• Chloë (she/her)
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    326 months ago

    Did you know that the best way we currently have to store energy are dams? In most dams you can install a pump to take water and store it higher, then when energy is needed you simply open the turbine.

    • @AA5B
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      356 months ago

      The problem with dams or pumped storage is it only works in specific places where you have a higher place to put lots of water.

        • @[email protected]
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          16 months ago

          I would be all for that, but I think a lot of smaller tanks of compressed air might be better or easier.

          A dam would be a huge natural tank. I can’t think of a similar structure that is safe enough to prevent widespread destruction.

    • HeartyBeast
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      46 months ago

      You need a certain kind of landscape for that. I think the UK only has a couple of pumped storage power stations due to lack of suitable sites

      • @[email protected]
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        16 months ago

        Pretty sure geographically germany still has a few nice spots for it. Allgau, Schwarzwald, Pfälzerwald …

        It’s just all these damn people with their damn towns and livelyhoods that are in the way.

    • BigFig
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      16 months ago

      Hydrogen and Methane Power-to-gas can store more power for longer than hydro pump

        • @Grimy
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          6 months ago

          The downvotes are because almost all of the global hydrogen production is made either with natural gas, as a byproduct of oil drilling or through coal.

          In its current state, it is a fake green product pushed by the oil industry to hamper the transition.

          • @[email protected]
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            116 months ago

            Ah - that makes sense, thank you. You’re correct, but I work in the aerospace industry with hydrogen fuel cells and green hydrogen is all I’m familiar with, but I realize now that this was bias on my part.

          • @[email protected]
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            46 months ago

            Is hydrolysis not cost-effective? If we have excess electricity, as in this case, can we not use that to get hydrogen?

          • BigFig
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            26 months ago

            On the recent lemmy topic of using up votes and down votes incorrectly.

            Literally just stating a verifiable fact, not in support or against the technology, and I get down voted lol.

      • Chloë (she/her)
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        46 months ago

        huh i hadn’t heard of this one? I went to a dam last year and that’s what the guide told us…

        • bobburger
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          46 months ago

          I think it’s the physical size of the reservoir that is the limiting factor. You can’t reasonable expand most reservoirs, but it’s relatively easy to create new hydrogen/methane storage tanks.

          • @[email protected]
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            26 months ago

            Yes but pumped storage is about 80% round trip efficiency vs power to x which is barely touching 20% out of the lab. And power to X needs an epic fuckton of very clean water, which also isn’t easy to find.

      • @[email protected]
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        16 months ago

        At huge inefficiency loss though. Denmark is probably further with this than anywhere else in the world and even they are sputtering on getting this going.