Bent crude tops 60 a barrel

3 tons wrote:

pnichols wrote:

time2roll wrote:
And all this time I thought they pumped at night and generate in the afternoon.

That's reversed if the need is to provide a water battery for solar energy storage: Use the electric motors to pump the reservoir full when the sun is available so you have pump motor power ... and then whenever the sun isn't available or the reservoir is full enough, let the water drain from a higher level reservoir into a lower level reservoir through the reversed rotation pump motors to make electricity.

The anti-reservoir crowd shouldn't care - in fact they should endorse the method, being that a lot of them are sustainable/renewable energy types anyway - because the "reservoirs" are only used for the temporary storage of water in two locations that can be very close to each other. The only water "used up" would be that through evaporation and leakage, which could be replaced from outside sources periodically as needed. The reservoirs would be very access and use controlled and have nothing to do with boating, fishing, swimming, or the sustaining of wildlife ... just like with "drinking water supply" reservoirs that can't be accessed or used for anything else. Of course a couple of huge tanks could serve the same technical purpose ... but I'm assuming that earthen reservoirs could be constructed to hold way, way more water for energy storage than any man-made tanks.

IMHO, water movement between two high-low reservoirs to act as temporary storage of vast energy from the sun is a perfect solution to the sun's fickleness impact on widespread solar energy use. Let's get on with it everywhere possible ... the large solar farms need not even be physically close to the water batteries.

From most of the previous postings it seems some of the posters have yet to perceive or acknowledge that any real need even exist!!.... either way, it cost lots of money to procure, build and maintain these dams, eh..... Yet we’re still responding to a perceived need without FIRST understanding if EV’s are a better transportation choice than converting our fleets to a widely available, clean burning, long lasting supply of Natural gas, without attempting to determine the true net pollution gain??.... For the answer, just follow the money of those invested in the EV transportation solution...

3 tons

Good evening 3 tons. I agree the jury may be out for awhile on what is the best way to go but to some extent the consumer will decide. I don't know much about natural gas powered autos. Do they use the same internal combustion engines with transmissions and differentials and oil and plugs and filters etc. If so I think they would be a hard sell against an electric vehicle in say 10 years. Drive an electric vehicle and drive an ICE vehicle and there is really no comparison...in my opinion. But others as well. Many EV drivers couldn't imagine going back to something as awful feeling as an ICE after spending even a week with an EV. It really is a game changer for many. Maybe they'll fix some of the shortfalls of the ICE vehicles in the meantime but I would think many next generation drivers that have driven an EV won't even look at a ICE regardless if its gas or natural gas propelling it. But like I said, I have no idea how a natural gas vehicle works.

JMHO. Interesting discussion though.

John