Quote:
Originally Posted by Xist
I heard about a dairy that almost met their electrical needs on-site, then they started pumping oxygen into the mess and were actually able to sell electricity.
|
Think about that being "able to sell electricity" part though.
The grid has to match demand and supply.
Suddenly the farmer comes on and pumps some electricity into the grid.
The grid
has to accept it (under our scheme) because it is
renewable.
If demand is there it might power my PC (for about 10 seconds), or my kettle (for 0.001 seconds). You can't store this stuff* - it gets used when it gets made or not at all.
But he still gets paid by what he puts in. That money comes from an additional percentage of my power bill. Even if his energy actually doesn't do anything. And even if I don't use it.
Is that efficient ? Is it fair ?
*(There is Tech to store energy and electricity, everything from pumped storage (see postage above - it already uses excess energy and doesn't need any more) and huge batteries, and even heated salt bunkers - most are experimental and definitely not in use in the UK to a large extent).
EDIT - If he used it himself and cut his own usage that would be fine.