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The future of energy generation and storage

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Another synergetic proposal to tackle energy distribution, energy storage and replacement of fossil fuel transport.

The introduction of Battery Freight trains. Not just a battery powered train. Far, far more.

Why battery freight trains could boost resilience for Australia’s storm battered economies​



Peter Newman
Jan 21, 2024



Battery Commentary Storage Transmission

The recent disastrous storms in Australia (in Queensland, NSW and Wester Australia) were all major threats to economic life, such was their impact. Such storms are largely unpredictable as they are caused by climate change and meteorologists don’t have their models calibrated to deal with this new data.

We can expect many more such events as runaway excessive heat in our atmosphere continues. So what can we do to prepare whilst going net zero?

The biggest impacts of the recent storms were on transmission lines, which are not able to cope with these new high intensity storms and which can take weeks to fix when they come down.

Two new studies from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California have shown there is an alternative: battery freight trains.


The research teams examined the economic feasibility of this new technology and then how they could be used to improve resilience in emergencies and as a means of replacing transmission lines as well as.


The studies by teams led by Popovich in 2021and Moraski in 2023 were published in Nature Energy and found that battery freight trains can tap into the new highly cost effective solar and wind power technologies (around half the price of diesel) and replace diesel locomotives with battery powered locomotives that enable regenerative braking.

The first paper concluded:

The second paper looked at how the battery freight trains could also be used to bring extra batteries in containers into emergency situations so that the train system played a vital role in resilience planning and in the grid integration to replace back up power and firming that is the basis for continued use of gas turbines.

That paper concluded:



Why battery freight trains could boost resilience for Australia’s storm battered economies

Battery freight trains could provide huge amounts of mobile storage to boost the grid and provide resilience to Australia’s storm battered economies. And cut the need for new transmission.
reneweconomy.com.au
 
How quickly is renewable energy moving ? According to the International energy agency quite smartly indeed.

Graph of the Day: Solar is creating fastest energy change in history​



Andrew Blakers
Jun 6, 2023


ANU Chart of the day Multimedia Research Groups, Institutes and Universities Solar

By far the fastest energy change in history is underway. According to the International Energy Agency and other sources, around 400 GW of new solar and wind capacity will be added in 2023.

The large and growing disparity between the deployment rates of solar and coal/gas/nuclear means that nearly all the global growth in electricity demand is being met by solar (with support from wind).

Demand growth will accelerate, driven by rising population, rising affluence, and electrification of nearly all energy services.
The fossil fuel fleet is growing old and will nearly all retire before 2050 regardless of national energy policies around the world – just like is happening in Australia, which is the global solar pathfinder.

Installed solar capacity will reach about 6 Terawatts in 2030, and thereby catch the combined generation capacity of coal, gas, hydro and nuclear. Solar is growing fast enough to decarbonise the global energy system before 2050, even for an all-electric energy system used by ten billion affluent people.

Graph of the Day: Solar is creating fastest energy change in history

By far the fastest energy change in history is underway, with around 400 GW of new solar and wind capacity to be added in 2023.
reneweconomy.com.au
 
For the record this is something being done by the network operator for whatever reason they're doing it. Whilst supply has been tight, it hasn't come to the point of AEMO ordering load shedding, at least not yet.

Whether the networks are doing it due to actual problems, or whether it's in an effort to avoid AEMO issuing a direction and thus keep in practice load shedding "off the books", I'm unsure.
 
The trouble with statements like this is they're a bit like saying that if I'm sitting on the floor right now, then I stand up, then I climb a ladder, then I get on the roof well I'm clearly going up and if we just extrapolate that then it'll take x period of time to get to the moon.

The problem that engineers and others keep screaming about is with things that don't scale, things that work just fine until they run into an obstacle that we (society collectively) are thus far doing nothing to remove.

The big challenge isn't installing wind and solar, that's relatively easy, but rather it's with electrification and storage.

As a case in point, data for 2021-22 for the two states with the highest proportion of renewables in electricity supply:

SA:
Electricity = 65.4%
Total Energy = 16.0%

Tas:
Electricity = 90.6%
Total Energy = 45.8%

So why the huge difference in the % of renewables in total? What's Tasmania doing that SA isn't?

It comes down to something fundamental. Tasmania went "all in" on electricity right from the start versus SA where that's never happened even today. That's apparent everywhere from household water heating (electric in Tas, gas in SA) through water pumping on farms (electric in Tas, diesel in SA). And of course it manifests in per capita consumpton:

Tas = 22,794 kWh per capita per annum

SA = 8,971 kWh per capita per annum

Ultimately a renewable energy economy is an electric economy since the common aspect to the renewables is they produce electricity, they don't produce petrol, diesel, gas or solid fuels. They produce electricity and that being so, electricity is required to be the energy of choice at the point of use.

