Monthly Archives: January 2015

Nuclear Power Needs to Double to Curb Global Warming

From Scientific America

Experts suggest that without nuclear power the world has little chance of restraining global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius.

Since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in Japan chilled global attitudes toward nuclear power, the world has been slowly reconciling its discomfort with nuclear and the idea that it may have a role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to tackle climate change.

The International Energy Agency and the Nuclear Energy Agency suggest in a report released Thursday that nuclear will have such a significant role to play in climate strategy that nuclear power generation capacity will have to double by 2050 in order for the world to meet the international 2°C (3.6°F) warming goal.

With fossil fuels growing as sources of electricity across the globe, the IEA sees nuclear power as a stable source of low-carbon power helping to take polluting coal-fired plants offline.

To accomplish the needed CO2 emissions cuts to keep warming no greater than 2°C, the IEA says global nuclear power generation capacity needs to increase to 930 gigawatts from 396 gigawatts by 2050. With nearly 100 nuclear reactors, the U.S. has more nuclear power plants than any other country, representing 105 gigawatts of production. France, Japan, Russia and China round out the top five countries using nuclear power.

Globally, nuclear energy is already making a comeback with 72 nuclear reactors now under construction worldwide, mainly in Asia.

“This marked the greatest number of reactors being built in 25 years,” IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said in a statement. “Nuclear energy also remains the second-largest source of low-carbon electricity worldwide. And, indeed, if we are to meet our collective climate goals, nuclear energy is critical.”

All forms of low-carbon energy must be employed to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, she said.

That conclusion is consistent with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s findings last year that global carbon dioxide emissions need to be capped at 450 parts per million in order to prevent warming greater than 2°C, Robert N. Stavins, director of the Project on Climate Agreements at Harvard University and a drafting author of the IPCC’s Working Group III Report, said.

By Bobby Magill and Climate Central

Read more here

 

Solar Panels Floating on Water Will Power Japan’s Homes

Clean energy companies are turning to lakes, wetlands, ponds, and canals as building grounds for sunlight-slurping photovoltaic panels.

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The biggest floating plant, in terms of output, will soon be placed atop the reservoir of Japan’s Yamakura Dam in Chiba prefecture, just east of Tokyo. When completed in March 2016, it will cover 180,000 square meters, hold 50,000 photovoltaic solar panels, and power nearly 5,000 households. It will also offset nearly 8,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. (Since the EPA estimates a typical car releases 4.7 tons of CO2 annually, that’s about 1,700 cars’ worth of emissions.)

Full story here  (National Geographic)

Added 17th January 2015

 

 

 

 

3KVA Home Inverter Installation

This system was designed for a house in Parkview, Johannesburg to supply selected Lights & Plug circuits with mains power for at least two hours during Municipal power grid load shedding and black outs.

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The installation consists of a Vision 3KVA Mains Inverter, a  48v Battery Bank, a Vision Charger, a By Pass Switch and a Sub Distribution board with Isolators / Circuit Breakers for the various  circuits. A Sub Distribution board was installed in the house along side the main db, which is powered by the inverter.

Whilst the Inverter can do an automatic Mains switch over when the City Power feed goes down, the  Inverter is left off and by passed during nominal power supply.

The system was tested by the client under a  typical load for two hours, the battery bank still had 50% reserves.

The installation was designed to be supplemented by a PV Array and Solar Charger, and upgraded with additional battery banks as required.

The Commission Date was 5th January 2015 .