff because the regulator says they have to take her and the other 199,999 punters forward.
Because you have to have a middle man providing the network , ie cables transformers etc . It can be done by having the generation on site.So why can't we have a single generating body that sells us electricity at wholesale price or cost price + regulated profit and cut out the middle man taking his cut?
Electricity is pretty essential nowadays like food and water.