| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
I just came from giving a talk at a press intro for our new project. I found it interesting that the questions that followed could easily be sorted into TWO CATEGORIES. The first was the . . . "how the heck will that work? . . we've never done anything like that. . . it's going to be nothing but risk". The other was "That's awesome. Even though it's way out there and different I think with what we know we can do it and do it very well. What an opportunity". Kind of sad to say but the opinions tended to align along age groups . . . made me feel young though. This one had ought to take me to the end of my career once and for all . . .every time I try to retire someone screws it up.  I LOVE what I do! | ||
| Ratbuell |
Damn Court...when are you going to do something *significant*?  | ||
| Petereid |
Too old and "comfortable" with their knowledge and perceived limitations or too young to know any better. It's a common division. If you combine the experience of age with the daring of youth sometimes great things can happen! OR...you get something like this: Hey, you know if you have a calm day you could send power back through the lines and turn them into giant fans and blow a nice cool breeze over the city in the summer | ||
| Fireboltwillie |
court, i gave up my nautical charts years ago when i moved to colorado. what water depths will you be working in? | ||
| Spectrum |
Court the reaction you received doesn't surprise me. My experience with IT folks is often similar. You think IT folks would all be innovators, but in actuality this is hardly true. I think age is only a minor factor. My experience is people are predisposed by nature to be either tactical or strategic thinkers. Age just tends to solidify whatever your predisposition happens to be. | ||
| Ulynut |
I LOVE what I do! I'll bet you do! Thats going to be a fun project. I wonder how they plan on anchoring those things. Any idea? The link you posted says they don't have the exact location determined yet, but that area of the Rockaways is all ledge. Possibly pin them into the rock? | ||
| Madduck |
If you aren't very careful some of us crazies will be planting fresh lobster remains at the site and suing your ass off. Us greenies have feelings too. Wind turbine vibrations in rock cause lobsters to explode. Effect looks remarkably similar to having been cooked and eaten only a few hours earlier. Put one up on Cape Cod and really piss of Kerry et al. | ||
| Windrider |
Hey Court, That looks like a great project. Remember to have fun while you are building it! In the middle of big projects sometimes the fun fizzes out..... | ||
| Court |
>>>what water depths will you be working in? 80'-100' We'll be about 15NM out . . . on the Cholera Bank. INTERESTING NOTE: (I've had to learn LOTS more than I ever dreamed I'd know about this stuff) The Cholera Bank was literally named for the disease. When ships, carrying immigrants to New York, had someone on board who showed signs of Cholera . . . guess where they dropped anchor until they got better or died? My role, to date, has been to sit and read for hours and become a walking "knowledge sponge" for the purposes of appearing as an SME in hearings. I need to be prepared to respond to questions like "why this? and why that?" . . stuff like "why 3 blades" (hint: one blade actually has lots of advantages) . . why do they turn counter-clockwise and "what if the wind stops?". . . . it's amazing how much information there is out there. Fun stuff . . . >>>Put one up on Cape Cod and really piss of Kerry et al. Actually CAPE WIND ain't far away . . . ours will be the largest offshore in the world. Size matters . . . but, another fun fact. . . one of the things we are currently doing is weighing the "do you use the current PROVEN 3.6kW technology or go with the new 5kW design?" It's a BIG consideration as you build the financial model . . . the risk of an unproven design is one thing in the hills of Texas . . it's another thing when you are forecasting 25 years of maintenance costs 15NM off the coast. By the way . . . the "send power to them and make them fans" has some interesting bearing on all this. I won't bore you now . . . busy night tonight . . . but it's fun stuff. | ||
| Drhacknstine |
No no, If your going to do it.... skip the lobster. Wait for the first one to be up and turning. Then shred a half dozen feather pillows. Unacceptable loss of pelicans, gulls, bald eagles, Dodo Birds whatever gets the injunction. But seriously, Great project! If it was somewhere in the south west(warm). I'd be begging to work it from the start, to a maintenance job when it's finished. | ||
| Ezblast |
Damn! What a cool project! SF should be introduced to it! EZ | ||
| Cityxslicker |
the props are cool.... I more curious about the transmission for the energy back to the shore. | ||
| Richsm2 |
the establishedment,next year they will be agreeing that they had such a good idea here. are there lights or something on those blades? before someone brings up the subject of flying fish, nessy or something else as certain. | ||
| Benm2 |
It often seems the surest way to draw the ire of "established upper management" is to propose somthing they beleive can't be done, and then do it. When they see you do it, the next step is for them to form their own team, of people much more talented than you, so that they can show how to do it better. The result of this is often predictable, and further improves your standing with EUM. Lastly, develop a penchant for working in the trenches, establishing such outrageous habits as (1) knowing floor workers names, (2) literally getting your hands into problems, and (3) develop a loyal staff with very low turnover. This circuit completes the series. Surely at this point it will be made clear to you that starting your own business might be a good idea. | ||
