Huge Global Study Just Smashed One of The Last Major Arguments Against Renewables

[ashling]

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-spot-530-000-potential-pumped-hydro-sites-to-meet-all-our-renewable-energy-needs?fbclid=IwAR0cxaWTYMuTeflbXxwslL2UfKvZIuncE6GgibQFlGEW-Qj9CDM6JXPJaBQ

We just got some massive news in the ongoing drive to switch to renewable energy: scientists have identified 530,000 sites worldwide suitable for pumped-hydro energy storage, capable of storing more than enough energy to power the entire planet.


Pumped-hydro is one of the best technologies we have for storing intermittent renewable energy, such as solar power, which means these sites could act as giant batteries, helping to support cheap, fully renewable power grids.

As of now the sites have only been identified by an algorithm, so further on-the-ground research needs to be done. But it was previously assumed there were only limited suitable sites around the world, and that we wouldn't be able to store enough renewable energy for high-demand times – which this study shows isn't the case at all.

Added together, these hundreds of thousands of sites have the potential to store around 22 million Gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy. It's more than enough to get the entire planet running on renewables, which is where we want to get to.

[NeoGreen]

1. Yep...

...this is how the electricity I use is generated:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Moses_Niagara_Hydroelectric_Power_Station#Lewiston_Pump-Generating_Plant

Lewiston Pump-Generating Plan
The pump-generating plant in the Lewiston Dam is atypical, in that the dam was constructed not to control the flow of water in a natural river, but rather to contain a man-made 1,900-acre (770 ha), 22-billion-US-gallon (83,000,000 m3) upper reservoir (named the Lewiston Reservoir) which stores the water before being released into the forebay of the Robert Moses Power Station. Water enters the forebay via tunnels from the Niagara River controlled via the International Control Dam upstream of the natural falls. Water in the forebay is then either pumped up into the upper reservoir or immediately sent down over the escarpment downstream of the natural falls into the Robert Moses Power Station turbines. The Lewiston Pump-Generating Plant 43°08?33?N 79°01?18?W houses 12 electrically powered pump-generators that can generate a combined 240 MW (320,000 hp) when water in the upper reservoir is released.

At night, a substantial fraction (600,000 US gal (2,300 m3) per second) of the water in the Niagara River is diverted to the forebay by two 397 ft (121 m) tunnels. Electricity generated in the Moses plant is used to power the pumps to push water into the upper reservoir behind the Lewiston Dam. The water is pumped at night because the demand for electricity is much lower than during the day. In addition to the lower demand for electricity at night, less water can be diverted from the river during the day because of the desire to preserve the appearance of the falls. During the following day, when electrical demand is high, water is released from the upper reservoir through the pump-generators in the Lewiston Dam. The water then flows into the forebay, where it falls through the turbines of the Moses plant. Some would say that the water is "used twice". This arrangement is a variant of what is called pumped-storage hydroelectricity. Engineers copied what had been built by Ontario Hydro, across the river, when a similar system was built during construction of the Sir Adam Beck generating station II in the 1950s.

[TexasBushwhacker]

2. All the sites in NA are great, but look at all the sites in Africa

Providing cheap power where there currently is none would be life changing for millions.

[Wounded Bear]

3. Pretty much anywhere there is a decent sized hill...

with either solar or wind sufficient to power the pumps. Add back up batteries as a fail safe for the pumps and you're green. (see what I did there? Fifth Element reference )