Nuclear Power, clearly the way forward.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    getonyourbike wrote:
    I know about these pumped storage hydroelectric power plants but the things is, these need to be worked out with the TV schedule so it is used at the right time, so in the advert break of a popular program lots of people might want a cup of tea. A kettle requires lots of energy for a short space of time which puts lots of strain on the national grid. I'm talking about a way of storing the power produced by the 'normal' power stations for when its needed and electricity only being taken when its needed unlike at the moment a chunk of lectricity is being lots as heat through the national grid.
    It's not quite that simple. The example they give to the layman, or the visitors is the TV schedule thing, just to explain the basic idea that when a large load is encountered, they react by either generating or using power to smooth things out.
    Basically, the whole station goes from standstill to full output in under 10 seconds, or standstil to full pumping (using excess electricity) in under 20 seconds.
    This allows the much slower responding coal, gas and nuclear plants to either stay at a static output, or gives them time to adjust.

    Excess electricity is not just lost as heat (that happens to a certain extent all the time anyway). The mains voltage, and curiously, the frequency decreses when there is not enough supply to meet the demand, and likewise increases when there is too much excess.
    bluechair84 wrote:
    Did my PGCE at Bangor uni, so spent quite a bit of time around Snowdon and Marin trail, and Moel Elio - great descent from the top down to the Rangers, and back via Llanberis.
    In that case, you were only a few miles away from one of the largest pumped storage plants in Europe. In fact, i think it's still one of the largest on earth. It's in Llanberis, basically at the foot of Snowdon.
  • bluechair84
    bluechair84 Posts: 4,352
    The one that's inside a mountain??
    The idea behind this really impresses me.
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  • getonyourbike
    getonyourbike Posts: 2,648
    so i was just taught the explanation for stupid people :lol:
  • bails87
    bails87 Posts: 12,998
    Here's a tip, if your house doesn't have a water meter, so you just pay a flat rate, why not set up a hydroelectric dam in your house?

    Use 'free' water out of the tap to generate your own electricity, because it's hydro it's 'green', and it's free. Everyone wins! :D
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  • getonyourbike
    getonyourbike Posts: 2,648
    So the pumped storage hydro stations can quickly respond to increased demand and don't have to be 'programmed' with times or anything?
  • bfreeman0
    bfreeman0 Posts: 119
    Nuclear is the cleanest solution really, wind turbines are ugly anyway and I'd call that a form of pollution.
    As soon as it is possible to manage nuclear fusion then we will be no longer relying on the middle east which potentially fund terrorists.
    Of course if there was a nuclear fault then goodbye earth.
    This doesn't solve the vehicle problem, unless public transport evolved or cars ran on tracks(boring) or that roads powered the cars just by touching. This would then solve all our energy troubles.
    This leaves plenty of land for farming which is the next crisis, we're eventually going to be outputting less food than we need even in the Western world.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    getonyourbike wrote:
    So the pumped storage hydro stations can quickly respond to increased demand and don't have to be 'programmed' with times or anything?
    They can be remotely controlled, or even programmed, to a degree, but by and large, power stations have people in the control rooms, in case of a systems fault.
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Thorium power reactors will hopefully be developed: the fuel has loads of advantags of Uranium. Crack this nut and we will have plenty of power for 100s of years.
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  • getonyourbike
    getonyourbike Posts: 2,648
    yeehaamcgee wrote:
    getonyourbike wrote:
    So the pumped storage hydro stations can quickly respond to increased demand and don't have to be 'programmed' with times or anything?
    They can be remotely controlled, or even programmed, to a degree, but by and large, power stations have people in the control rooms, in case of a systems fault.
    make sense
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    Its also worth mentioning that it's a security risk to have power stations fully automated. If someone could hack the grid and shut a few power stations down, it would cause all manner of chaos. Although, there are protocols on how to restart the system following a complete black out, it still takes a long time to bring everything back online.
  • getonyourbike
    getonyourbike Posts: 2,648
    yeehaamcgee wrote:
    Its also worth mentioning that it's a security risk to have power stations fully automated. If someone could hack the grid and shut a few power stations down, it would cause all manner of chaos. Although, there are protocols on how to restart the system following a complete black out, it still takes a long time to bring everything back online.
    i was thinking along those lines, things could get messy with no personnel there.
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    getonyourbike wrote:
    yeehaamcgee wrote:
    Its also worth mentioning that it's a security risk to have power stations fully automated. If someone could hack the grid and shut a few power stations down, it would cause all manner of chaos. Although, there are protocols on how to restart the system following a complete black out, it still takes a long time to bring everything back online.
    i was thinking along those lines, things could get messy with no personnel there.

    Don't know about that. I've watched the Simpsons.
    I don't do smileys.

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  • getonyourbike
    getonyourbike Posts: 2,648
    cooldad wrote:
    getonyourbike wrote:
    yeehaamcgee wrote:
    Its also worth mentioning that it's a security risk to have power stations fully automated. If someone could hack the grid and shut a few power stations down, it would cause all manner of chaos. Although, there are protocols on how to restart the system following a complete black out, it still takes a long time to bring everything back online.
    i was thinking along those lines, things could get messy with no personnel there.

    Don't know about that. I've watched the Simpsons.
    :lol::lol::lol:

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