Electricity Solution After Hurricanes

https://techxplore.com/news/2019-06-approach-optimizes-future-electricity-disaster.html

Finally, we're getting solutions to problems rather than the usual doom and gloom.

A prof from Johns Hopkins University has a good idea. It's novel; never thought of before, .. The USN barge used in the Dominican Republic..some help from Army of Ft Eustis, Virginia..not applicable. The Dominion Republic isn't part of the USA.

Here's the idea: "Mobile electricity-generation ocean platforms could be brought to such locations by sea..."

Is "variational calculus" a type of cloud ?

Plan is on hold pending the correct technology.

Funding should be easy. The Maritime Subsidy Board just printed out the forms needed to be signed.

 

I lived in Hawaii over 30 years ago. While I was there they had a hurricane and all the power on the island of Kaui went out. The had a lot of trouble getting power restored. I think it had something to do with power stations drawing each other down as they started them up ... I don't know. But anyway at some point they brought in a nuclear submarine and used it to jump start the power grid on the island. They said that the submarine generated enough power that it could power the entire island for a number of years.

 

The US Navy has done that several times. They have a ship class that is specifically made for power generation, desalination of salt water to provide drinking water and hospital services.

 

Many many years ago...this shipyard converted several barges to house Desalinization platforms...to be used at Guantanamo Bay Cuba at our military instillation there.

There was a lot of political wrangling going on with the Cubans and they cut the water off to the base.

They used these barges to make fresh water from sea water.

I don't see why similar cannot be done with a barge made power plant....until more permanent facilities could be put back on line after a disaster.


Watcherchris
Not an Ishmaelite.

 

There are lots of ways to generate power that are underutilized. Basically, the power companies have a vested interest in protecting their investment in the current generating methods. Can you imagine the forces of the tides if they were channeled into and through a generating facility?

One of the big problems we have at this time is that our ability to generate electricity has far outstripped our ability to store it. A generating facility generates constantly and it is a use it or loses it sort of thing. We need better ways to store them. chemical batteries are fine at small levels of use but nearly useless for large uses. There have been some talks about using some form of a kinetic storage device. Think of a just HUGE spinning flywheel that you can spin up using power from an intermittent source like sunlight and then draw it back out later to spin your generators after dark.

Our current power generation is amazingly primitive. We are still dependent on steam engines or water wheels to provide most of our power.

 

by LastOutlaw...

A nuclear ship or submarine tied up to a pier for extensive periods of time requires a pear or dockside facilities ...specific to that kind of ship/boat. These specific facilities can be expensive.

This is very different from a conventionally powered boat or ship.

That is all I will say on that topic.


Watcherchris
Not an Ishmaelite.