Here is an interesting approach to intermittancy in energy supply
Nick Balmer
The following article relates to ships, but the combination of
batteries , the grid and diesel generators is interesting.
These batteries must be fairly big. I wonder who makes them?
Nick Balmer
First battery-powered ferries to be built at Clyde shipyard
Skye-Raasay sea crossing to get first hybrid diesel and battery propelled
ferry, with maiden voyage due 2013
• Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 November 2011 16.54 GMT
• larger | smaller
An older-style CalMac ferry near the Inner Hebridean island of Mull. The
firm plans to run hybrid-powered ferries from Skye by 2013. Photograph:
Murdo Macleod
The world's first low-carbon battery-powered passenger ferries are
being built on the banks of the Clyde, the first commercial vessels
constructed at the Scottish shipbuilding site for four years.
Described as the first seagoing hybrid ferries in the world, the two small
roll-on roll-off ferries will carry holidaymakers, islanders and vehicles
across the waters from the Isle of Skye and inner Hebrides.
Two are being built, and, in two years' time, one is due to sail from
Sconser on Skye to the sparsely populated island of Raasay using the type of
diesel-electric hybrid technologies that are becoming popular in car
manufacture.
The ferries, which will be 43.5 meters (142ft) long, will be equipped with
conventional but highly efficient diesel generators that will power electric
propulsion motors.
Besides this, battery banks aboard each boat, with a total output of 700kWh,
will provide power to the propulsion units, reducing fuel need by at least
20%. The batteries will be recharged from a supply ashore while the vessels
are moored overnight.
The Scottish government, which has lent the Hebridean and Clyde ferry
firm Caledonian MacBrayne £20m to built the vessels, said the batteries
could eventually be charged by onshore wind, wave or solar power to further
cut CO2 emissions.
The design is expected to cut carbon emissions, reduce fuel consumption and
also reduce air pollution.
Ferguson Shipbuilders, at Port Glasgow, is building the ferries, which will
be operated by Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac). The boats will carry up to 150
passengers and accommodate about 23 cars or two HGVs. The route for the
second vessel has yet to be decided.
The shipping industry, which is still permitted to use highly polluting
diesel, and to sidestep the strict air-quality and carbon emissions rules
followed onshore, is under intense pressure to use much cleaner fuels and
more efficient engines.
The Committee on Climate Change has said shipping should be included in the
UK's official climate targets, which aim to cut emissions by 80% by 2050.
David Kennedy, the committee's chief executive, said: "Shipping could
account for up to 10% of emissions allowed under the 2050 target, and that
says that this is a material issue."
The Scottish government and transport sector have begun only recently using
hybrid technologies for public transport. Energy experts have stressed that
converting commercial, farming and industrial vehicles to low-carbon
technology is crucial for meeting tough, new, climate targets.
Alex Neil, the Scottish cabinet secretary for infrastructure, said: "The
technology will be cleaner, quieter and cheaper to operate and maintain than
ever before. It will help Scotland meet ambitious climate change targets,
and it demonstrates the vast economic potential of developing green
technology and moving to a low-carbon economy."
Stuart McMillan MSP, who grew up in Port Glasgow and whose father worked at
Ferguson, said: "Mixing the traditional Clyde-built skills as well as newer
green technologies shows that Port Glasgow can once again be at the vanguard
of the shipbuilding industry. These world-first vessels will prove that
commercial shipbuilding on the Clyde is not over but can be the start of
something bigger."
• © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All
rights reserved.
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