Comments on: Water battery: Riverbank Power brings new twist to pumped storage

By: Renewable Interest

Renewable Interest — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:32:06 +0000

Riverbank Power says this will help enable the development of new renewable sources of intermittant power like wind and we definitely need more of that. In my opinion this is worth a shot. It will be interesting to follow.

By: PB

PB — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:12:33 +0000

Is there really 1000 MW for 6 hours ?
What is the effectivity of the turbine?
I think, the potential energy of 3,8 bn litres in 600 meters is 6200 MWh, so your calculatino would assume 100% effectivity ? Am I right ?

By: AMH

AMH — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:15:00 +0000

BP, yes, like any battery, this uses more power than it produces. But it solves part of our enegy problem by storing power when we have an excess (like during daylight if we’re using solar, or while there’s wind if we’re using wind turbines) and provides us power when we actually need it.

Nuclear has the signifignt problem that it’s can’t load-follow. ie we can’t partially slow down the nuclear reaction, or speed it up fast enough to follow loads on our power network. Our relaince on nuclear means we create a surplus we don’t store (we sell) and then we have to augment peaks with coal and/or natural gas. Wind and solar also don’t generate their power on our demand, but on the day’s sun pattern and by weather patterns. We’re not going to be able to adjust when we need power to suit the weather, nor only use our lights when the sun is shining. So this is one way to store the generated power for those periods when we actually need it.

And like any storage mechanism, it ain’t perfect, but it does help.

By: BP

BP — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:06:11 +0000

It uses more energy than it produces, solely to make a profit. This is not the future of energy production. It’s the product of an investment banker looking to make more money. Let’s think about the environment and the future, please.

By: Jp Warren

Jp Warren — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 12:57:33 +0000

Here’s the opposite of the water battery, yet still calling itself green; a url to the new Osram/Sylvania ECOLight Water Powered Shower Light.
http://www.eco-can.ca/eco-news/2009/3/9/ecolight-water-powered-shower-light.html
Now we can use the City’s mains pressure to drive our own little turbines. As if that were a breakthrough. It’s the equivalent of piping our municipal cold water through a radiator with a fan behind it for free air-conditioning. The best it does is provide us an excellent example of shining a light onto a nice sudsy green wash!

By: Jay Tee

Jay Tee — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:35:44 +0000

@ Tom:
You raise a good point, but I think any significant differential would cease to exist after a few fills.

By: Tim Pozza

Tim Pozza — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:46:24 +0000

I wonder what the temperature differentials are? The net effect on a water body’s core and surface temperatures need to be brought into the light on projects of this scale especially as weather and ecology is dependent on these factors.

By: Lagra energi mha gravitation och vattenreservoirer « Lunkens blogg

Lagra energi mha gravitation och vattenreservoirer « Lunkens blogg — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:07:35 +0000

[...] Gamla gruvor kan man tänka sig skulle passa bra, men här har vi problemet med att de inte ligger på rätt platser när befolkade områden där de som bäst behövs. Läs mer om detta på CleanBreak. [...]

By: Tyler

Tyler — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:26:36 +0000

Too remote, typically. Would make a site not much better from a transmission and location perspective as conventional pumped storage.

By: OldNeil

OldNeil — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:25:14 +0000

How about old mine sites? Wrong shape or too leaky?