tim.... wrote:
"Nightjar "cpb"@" "insertmysurnamehere wrote in message
...
On 18/10/2010 17:33, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:39:32 +0100, John Rumm wrote:

True HEP generation requires a georgraphy and rainfall predisposed to it
that we don't really have much off.
But we do have an awful lot of water reservoirs obstenishly for
drinking water but most if not all let down water all the time to
keep the rivers below them flowing. One could harness this let down
for power generation.

It probably wouldn't be a great deal at any single reservior, maybe a
few MW, but not far from here there are a series of reserviors all
letting down one to the other. It starts to add up and apart from
maintenace and faults it would be 24/7 power.

Not only more expensive, but more importantly not able to generate in
sufficient quantity.
No one single renewable energy soure stands a chance of supplying all
the enregy demanded but that is *not* a reason not to use renewables.
Cost effectivness is. None of the renewables can match the generating cost
of conventional or nuclear power and, if you do a whole life study, when
nuclear still wins out on cost,

How can you (or anybody) possibly make this claim when we STILL don't know
how much it will cost to get rid of the waste material we have already
stored, let alone that which we have yet to generate.

the same way wind people calculate costs when they have no idea how long
the ghastly things will last, and calculate carbon reduction when they
have no idea how much if any, given the total variability of the wind
and the back up policy it entails, they will save (if any), or indeed
calcualate the cost of removing the unsightly towers and foundations
once its realised the things are of absolutely no value to anyone and a
total eyesore, and the same way they calculate the cost of coal power,
when no-one has any idea what regulations might be imposed some time in
the future to deal with the (more radioactive than low level nuclear
waste) coal ash..

Generally 15% of capital cost is put in for decommissioning: Fortunately
these days stations are built to be taken apart, unlike e.g. Dounreay.

What is the cost of decommissioning a wind farm? Includig removing teh
foundations?

And storing them somewhere no one will ever have to encounter the things
ever again? Or at least for 5000 years...



tim