Scotland produced 106% of its electricity needs from wind over a 24 hour period - Polidicks

[QUOTE]On a blustery Sunday with hurricane speed winds off the coast, and 60 mile per hour gusts in the highlands – Scotland produced enough electricity in a 24 hour period to meet 106% of the day’s needs. Turbines spread across the land and in the ocean surrounding Scotland provided 39,545 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity to the National Grid on Sunday while the country’s total power consumption for homes, business and industry was 37,202 MWh. Scotland’s goal of generating 50% of their annual electricity from renewables is on pace to happen a full year early. Scotland also has a goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2020, but it might only get to 87% per some reports. Still – 87% over the course of a year is a powerful value and will probably mean 100% will arrive before 2025[/QUOTE] [URL="https://electrek.co/2016/08/14/scotland-electricity-needs-from-wind/"]Source[/URL]

Excellent news, you go Scots!

Good.

and people here are still convinced obama wants to impliment rolling blackouts with his green power agenda every month we hit new green milestones yet the political discourse is always "its not ready its not good it will ruin us it cant meet demand"

Good shit, its windy as fuck here rofl also this was one of our major arguments for independence :(

[QUOTE=Sableye;50885016]and people here are still convinced obama wants to impliment rolling blackouts with his green power agenda every month we hit new green milestones yet the political discourse is always "its not ready its not good it will ruin us it cant meet demand"[/QUOTE] Yeah, the fears around "Green Power" are a bit ridiculous in many ways- though at the same time, Obama's administration's inexplicably anti-nuclear as well, which isn't good as Nuclear energy's a major player in trying to move off from fossil fuel usage for power generation.

[QUOTE=ScriptKitt3h;50885371]Yeah, the fears around "Green Power" are a bit ridiculous in many ways- though at the same time, Obama's administration's inexplicably anti-nuclear as well, which isn't good as Nuclear energy's a major player in trying to move off from fossil fuel usage for power generation.[/QUOTE] The best outcome could possibly be to have green energy generate the majority of electricity, but have nuclear generators as a backup. Fossil fuels are then unused, and nuclear generation is kept to a minimum to mostly satisfy people worried about nuclear energy. [editline]d[/editline] [QUOTE=judgeofdeath;50885512]Electricity generation doesn't work like that. Nuclear generators provide a solid base amount of energy produced. You can't properly vary how much you produce using them, and starting them up is incredibly costly, so using them as backup is pretty much impossible.[/QUOTE] Fair enough, forgive my ignorance on the subject.

[QUOTE=Erfly;50885497]The best outcome could possibly be to have green energy generate the majority of electricity, but have nuclear generators as a backup.[/QUOTE] Electricity generation doesn't work like that. Nuclear generators provide a solid base amount of energy produced. You can't properly vary how much you produce using them, and starting them up is incredibly costly, so using them as backup is pretty much impossible.

[QUOTE=ScriptKitt3h;50885371]Yeah, the fears around "Green Power" are a bit ridiculous in many ways- though at the same time, Obama's administration's inexplicably anti-nuclear as well, which isn't good as Nuclear energy's a major player in trying to move off from fossil fuel usage for power generation.[/QUOTE] Neither party is particularly enthusiastic about nuclear: polling frequently shifts 50/50 and it requires government subsidies, meaning Republicans have even less of an incentive to support it.

[QUOTE=judgeofdeath;50885512]Electricity generation doesn't work like that. Nuclear generators provide a solid base amount of energy produced. You can't properly vary how much you produce using them, and starting them up is incredibly costly, so using them as backup is pretty much impossible.[/QUOTE] Basically it is other way around. The baseline is provided nuclear and depending on energy-production of solar/wind, it is adjusted. No need to shut the reactors.

[QUOTE=Sableye;50885016]and people here are still convinced obama wants to impliment rolling blackouts with his green power agenda every month we hit new green milestones yet the political discourse is always "its not ready its not good it will ruin us it cant meet demand"[/QUOTE] To be honest, scotland is windy as fuck. Whole american continent - not so sure. Still, bad exucse from obama.

get that second independence referendum in and i'll get packin my bags, wrappin up warm and go buy me some buckfast

[QUOTE=Fourier;50886190]To be honest, scotland is windy as fuck. Whole american continent - not so sure. Still, bad exucse from obama.[/QUOTE] It's quite windy in the midwest which is a good large portion of the US, though the Rockies and most of everything east of the Mississippi are dense forests or low mountains, not that great for high winds (which is why most of the population is around here I suspect). My home state of NJ had a plan to implement wind turbines off the coast and was estimated to give a huge chunk of the state's energy needs but it was shot down hard because it would "ruin the view" for beach goers. Fucking tourists.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;50885541]Neither party is particularly enthusiastic about nuclear: polling frequently shifts 50/50 and it requires government subsidies, meaning Republicans have even less of an incentive to support it.[/QUOTE] Is there a power source that's not subsidized in some way or another?

