Tripp's Comments

I'm assuming that this is a CSP project based on its size. Is that the case? If so are they doing thermal storage and NG backup? Are there more details about this proposed facility?

don't forget landfill gas and wastewater treatement facility gas as well. There may also be anaerobic digester options there too. Geothermal heatpumps could also be a valuable asset. They don't produce energy, but the reduce the amount necessary. I wonder what sort of ocean technologies might be applicable in FL. Those are a ways off, but seem reasonable. Offshore wind is certainly other distinct possibility.

uh, MWh makes no sense there. If the lines could only transmit 18GWh of power that would be immensely underwhelming. In your rant where does time (hours) come into the equation? None of your variables are time dependent, so how could MWh be the unit that you're suggesting.

Well, they said that the cost was $4.93B so why don't you do the math instead of whinging about it.

WY exports wind energy to CO. With the NG boom WY's population is now over 500K.

We had 600 years of coal left in the 1970's. We now have ~250 years left. Why? You halve the available supply by growing at 7% per year for 10 years. If we keep expanding our coal production those numbers will continue to fall at an increasing rate.

You misread it mate. It says "The 20 50-kilowatt battery modules will be roughly the size of two semi trailers". The the whole outfit is the described size, not each piece. Which is good for the reasons that you point out. I don't know if this will make sense, but I'm glad to see them having a go.

As SOFC prices come down, it will be interesting to see how they fit into this picture. The output of this plant could increase significantly just by swapping out the generators for SOFCs. There could also be come cogeneration opportunities too.

They've probably got the option to expand it. Could have been lack of funds or a little trepidation. If the system works well I'm sure that they'll expand it.

It is fundamentally different as it uses pyrolysis instead of fermentation. This oil could potentially be turned into all sorts of products.

Any info on the size of the micro turbine? Always good to know just what $1.5M will get you. How many cubic feet of gas is produced on a daily basis?

These guys are in FL so it may well be 50-80% of a home's heating bill.

That's really cool. I like the web based consumption monitor. Giving people an easy way to see what they're using will give them valuable information and possibly open their eyes.

Well said, Jeffery. In colorado, Xcel energy is rapidly expanding their wind production capacity because it's good business sense. In the winter people who pay "extra" for wind power were actually saving money compared to regular rate payers because NG prices were higher. That really opened a lot of eyes around the state. The above disparaging remarks are rubbish. The LIPA project was killed due to cost, but it was acknowleged this was due to a lack of expertise in offshore construction. It was noted that this is not an issue in europe, where there are many offshore wind farms. Wind isn't a silver bullet, but more and more states and utilities are realising that it's an excellent way to keep their costs down.

FCVs make little sense compared to  BEVs (battery electric vehicles).  Nothing states this better than the morphology of FCVs themselves. Namely, they're evolving into BEVs as the batteries get bigger and the fuel cell stacks get smaller. There are tremendous technical hurdles to overcome with the hydrogen economy.  There are so many losses in the system that you really have to ask yourself "why not just use the energy that I'm investing in hydrogen production?" The energy it takes to make one kg of hydrogen by electrolysis can push and EV many, many miles down the road. EVs are simply more efficient and vastly cheaper than FCVs. They always will be, too.

Jim, Mexico's oil production is in steep decline.  They won't be our #2 supplier for much longer. Our own production continues to decline so we'll be looking to replace that production shortfall. Some will come from Canadian oil sands. Some will come from  offshore production, and we'll try to get in on African production in places like Angola. For what it's worth, last time I checked , Saudi was our #3 supplier. OPECs market share is moving higher each years as production in non-OPEC contries declines. So it seems that under a BAU case we'll be buying considerably more oil from the middle east in the future, assuming that they'll sell it to us.