"Dick Boyd" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:
Water storage for intermittent power genertion.
>
> In Virginia, nuclear porwer is used to pump water into Lake Anna. This
> level loads the nuclear plant. Nuclear and coal plants are easier to
> operate when the load doesn't change very much. When the demand peaks,
> water is released and the pumps act as generators. Hydro adapts more
> easily to load changes. Just modulate the water valve. Almost
> instantaneous when compared to a steam cycle. the voltage sag is less
> on hydro than any other generation. Recovery time is also shorter. >
> In California, the dams all produce peaking power. Most California dams
> have a forebay in addition to the main reservoir. Nuclear power is run
> level load and the dams provide peaking power. The forebay, or
> sometimes after bay is used to level out water flow for ecology. On
> cool days, or at night the nuclear plants still run at the same output,
> but the load that was shed by the cities is diverted to pumping water.
Environmentalists are against dams;they harm fisheries. Dams BAD,BAD,BAD ;-)
> Operation of the California Aqueduct requires manipulation of water
> release to produce electrical generation as well as water release.
> Eventually, the electricity is used to pump the water over the
> Tehachapi mountains.
>
> New York City is promoting load management by users to avoid building
> new generating plants.
>
> What does this have to do with hybrid cars?
Hybrids run on fossil fuels,and we're trying to reduce usage of fossil fuels,for enviro and political reasons.Electric power is the alternative.