There are quite a number of different systems out there, including asyschonous alternators, and direct drive permanent magnet systems so there is no one size fits all answer. In most cases the load provided by the alternator is variable, via different means, but often by PWM (rapidly connecting/disconnecting the…

Can you tell me more about the floating nuclear power plant used during WWII at the Panama Canal? I would have sworn that the first nuclear power plant came after the nuclear bombs used at the end of WWII...

Your explanation was a good one, but misses a critical factor, gyroscopic precession. Two bladed turbines, during wind shifts when the hub needs to turn to face the wind, can interact with springiness in the tower, to create a situation where the turbine blades “walk” upwind, ending up on the wrong side of the tower.…

This is an oddball one, but was given to me by the best backyard wrench I’ve met. Always carry an unopened 2L bottle of pop in your beater car.... Because if you get a car fire, it’s way more useful than the tiny fire extinguishers that are out there. I didn’t believe it, until driving out of princeton BC on a hot…

In 1889, Jules Verne (and or Michael Verne his son) published a story with many of these themes, importantly the theme of long distance “instantaneous” and wireless communication. Here’s a link. It’s a short read, but pretty astounding considering that electricity was thought of as pretty rare stuff whipping through…

In the late eighties I was on a climbing trip outside of Los Vegas, driving a friend’s firefly at night on our way back to our campsite. All good, until suddenly both headlights and all running lights go out. Car running fine. I coast to a stop while putting on hazards (works), and fiddle with light lever. Turns out I…

so you’ve never lied to the people you care about? :-)

Ben, batteries are just one form of storage. Pumped hydro storage is regularly used today. A mix of wind, solar, conventional hydro, and kinetic hydro could get us of burning coal right now, and with a few years of infrastructure building, including batteries, could get us off natural gas. A few years after that we…

Thanks for the correction kht125, so if I’m understanding correctly then the aluminum oxidizes, as an exothermic reaction, drawing oxygen from the rust, leaving behind iron. So I had it backwards (not unusual for me and chemistry...). Correct?

If this is a reference to thermite, “aluminum and rust”, I don’t think it’s correct. AFAIK, thermite requires powered aluminum and powdered iron, not rust which would be iron oxide. The aluminum if it’s powdered finely will mostly be aluminum oxide. The mix when heated past it’s critical point allows the iron powder…

TEG, Thermo Electric Generators, or thermocouples (same thing), are more expensive on a $/kW/hr basis than conventional PV. I think it’s more than an order of magnitude difference, so greater than 10x at least. Lots of work has been done to bring the cost down. I have one of those camp stoves that use a TEG to power a…