You see there's a bit of an issue here, as I heard from family who work for SSE. The North of Scotland has a huge capacity to generate Hydro and Wind power. However, and again this is hearsay, apparently there aren't enough 400kV transmission lines to allow that power to be used in the south. It's the usual story: landowners and residents don't want overground pylons. But they also won't have their land dug up for undergrounds. Basically rural Scotland doesn't want power. Or they want it by magic. Now if that's all true and I have no reason to doubt it, these figures are a great pat on the back for wind turbine construction and a big kick up the arse for compulsory purchases of land for the Grid.

Honestly, I am just waiting for a time when Solar Panels aren't thousands of dollars. Otherwise, I really don't care where my electricity comes from as long as we aren't making our country's environment like China's environment.

[QUOTE=Fourier;50886190]To be honest, scotland is windy as fuck. Whole american continent - not so sure. Still, bad exucse from obama.[/QUOTE] there's a lot of areas that compare or exceed many european country's capabilities

[QUOTE=Trebgarta;50886732]I doubt a lot of us would be around to see it if USA were to become like China. You should care - go Nuclear. Electricity needs to be like oil in the Gulf, nigh-free cheap. Green alternatives may save our planet, but theyll never be that cheap. You might argue R&D but put that R&D cash to fusion, please.[/QUOTE] Nuclear isn't the way forward for Scotland.

[QUOTE=Timof2009;50886688]Honestly, I am just waiting for a time when Solar Panels aren't thousands of dollars. Otherwise, I really don't care where my electricity comes from as long as we aren't making our country's environment like China's environment.[/QUOTE]Why not build your own? Just buy bulk cells that may or may not be damaged and watch one of like fifty YouTube videos detailing how to do it. Yeah, sure, it's hundreds instead of thousands but depending on your level of effort and the demands of your household you might actually [I]make[/I] money off of it. Either way there will be a point where the money you saved will have covered the costs of material and your labor and your house have a battery backup by default.

[QUOTE=SeamanStains;50886783]Nuclear isn't the way forward for Scotland.[/QUOTE] No argument? Just a statement?

[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;50886793]Why not build your own? Just buy bulk cells that may or may not be damaged and watch one of like fifty YouTube videos detailing how to do it. Yeah, sure, it's hundreds instead of thousands but depending on your level of effort and the demands of your household you might actually [I]make[/I] money off of it. Either way there will be a point where the money you saved will have covered the costs of material and your labor and your house have a battery backup by default.[/QUOTE] when/if I get my own home, I will be doing this. I want to be able to be fully self sustaining when it comes to electrical generation and as self sustaining as possible when it comes to food production. this is both for environmental reasons and self reliance reasons. [editline]14th August 2016[/editline] it's why I want to build a hive for growing mealworms and a greenhouse with hydroponics. if I can survive on my own then I will feel secure

[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;50887742]when/if I get my own home, I will be doing this. I want to be able to be fully self sustaining when it comes to electrical generation and as self sustaining as possible when it comes to food production. this is both for environmental reasons and self reliance reasons. [editline]14th August 2016[/editline] it's why I want to build a hive for growing mealworms and a greenhouse with hydroponics. if I can survive on my own then I will feel secure[/QUOTE]Renewable energy, means to manufacture spare parts, a hydroponics/aquaponics system big enough to feed yourself and half again, and a decent AR build with good magazines and a few thousand rounds of ammo. Survival essentials, you're covered on basically all fronts if you're going to remain stationary. [editline]14th August 2016[/editline] Oh and of course a means to collect and purify water, I think that should be included in the hydroponics system by default but since it's so important I need to stress it individually. You can go weeks without food, but at most you can go a day and a half without water while retraining your strength and endurance and from there it sharply drops off for another two days at the most and then you die.

[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;50887769]Renewable energy, means to manufacture spare parts, a hydroponics/aquaponics system big enough to feed yourself and half again, and a decent AR build with good magazines and a few thousand rounds of ammo. Survival essentials, you're covered on basically all fronts if you're going to remain stationary.[/QUOTE] that's the plan. I gotta make it earthquake resistant, too, as that is my main concern, living in NW Washington. [editline]14th August 2016[/editline] if I can get my parents' property then I should be set on water as long as I can get electricity to power the pump for our well, though I am trying to convince them to get a manual pump put in as well. if needed, if I can get a purification system set up I can get water from the river on the property

[QUOTE=download;50887005]No argument? Just a statement?[/QUOTE] Just a statement. Scotland has a rare and very abundant mix of hydro, tidal and wind power that means that when it is developed, it can cover 100% of it's energy needs with green energy. We can do that now without needing to put any R&D or expertise into nuclear energy and without having to worry about nuclear waste.

