Sommat to make PJC cream his environmentally friendly globally warmed jeans

[zeitghost]

Japanese breakthrough will make wind power cheaper than nuclear | MNN - Mother Nature Network

Electrickery too cheap to meter.

[hyperD]

Japanese breakthrough will make wind power cheaper than nuclear | MNN - Mother Nature Network

Electrickery too cheap to meter.

But, but, but,... when the wind stop a'blowin', who gonna power them big cities? Why it's them nasty CCGT and coal fired power stations.

Running on spinning standby 'cos them nasty sooty thingies take a day and an age to start up.

Burning them fossil fuels as them windmills spin.

Producing them nasty killing dangerous mustard gases, CO2.

Doh!

[pjclarke]

Well I am 'sceptical' (in the original meaning of the word) that you can double the efficiency of a turbine by putting a rim round it, but we'll see when they publish.

Intermittency adds an insignificant amount to the cost of wind, when used in a properly integrated grid. The wind is always blowing (or the sun shining, or the tide turning, or the river flowing or the geothermal, erm geo-thermalling) somewhere. Why Wind Intermittency is NOT a Big Deal | CleanTechnica

[hyperD]

My god man, are you in another dimension where time does not exist and on hot standby?!?!?!

Is there a ouija board nearby?!?!

[TimberWolf]

I can't find a reliable or scholarly source on this, apart from the Japanese site. Maybe too early. Seems a bit hard to believe, and if the efficiency were significantly greater as claimed, wind turbines would likely need to be spaced out more.

[TimberWolf]

Here's the Kyushu University publication: PDF

[pjclarke]

Please do your homework .... intermittency was put to bed half a decade ago

Most comprehensive assessment on intermittency ever undertaken finds reports suggesting renewable energy is costly or limited by intermittency are out of step with majority of expert analysis

The UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) today launches a definitive report on the costs and impacts of intermittent energy supplied by renewable sources, such as wind. Some commentators have suggested that renewable energy is made much more costly, or is drastically limited by intermittency.

However, the report finds that these views are out of step with the vast majority of international expert analysis. Intermittency need not present a significant obstacle to the development of renewable sources.

[pjclarke]

Thanks TW. Looks really promising.... if it will scale up ...

[TimberWolf]

Thanks TW. Looks really promising.... if it will scale up ...

I had a quick look and got a bit lost in all the various designs in a quick 1st pass, but it appears that the shroud they use is 1.1 times the blade length (or 1.2 times the blade diameter), which is what I was interested in. Power is proportional to swept area (and wind speed cubed) so I'd expect a 21% increase in power with that extra length, if it were all rotor, but they claim about 2x the power, and even more with a baffle of type C (which I assume isn't too long), but I got bored at that point. Have to wait and see what others make of it in the field, and as you say to see if it will scale up. They also cite another design from an earlier group that claimed 2x the power IIRC. Interesting.