That's one of the "roadblocks" that need to be addressed but in practice aren't being, indeed to considerable extent we've gone in the opposite direction with the trend having been away from electricity for certain uses, most notably water heating and cooktops in the residential context.

So there's a disconnect with a simple explanation that both are right. Those pointing out that things are being built, more renewable energy is being used etc are factually correct. Those pointing out that there's a roadblock ahead that requires major work to overcome and which will stall progress if not overcome are also correct.

Where the trouble arises is the average person lacks sufficient knowledge of all this, indeed many seem confused to the point of thinking that "energy" and "electricity" are interchangeable terms, forgetting that for most of Australia electricity only comprises a minority of energy use - about 25% at the point of consumption nationally.
 
Plus the narrow view of a huge majority of population in urban environment and detached from any material production : food or goods.
If you need to pump water from a bore or transfer water in the station maybe 10 times a year, are you going to setup a 5km power line per location or a solar panel station for each..as to driving around. Where is the EV ute,EV tractor the EV dozer and escavator, the backup for the freezers or the AC/fans for the chook shed with thousands of pullets at risk under the sun.
That is for farming, go to manufacturing.: I know obviously irrelevant in australia
Until you reach half finished products, most products are using raw brute force.smelting is the first stage where electricity starts being available..
But yes, for the voting watermelon in his her capital city suburbs, sleep in a unit, jump in a train, play all day in an AC office ..sorry doing processes or communication management while sipping latte and eating Deliveroo.
Just switch to solar.
How much electricity vs oil energy in a cup of coffee...Inc disposable cup or capsule
And we do not even produce anything neither coffee,expresso machine,cups..but for minor niche actors..

Funny to say that as the frog grows in sunny coast hinterland,roasts and brew his own on solar electricity so his flat white is probably 80% renewable energy...milk is not..
Not that he cares
 
qldfrog said:
If you need to pump water from a bore or transfer water in the station maybe 10 times a year, are you going to setup a 5km power line per location or a solar panel station for each
Click to expand...
The approach in Tas is just run HV (11/22/33kV) distribution in rural areas, then install a transformer wherever something needs to be supplied.

Typical roadside installation: https://www.google.com/maps/@-42.45...B6CFw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu

The line's there for farming that's it really and there's nothing else on that transformer other than the pump next to it.

Obviously that's a lot easier in a physically small state than in the larger states, but still there's definitely some potential to increase farm electrification elsewhere.

No idea where the pump is for this one, but the meter will be in the box near the ground fed from the transformer on the pole:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
www.google.com

Some states there's a lot more reluctance to put supplies and meters in the middle of nowhere is the point and as a result the farmers end up using diesel even though there's an electricity supply not far away. To install a supply they want an address, a building basically, not just "in box on ground near pole 123456 beside road".

I'm not suggesting all pumping could be electrified, but there's certainly diesel being used at present that could be replaced quite easily. Less mucking about for the farmer too - pump just works, no need to mess about with fuel.
 
Tasmania is small, and when where the lines installed ?
getting a connection within less than a km from existing post is usually over $60k ..so no brainer.
In 2024 Australia, unless you are on a suburban lot, new connectivity to a rural place is off the grid system due to cost.
Not even thinking about remote power for dam pumps ,remote sheds etc
And electric pumps are actually more expensives as you do not get the cheap Chinese imports
I got a 90m head bullet proof twin impeller pump on eBay for less than $400, unburied it from mud(fully under) after flood.pressure washed it ,cleaned it up and started again...
This is a case I am familiar as I am setting up a $10k overhead tank system now for the new farm.
Will go electric as dam pump is within 30m of PowerPoint and I will run a lead cable from our existing off grid system
 
Smurf1976 said:
I'll argue that we really need to be looking at the cost of all this......
Click to expand...
Yes..but yesterday there was a new power post installed on the road to yandina from wappa dam
1 specialised truck driver and another on the ground working
1 truck of erosion controlling rocks waiting ,2 cars of traffic controller and another 1 or 2 vehicles of controller plus 2 temporary red lights setup 3 persons working sitting on the chair(lollypop now electronic men) 2 machinery drivers working an extra 3 if not more bystanders..
1 electric post to install, 2 workers, 7 work vehicles at least,and an extra 7 people watching..full of wisdom no doubt.
This was just to put the post in place..no connection, lines, whatsover
Just put a 7-9m or so post in a hole
Now guess the cost if you need 5 posts or more..not even including the posts and arms costs,or the cable/ transformer.
I believe this is relevant to this thread as anything built here is so over regulated and overpriced it is becoming unbearable economically..
 
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