[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;50887781]that's the plan. I gotta make it earthquake resistant, too, as that is my main concern, living in NW Washington. [editline]14th August 2016[/editline] if I can get my parents' property then I should be set on water as long as I can get electricity to power the pump for our well, though I am trying to convince them to get a manual pump put in as well. if needed, if I can get a purification system set up I can get water from the river on the property[/QUOTE]Well I know precisely dick about earthquakes beyond reading stuff on Wikipedia, so I can't exactly help you there. I mean I know some buildings have shock absorbers but I only vaguely understand how that works, so maybe you could just proof the individual components since the structure should already be resistant, right? As for a manual pump having that battery backup would be a good interim solution, if you wanted you could find an old diesel engine and build yourself a static generator too and really it's a great major project that you can focus on to build skill in several things. Alternatively you [I]can[/I] convert a small gasoline engine into a steam engine, the easiest way to do this is gutting the carburetor out and changing the valve cams. I built one years ago when I gave up on my DIY steam turbine (it turned out to be way harder in practice than in theory) that had decent performance considering I found literally all of the parts in a dumpster.

[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;50887889]Well I know precisely dick about earthquakes beyond reading stuff on Wikipedia, so I can't exactly help you there. I mean I know some buildings have shock absorbers but I only vaguely understand how that works, so maybe you could just proof the individual components since the structure should already be resistant, right? As for a manual pump having that battery backup would be a good interim solution, if you wanted you could find an old diesel engine and build yourself a static generator too and really it's a great major project that you can focus on to build skill in several things. Alternatively you [I]can[/I] convert a small gasoline engine into a steam engine, the easiest way to do this is gutting the carburetor out and changing the valve cams. I built one years ago when I gave up on my DIY steam turbine (it turned out to be way harder in practice than in theory) that had decent performance considering I found literally all of the parts in a dumpster.[/QUOTE] I'll have to look into that. my biggest problem coming up will actually be workshop space as I'm going to be moving into an apartment in a city soon enough for school but that will give me time to brush up on theory. hopefully I'll be able to get back home before putting that theory into practice will become a necessity.

[QUOTE=Fourier;50886190]To be honest, scotland is windy as fuck. Whole american continent - not so sure. Still, bad exucse from obama.[/QUOTE] I don't know, from all the storms and tornados, America sounds pretty windy :v:

[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;50887911]I'll have to look into that. my biggest problem coming up will actually be workshop space as I'm going to be moving into an apartment in a city soon enough for school but that will give me time to brush up on theory. hopefully I'll be able to get back home before putting that theory into practice will become a necessity.[/QUOTE]Depending on the size of your apartment and the location you might be able to get away with a fold-out workspace. Sure you won't have a proper machine shop but you'll be able to do small to medium-sized projects by yourself. I'll give you a tip about that, if you want to make it resistant to transmitting sound use memory foam and carpeting. It helps. Also if you want you could always rent a storage unit and use that, but that might be a little pricey and inconvenient depending on your situation. Plus side is if you get good at fixing junk it makes craigslist and dumpster diving great sources of income, it's especially exciting at night when the crack fiends come out so there's that too. (if you're into that)

now, let's wait for extremely Windy winter with snow, clouds and long nights ;) you will thank you got some nuclear plants too ;) (nothing beats stable 4x1400MW 24/7/360 (5 days servicing) source) overally it's impressive but Windmills're obsolete , Vortex generators ftw. in future btw. the worst thing on the too big windmills is the ice breaking from them , it can go flying quite some way (depends on wind strength) and it can be deadly also cheap windmills producing quite annoying noises too try living near those for several months

[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;50888231]Depending on the size of your apartment and the location you might be able to get away with a fold-out workspace. Sure you won't have a proper machine shop but you'll be able to do small to medium-sized projects by yourself. I'll give you a tip about that, if you want to make it resistant to transmitting sound use memory foam and carpeting. It helps. Also if you want you could always rent a storage unit and use that, but that might be a little pricey and inconvenient depending on your situation. Plus side is if you get good at fixing junk it makes craigslist and dumpster diving great sources of income, it's especially exciting at night when the crack fiends come out so there's that too. (if you're into that)[/QUOTE] thanks for the tips, the apartment is kind of small but i'll see if i can swing a storage unit, depending on how much income i can get. in any case, i'll be continuing my research and designing/planning for what i have in mind. and as always i'll keep my go bag maintained and at the ready.