Rumor is it is too immature and to thin to frack, ( with existing technology ).
But wait, with the bureaucracy in CT and the greens, never!
Posted on 04/25/2017 5:46:58 PM PDT by matt04
Connecticut, a state making its mark in both microgrid and fuel cell technology, today will put yet another microgrid into operation, this one in Hartford’s Parkville neighborhood.
microgrid and fuel cellConstellation, Bloom Energy and the city plan to announce completion of the 800-kW fuel cell microgrid this afternoon at a ribbon cutting.
The microgrid will generate clean energy, manage electricity costs and supply emergency power for public buildings and businesses. The fuel cell uses natural gas to produce electricity.
The state helped fund the project with about $2 million through its Microgrid Grant Program. Hartford was among nine grant winners in a 2013 solicitation, the first of three microgrid funding offers by the state. Other microgrids that are now operating as a result of the grants include: Wesleyan University in Middletown, the University of Hartford and the town of Fairfield. In addition, a microgrid under development in Woodbridge took a big step in January when it activated its fuel cell.
...
“DEEP’s first-in-the-nation microgrid grant program is an essential tool to help minimize hardships to our residents and businesses when severe storms occur, and we are going to see more frequent and more extreme storms as a result of changes in our climate,” said Robert Klee, commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.“Microgrid projects, such as this innovative installation in Hartford, will help maintain critical government services and amenities people need even if the power goes down.”
(Excerpt) Read more at microgridknowledge.com ...
Connicunt is such a crappy state.
What I truly love is that it generates clean energy. It uses natural gas as the originating source of energy then a Rube Goldberg device to storage the natural gas produced energy. Here’s an alternative and yes less expensive idea. Go right to the source and just use natural gas to directly produce cutting out the Goldberg.
Hey Connecticut, you are bankrupt. Better save your dollars to heat your schools and buildings rather than this useless idea.
Rumor is it is too immature and to thin to frack, ( with existing technology ).
But wait, with the bureaucracy in CT and the greens, never!
Are these guys friends with Solyndra perhaps?
What utter crap.
It's true! Why, just look how bad hurricanes have gotten.
So, they have to use a fossil fuel, NG, to fuel the fuel cells to produce electricity. What a novel idea? Oh! I thought we were going to get rid of fossil fuels altogether. Silly me!
The advantage of the fuel cells is that they are far more efficient than other generation methods (steam or gas turbine). If the fuel cells are of the solid-oxide type, a steam-turbine "bottoming" cycle can increase the efficiency even more. So there is a legitimate advantage to generating power this way.
If fuel cells were the way to safeguard from power outages from sever weather or other more local incidents, why do places like FL install traditional motor-driven gensets fueled by NG or or Diesel at each building to be backed up instead of a microgrid?
If a bad storm takes out the lines from the fuelcell to the building it does no good. In FL and CT most major supermarkets already have at least a small NG fired emergency generator to keep the lights and registers running. Here in CT some installed inlets to quickly hook up a larger diesel genset to power the refrigeration racks and HVAC. In FL most, if not all, have the inlet and many upgraded to large 500kw diesel sets to power the entire store.
It's indeed comforting to discover that the Commissioner of the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Robert Klee, is a scientific ignoramus. There is no reliable scientific evidence in favor of what he is claiming, rather it's just a foolish and false statement that Robert Klee evidently happened to pull out of his rectum.
Actually these things do make sense if they are not connected to the Grid and if they are EMP shielded.
Ever since the Gov. Weicker mega-screw-over, bait and switch government everything has fallen into shear evil, near fascist, all for the survival and enrichment of the government and you CT citizens better get in line to pay for it or else.
Please disclose the break-even point in such an investment and how it will be a money saver in both the short and long term.
The bottom line is also this: What is the cost in dollars as well as the toxic input to create this more efficient energy?
So far, all the so-called 'green energy' producers are not so 'green' at the front of their construction. And, nobody is thinking or speaking about that. I read articles where those companies are failing at a fairly rapid rate because without subsidies the energy they produce costs well above the market-price.
Well, of course. But sort of obvious.
"The bottom line is also this: What is the cost in dollars as well as the toxic input to create this more efficient energy?"
Also of course.
"So far, all the so-called 'green energy' producers are not so 'green' at the front of their construction. And, nobody is thinking or speaking about that. I read articles where those companies are failing at a fairly rapid rate because without subsidies the energy they produce costs well above the market-price.
Other than solar cells, which use a lot of toxic precursors in the cells, the rest of the pack should be about the same as current tech. Solid oxide fuel cells are just another ceramic, and ceramics have been around for a LONG time, and a huge variety of types are produced in large quantities.
I did a quick search, and the info I find says that SOFC are the least cost per 100KW of any of the new technologies. Given the innocuous nature of their emissions (water and CO2) and their much higher efficiency, they are probably the best way to use our burgeoning natural gas reserves.
One of the really nice features of SOFC is that they are "scalable". If you need a bigger installation, stack up more small units.
So, how large would the ‘stack’ of fuel cells have to be to generate the electricity needs of New York City, for instance?
As I recall, a unit to run a single-family home is about the size of a refrigerator. But there would not be a "single stack to run NYC". The power generators would be installed on a distributed basis (which is the whole idea behind a "microgrid"). Distribution would more likely be determined by existing pipeline infrastructure distributing natural gas.
Still, until it is actually producing a quantifiable amount of electricity, more than a household, that energizes a large area it is not worth anything.
It already has. You can go today and buy complete SOFC units of various sizes.
"Still, until it is actually producing a quantifiable amount of electricity, more than a household, that energizes a large area it is not worth anything.
If it can power a household (which it can), i commet can power multiple households just as easily.
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