What with the government discouraging any more on-shore wind farms, and commercial firms backing out of offshore arrays for various reasons, it seems that the prospects for much new wind generating capacity in the near future are pretty slim.
Long may it continue. Less wind is the only way the lights are going to stop on.
+1
We need investment in something that works as against something that is profitable but doesn't.
In message , Chris Hogg writes
They're not that popular onshore either. "Turbines in Northumberland turn views into 'Golgotha'". and associated links.
Result!
Its all down to profit, or lack of it. Ones built in the sea have a much higher maintenance overhead.
I'd have thought tidal was the way to go, after all nobody is going to take the moon away. Brian
In the long run, friction caused by the tides is doing just that. Eventually we'll lose the Moon, and the stabilising influence it has on the angle of the Earth's axis. Which means that due to gravitational the influence of the outer planets, the Earth could flip over so that each pole points at the Sun once a year.
Then the global warming nutters would *really* have something to complain about.
but it might get "privatised" and you'd then have to pay to se te tides.
In message , at 10:17:46 on Sat, 14 Dec
2013, Brian Gaff remarked:
A comet might.
It was a nuclear explosion in 1999....
According to the Times:
"ScottishPower offered a damning assessment on the viability of offshore wind, claiming that the technology to install and fix giant turbines to the seabed was not being developed as quickly as expected. The company, which also pointed to high costs, said that it would take at least ten years for the technology to be sufficiently advanced to make such projects possible.
Jonathan Cole, the head of offshore wind at ScottishPower Renewables, said: ?It is our view that the Argyll Array project is not financially viable in the short term. The rate of progress in development of foundation and installation technology has been slower than anticipated. The current outlook for offshore wind deployment in the UK suggests this will not significantly improve in the short term. This supports the view that it could take ten to fifteen years for the required technology improvements to be available for this project.?
Peter Atherton, an analyst at Liberum Capital, said that the move meant it was unlikely that any offshore wind farms would be built in Scotland this decade. "
God! I hope the last paragraph is true.
Another Dave
No but the things silt up and you have to dredge them after a bit. Its quite hard to dredge a few hundred square miles and costs a lot. They would only be viable if you could leave the clean up until after you have made the profits and could dump the costs on the government.
so do I but why all the mention of wind? there were underwater tide powered things.
Tidal stream is an alternative and I thought there were some trials under way but not seen it mentioned.
The 'Wave Hub',
But it's always 'jam tomorrow' with the Wave Hub: plenty of announcements as to what is _going_ to happen, but nothing ever seems to _actually_ happen and hasn't done since it was installed, three years ago. So no-one is holding their breath.
But why wouldn't that silt up? If you take energy from the flow its going to slow down somewhere. The turbulence caused my erode stuff too.
I don't know much about the practicalities. A close friend was involved in the design of the insulated windings for a submerged generator. Hayward Tyler came up with a proposal but I don't know if it was ever tried.
I think the system is intended to be anchored in open water where there is a good tidal flow. I don't suppose such water is carrying much silt and you might be able to *up anchor* and move elsewhere:-)
Proposed tidal lagoons are often river estuaries with their silt burden.
It would be good that. It's a bit boring as it is.
Bill
That would be a hell of a comet. It would have to be a good fraction of the moon's mass to be even noticeable. IIRC they're usually single-figure miles across.
Andy
The Pentland Firth between mainland Scotland and Orkney is one favourite spot,
The Menai Strait between Anglesey and mainland Wales has also been suggested as a possible location. Both have very high tidal flows that could drive an array of underwater turbines.
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