viven44 Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 You might be surprised how much electricity is powered by renewables. Almost all of Canada is hydro. China installed more solar last year than the US has in total. Australia has an almost perfect climate for solar. Much of northern Europe is offshore wind (GB, Denmark, Netherlands & the Scandi countries) Iceland is 100% geothermal... Coal & gas power make sense because fixed plants have had over a century to optimize, like well over 60% compared to maybe 30% for ICE. So, even with transmission losses and conversion in an electric motor you are still miles ahead of petroleum. And a ICE will ALWAYS burn fuel. An electric is agnostic. Nuclear, solar, wind, hydro, gas or coal... it doesn't care where the electrons come from. So the changing face of the grid only makes improvements in efficiency. How about nuclear! I always fantasize the future where a truck is ran by a tiny nuclear reactor with fuel forever. I am overlooking the very obvious safety concerns from going nuclear, I can always dream, can't I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 So how about adding a maxi fuse between the starter solenoid and fusible links ? Maybe thats what you've been saying all along. I had incorrectly assumed you wanted me to get rid of the fusible links (sorry). How much does your starter draw on a cold morning?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 How about nuclear! I always fantasize the future where a truck is ran by a tiny nuclear reactor with fuel forever. I am overlooking the very obvious safety concerns from going nuclear, I can always dream, can't I Nukes would be fine, if they could get built on time and budget.... Westinghouse got bought by Toshiba, and then promptly went under. GE only seems to care about milking $$$ from wind turbines.. My buddy Bill lived literally a mile from the third commercial PWR in the United States. Yankee Rowe came after Dresden and Shippingport. They've erased all traces of the containment sphere and the turbine halls. I wanted to visit, but security is ridiculous. They still have DU on site because, unlike the French, we refuse to have breeder reactors . I'm somewhat close to Indian Point which was on the Hudson River in Buchanan. They shut that down 20 years early because knee jerk idiots form NYC don't like clean, reliable power.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viven44 Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 How much does your starter draw on a cold morning?... I have a clamping meter, but that feature doesn't work well. I need help from Mrs. on a cold morning to see how much current it draws but wait I could just jump the solenoid, right, Lol. I find that. Are you saying if the draw isn't too bad, I can use a fuse between starter solenoid and battery ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viven44 Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 Nukes would be fine, if they could get built on time and budget.... Westinghouse got bought by Toshiba, and then promptly went under. GE only seems to care about milking $$$ from wind turbines.. My buddy Bill lived literally a mile from the third commercial PWR in the United States. Yankee Rowe came after Dresden and Shippingport. They've erased all traces of the containment sphere and the turbine halls. I wanted to visit, but security is ridiculous. They still have DU on site because, unlike the French, we refuse to have breeder reactors . I'm somewhat close to Indian Point which was on the Hudson River in Buchanan. They shut that down 20 years early because knee jerk idiots form NYC don't like clean, reliable power.... I don't know any of those names except GE maybe but I really hope research in tiny nuclear power plants happens. I saw a documentary of how much wind turbines cost to maintain and how much their carcass is a pain to handle after EOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I don't know any of those names except GE maybe but I really hope research in tiny nuclear power plants happens. I saw a documentary of how much wind turbines cost to maintain and how much their carcass is a pain to handle after EOL. SMR are a real non starter. The Russians have a barge full of reactors somewhere up in Siberia. We had the NV Savannah way back in the '60's , but even though it was used as a powerplant, it was compromised.., as a demonstrator by having to handle cargo, (just as CONNEX boxes were taking hold) and hosting a nuclear crew as well as an 'ambassador' type cheerleading crew.... Nuclear doesn't scale down. Or rather, it looses any reason for being when its stupid small, like a handful of megawatts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I saw a documentary of how much wind turbines cost to maintain and how much their carcass is a pain to handle after EOL. Link??? I watch a few channels out of the area I spoke of, and all the actual operators and tower tech's seem incredibly happy with resilience and lifetime. The North Sea is a brutal environment. I used to know some platform workers and divers. Even if the windmills were falling over, at least they can never cause an environmental disaster. 🤷♂️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viven44 Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 I saw a documentary of how much wind turbines cost to maintain and how much their carcass is a pain to handle after EOL. Link??? I watch a few channels out of the area I spoke of, and all the actual operators and tower tech's seem incredibly happy with resilience and lifetime. The North Sea is a brutal environment. I used to know some platform workers and divers. Even if the windmills were falling over, at least they can never cause an environmental disaster. 🤷♂️ I tried to find the long documentary, it's been a while, may have been on Netflix or somewhere. Even talked about their low duty cycles in many regions of the country due to wind trajectory, lack of wind, etc... I'll keep looking. I know it's one of the best sources of renewable energy. Just hope nuclear power is more prevalent, if we don't get a portable reactor that's fine but we have to use nuclear to make power like some of the natural resource and population challenged Asian countries like China, India. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 I tried to find the long documentary, it's been a while, may have been on Netflix or somewhere. Even talked about their low duty cycles in many regions of the country due to wind trajectory, lack of wind, etc... I'll keep looking. I know it's one of the best sources of renewable energy. Just hope nuclear power is more prevalent, if we don't get a portable reactor that's fine but we have to use nuclear to make power like some of the natural resource and population challenged Asian countries like China, India. I'm not being critical of nuclear energy. Just that compact reactors (submarines, aircraft carriers, etc..) are a very different animal than what is seen as acceptable risk for the general public. The military gets away with (deems normal) missiles, machine guns, depleted uranium AP, and ordinance that you could never get away with, off base. Fusion, if it EVER happens, is pretty much the Grail..... and would solve the nuclear "waste" issue in decades rather than a half million years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viven44 Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 I'm not being critical of nuclear energy. Just that compact reactors (submarines, aircraft carriers, etc..) are a very different animal than what is seen as acceptable risk for the general public. The military gets away with (deems normal) missiles, machine guns, depleted uranium AP, and ordinance that you could never get away with, off base. Fusion, if it EVER happens, is pretty much the Grail..... and would solve the nuclear "waste" issue in decades rather than a half million years. It will happen one day soon, and we will have so much power at our hands we wouldn't know what to do! Knowing history of humanity, at the dawn of a new capability, we've always found new worlds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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