Jones Beene wrote:
If the normal limits of nuclear steam are 1000 F and concentrated solar
can boost that steam to 1500 F, this makes a large Carnot efficiency
difference... and for the pyrolysis, i.e. thermo-chemical splitting of
water, the temperature-boost is even more important. However, to my
knowledge there are no hybrid nuclear/solar plants in operation (or even
planned).
Now, THAT'S an interesting switch!
The ANS is planning some sort of nuclear hydrogen generation scheme. See
the publication I listed previously, "Nuclear Production of Hydrogen:
Technologies and Perspectives for Global Deployment." Hey, there is a
journal, even though we have not produced a single gram of nuclear hydrogen
fuel. See:
http://www.wonuc.org/hydrogen/ijhpa.htm
The "big picture" will surely be a mix of many diverse technologies . . .
Unless CF works, in which case everything else will wither away. (At least
as a primary source of energy.)
. . . and the risk of that is that to get the lowest cost in any one
technology - the manufacturer needs to get to volume production.
Exactly. With most technologies, it is not cost-effective to have more than
two or three basic systems. Robert Cringley's rule of thumb is that you
always have one dominant and one subordinate technology, and there is
rarely room left for #3. There are not enough researchers to go around, not
enough capital, and you have to train three sets of support engineers, and
maintain three kinds of manufacturing facilities spare parts etc. I think
there will likely be a shakeout, at least in each major division. We cannot
afford to develop large-scale solar-thermal, plus PV, plus the solar
Stirling gadgets. That's a shame. They are all nifty and I would hate to
have to choose between them.
PV may survive for niche applications. Someone here suggested it might even
survive competition with CF, if the price falls enough. That is true,
because it is the only alternative energy source that works on site at your
house (without a distribution network), and takes up no useful space.
- Jed
