{"id":105020,"date":"2020-07-29T16:30:30","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T23:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=105020"},"modified":"2020-07-29T16:30:30","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T23:30:30","slug":"no-big-call-for-renewable-energy-in-todays-political-manifestos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/07\/29\/no-big-call-for-renewable-energy-in-todays-political-manifestos\/","title":{"rendered":"No big call for renewable energy in today\u2019s political manifestos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chandre Dharmawardana<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

All the political parties have now\nissued their manifestos. A large part of the government\u2019s foreign exchange\nbudget goes for purchasing fossil fuels for generating electric power, and for\nfeeding the fleet of vehicles, tractors, trains and other internal combustion\nengines used in Sri Lanka. These total some 8-10 million engines. All this\ncosts some 5 to 6 Billion US dollars, approximating half the total export\nearnings. The burnt fuels are a major cause of sub-micron particulate dust,\nheavy-metal deposition and gaseous environmental pollution, leading to\nincreased respiratory diseases, allergies, cancers, etc.
\n
\nSo, any scheme to cut down Sri Lanka\u2019s fossil fuel imports would be a large\nstep forward. Unfortunately, while there is much agitation about things like\nthe Bhuvaneka audience hall, or Karuna\u2019s loose talk, matters most relevant to\nthe nation are ignored. Where is the agitation against fossil fuel?
\n
\nAs the SLPP is the party most likely to win the election, it is worthwhile\nlooking at their Manifesto. Page 58 deals with energy. While the manifesto\nmentions wind and solar power, its main emphasis continues to be on fossil\nfuels.
\n
\nThe manifesto states that:
\n
\n* We will also expedite the exploration of natural gas, identified in the\nthree zones of the geological survey, to ensure that the people of this country\nwould reap the benefits in the next three years.<\/em>
\n
\nThose who benefit from natural gas, in the next three years, are those who will\ncollect commissions! This is a project most dangerous to the environment, and\nleast compatible with a future of non-polluting renewable energies.\nFurthermore, if significant amounts of natural gas, and other fossil fuels were\nfound, global oil cartels will attempt to control the resource. Countries in\nLatin America, Africa, etc., that possess such resources, have been taken overs\nsince World War I.
\n
\nThe manifesto says:
\n
\n* The oil refinery, located in Kolonnawa, which is 40 years old, will be\nmodernized, while the oil storage tanks, in Trincomalee, will also be\nre-constructed and developed so that they can be used for the economic\ndevelopment of the country.<\/em>
\n
\nWe have already seen how attempts to re-command the oil tanks in Gokanna\n(Trincomalee) have failed. The proposal to build oil storage in Hambantota is\nadding NEW infrastructure for fossil fuels, rather than attempting to WIND DOWN\ntheir use.
\n
\nThe manifesto says:
\n
\n* Roof top solar systems will be encouraged so that households and small\nbusinesses would have access to low cost energy, which will be done in the\ncourse of the next five years. The total cost of such investments would be made\navailable through bank loans with low\/concessional interest rates. The\ngovernment will also introduce a new method to release excess power generation\nto the national grid in improving solar energy utilization.<\/em>
\n
\n* We will remove all impediments and incentivize the private sector and\nentrepreneurs interested in setting up renewable energy projects i.e. solar and\nwind, and to this end, the government will provide assistance.<\/em>
\n
\nThe major impediment to the complete winding down of fossil fuels is the\nclaimed lack of a means of storing solar and wind power<\/strong>. They are generated\nonly when the wind blows, and when the sun shines. The use of ever larger\nstorage batteries is not a solution. It is increasingly expensive, and\ndisposing of used batteries is a problem. It is as bad as turning to coal, oil\nor LNG as a “solution” to meeting the nation\u2019s power needs. Turning\nto huge storage batteries is NOT a solution<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em>
\n
\nSri Lanka is fortunate in having many reservoirs, of which some 22 (e.g., Gal\nOya, Victoria, Moragahakanda, etc.) are equipped with turbines for\nhydro-electric power generation. They enable a simple inexpensive scheme\nthat can be implemented within a few years.<\/strong> The rooftop solar panels, and\nwind-power sources, wherever they be, have to be connected to the central\nelectricity grid. When they generate electricity, the power generation by the\n22 hydro-electric turbines can be reduced or shut off, saving water in the\nreservoirs. The saved water can be used later, at times when the sun is not\nshining, and when the wind has waned. This simple means of saving power adds NO\ncosts, needs no batteries, pumps or storage tanks.