| Benm2 |
DrHack: http://www.stirlingenergy.com/pdf/2009_8_19.pdf The southwest has more sun than wind, and this technology offers better efficiency than traditional silicon solar. Better yet, it has moving parts so it will need maintenance. The bonus of course is fewer swimming lessons. | ||
| Fdl3 |
I almost did not want to pose this question for fear of being cast into "that" group, but I am just too curious. With the potential increase in alternative energy oceanic windmill farms, how do we protect these from potential attack by adversaries of the United States? | ||
| Benm2 |
http://www.ussny.org/ Might help... | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Court: you didn't link which decision to which age group. We were really surprised in our recent hiring how conservative our younger newer employees were. They became the stumbling block to new ideas and not the fresh insight we were hoping for. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Fdl3: don't let your fears paralyze you. Terrorism is an economic war, not a ground war. It is won by economic progress such as projects like this which supply jobs and independent energy sources. Be brave, be bold, like the shoppers that go to the Bagdad market every day knowing the risk. The market place is where the real war is fought. Regular war? Worry about it when the world gets back to having regular wars. | ||
| Ducbsa |
curious about the transmission for the energy back to the shore. The same way it's always done. They charge up a huge bank of batteries on a barge, tow it to shore and hook 'em to the transmission line. Typically, there'll be 5 or 6 barges circulating back and forth to keep up with the output.  | ||
| Drhacknstine |
 YEA, Duracell is supplying the Barges. Benm2 I'm fond of Wind Power... Hydraulic power transfer systems, torque multiplication systems, guidance systems, with on board computer controls. But, I tolerate heights more than enjoy them. So, yes ground based systems would be a better choice for me. I've never gone looking for a career change, they have usually dropped in my lap. Maybe, some day I should change that. I often have wondered why no one has used geothermal to run a sterling engine type power plant. | ||
| Ducbsa |
geothermal to run a sterling engine type power plant. In the early '80's, there was a plant built in maybe Kern County, CA that extracted the heat from a geyser type formation, using a hydrocarbon based heat transfer fluid and that went through a vapor and condensing cycle while driving a turbine generator. This was different from the wells where you stick loops of pipe into multiple 300 ft holes to extract/ reject heat for building heating and cooling. It had a lot higher temperature to work with. | ||
| Fireboltwillie |
i've been talking to a mech engineer friend of mine to build a small prototype of one of those for home use. combine geothermal and solar (two seperate heat sources) to gejnerate electricity. i understand that there are larger, truck sized units on the western slope of colorado used in the oil fields to power individual drill sites using heat from the oil itself. | ||
| Richsm2 |
FBW contact the appropriate agency,the reason I say this is in the 80s, I met a man while buying a truck whom had hit geothermal while drilling for water in Idaho, they showed one day,after he plumbed his house and they plugged it.he, like many thought he had what we would consider all mineral rights.IF this is similar to my mother recieving oil concessions from a well was drilled some 12 miles away I do not know anymore than that. | ||
| Fireboltwillie |
not looking to extract anything out of the ground. much like a geothermal heat pump, have wells drilled and get down to where the ground temp is warm enough to evaporate a refrigerant (50-60 degrees i believe, pretty much the same temp that a refrigerator works at). i am no engineer, so i may be pretty far off, but it seems to make sense. don't know how many wells would be needed for a house, also how long it takes a typical well to recharge heat naturally, etc. | ||
| Scott_in_nh |
You do not need geyser activity or steaming water to use geothermal energy. A heat pump with the evaporator underground and the condenser indoors will work about anywhere you can dig below the frost line. Ah, you beat me to it firebolt (Message edited by scott_in_nh on December 12, 2009) | ||
| Fireboltwillie |
yes, but instead of using it to heat, it should turn a small turbine. i didn't invent the system, but it would be neat to develop a small package that can generate some power to offset home power requirements. feel free to play with the idea. basically a geothermal and solar generator. | ||
| Ulynut |
I've drilled holes for many geothermal units all across New York, New Jersey, and all of New England. The typical residential system uses 6 100' holes drilled in a circular pattern about 15' around. If there is a pond nearby, you can submerge the unit just 10' under water and that will work just the same. These systems are not cheap. If you want to be off the grid and go with geothermal/photovoltaic, prepare to fork out some large cabbage. But you can sell any surplus electricity back to the power company to offset costs of the initial investment. | ||
| Ulynut |
Court, how long are these generators supposed to last in the salt water environment compared to a land-based unit? And, how much more maintenance will they require? | ||
| Ducbsa |
Also, the tall cranes to assemble are pretty routine on land. These will have to be on a barge. Get some pix of those! |
