That is fine IF you can cut the river flow back to equal demand during periods of low demand. In some cases you can. In others you may not be able to. And IF the river upstream of the dam has a reservoir. What if it doesn't have a reservoir, but there is a suitable location for a reservoir, even higher up a few miles away? Then do you recognize that the system as I outlined would work and is not a violation of thermodynamics? That was the essential point being argued here. You and krw claim that it somehow violates thermodynamics. It doesn't. All your doing is capturing the excess generating capacity and storing it in the form of water at a higher elevation.
First you claimed "you're not gaining energy" Well, duh, no one in this thread said that using water to STORE energy creates a gain in energy. Now you shift to "you're losing energy". Well, duh, there is always going to be some energy loss, nothing is 100% efficient. Any energy storage system that uses pumping water to store energy off peak and then release it later is going to lose SOME of the energy. It doesn't stop power companies from doing it though, because it still makes economic sense.
You claimed it violated the laws of thermodynamics. Explain how.
You said that in the previous post and I addressed it. You carefully avoided the whole part where I pointed out that is not always possible. You can't necessarily reduce the flow on a river at night to match the low electricity demand because there could be issues with maintaining river flow for other purposes downstream. And there may not be a suitable location directly above the plant to create a suitable place to store the water. But there could be a great place for a storage reservoir a few miles away and higher up.
Again, please address what law of thermodynamics this system violates. Or just concede that it does not.
As usual, now instead of addressing the example given, you're starting with the insults. Explain what law of thermo the above violates. That is what you claimed. Or do you now agree that it does not violate any laws of physics?
Finally, someone that gets it! Thank you. Here I was being accused of violating the laws of thermodynamics.....
Only thing I'd point out is that I don't think it's strictly limited to pumping water only from above to a level higher than the generator inlet. Some pump water from below back to the upper reservoir.
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