Edmund Storms wrote: > And thus we see the basic flaw in wind generation. Unless a backup > source of power is in place and can be connected to an active grid, > wind power is not practical. You can use an intermediate stage as energy storage. Why not produce Hidrogen with wind (and solar) power, and burn that hydrogen when wind or solar is scarce? Not a backup, a buffer. If you are concerned with the dangers and complications of Hidrogen storage or transportation, you can use wind and/or solar to refine Aluminium, and later burn that Al to produce Aluminium Oxide and Hidrogen. Aluminium Oxide can be recicled indefinitely, and the Hidrogen and heat generated used to produce electric power.
Electric cars can be used to replace explosion cars, and Al can even possibly be used as a fuel, with some modifications to actual explosion cars, by burning it and producing Hidrogen on demand, and burning the Hidrogen in turn in the slighty modified explosion motor. I've made the calculations some years ago, and around 100 kgs of Aluminium were equivalent in autonomy and power to a full tank of gasoline. In the refuelling stations, a double process is necessary: getting rid of the Aluminium oxide for recycling, and refuelling of the Al. Other light metals(like Mg) can be more efficient than Al to store and transport energy, but Al seems like a good candidate. If this is done massively, the cost of energy can drop to almost zero after the initial investment is amortized. Mauro