\n
\nIt only requires the use of modern algorithms to synchronize the operation of\nthe hydro-turbines with the distributed output of solar and wind energy.
\n
\nEven as it is, the operation of turbines is controlled by input-output\nalgorithms. They have evolved from the hand charts originally used for the\npurpose. These “single-sheet” charts can be made into multi-sheet\ncharts (or layers) which, when coupled together, evolve into what are known as\nneural-network algorithms. For instance, while some of the layers contain the\nsame information as used today, new layers will have “nodes” that are\n“trained” to deal with information about power from solar arrays,\nwind turbines, etc. Data from a few seasons can be used to “train”\nthe neural algorithms for optimal control of the system, so that there is firm\npower available all the time. I have discussed the principles behind neural\nnetwork algorithms in section 2.2.5 of my book “A Physicist\u2019s View of\nMatter and Mind<\/em>“, (World Scientific, 2014).
\n
\nThe amount of electric power available can be boosted by some 25-30%, even if\nthe sun does not shine, by the simple process of positioning solar panels on\nfloats placed on reservoirs. The 25-30% boost comes from the fact that floating\npanels cut down the evaporation of reservoir water by wind, and SAVES water day\nand night. The use of floats cuts down the growth of water weeds and algae. So\nthe environmental impact works out to be very positive. The 25-30% saving is\nenough to cover even a three to four month drought, and actually increases Sri\nLanka\u2019s hydro-electric capacity of some 2000 MW to 2600 MW.
\n
\nThe actual increase is even larger because the floating solar arrays, occupying\nup to about 60% of the surface area of 22 reservoirs, will also generate\nelectricity during the day time, and this electricity will be saved as head\nwater in the reservoirs themselves. Of course, the introduction of floating\nsolar panels on reservoirs is a gradual process. However, the speed of\nimplementation depends on the motivation of the government, the time needed to\nmove the extremely sluggish bureaucracy of the power administrators in Sri\nLanka, and in keeping the fossil-fuel lobby under control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\napproach to storing power generated from roof-top solar panels or wind turbines\nis to use the batteries of the motor cars, vans, buses, tractors, trains, etc.,\nowned by the government, businesses, and private individuals. Sri Lanka has\nsome eight million such “engines”. If these were all hybrid vehicles\nstoring an average of 50 kWh, these when integrated by connection of the\nvehicles to the grid will create a spatially distributed mega-battery of 40 GW\ncapacity. Such a possibility means that the cost of the giant battery is\ndivided among eight million owners and costs very little to the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vehicle-to-grid storage is still a\nnew concept but almost ready to jump off the research lab to industry. It\nrequires dedicated two-way charging devices that communicate with the vehicles\nusing high-level aggregator control systems. However, this technology already\nexists. Nissan offers a limited vehicle-to-home (V2H) system that lets people\nuse their cars to store energy from roof-top solar panels until nightfall, when\npower is needed. However, the integration to the grid is a task that the\nAI-engineers who are in charge of the grid should develop, according to the\nlocal needs, by integrating the V2H systems with the grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\nI have only considered the 22 reservoirs usually described as dedicated\nhydro-electric reservoirs in the above  discussion.  If the\nreservoirs dedicated to irrigation ( at least 12 more)  are also included\nin the analysis, the use of floating solar arrays on them can be used to\nincrease the available water as a very robust buffer against drought by cutting\nthe evaporation from them.  The electricity generated from those floating\nsolar panels can also be used to save water in the hydro-electric reservoirs.\nHence the estimates given in the previous sections are a modest lower bound to\nwhat can be down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, there is a great\nreluctance to move away from the well-trodden path of coal and oil that the\nolder power engineers of Sri Lanka learnt during their “E-Fac” days.\nMost of the hydro-power potential in Sri Lanka has already been harnessed. The\npoliticians and senior managers are lobbied by the well-heeled fossil-fuel\nmerchants who come with so-called “turn-key solutions” to the\nNation\u2019s energy problems, but at the price of a long-term commitment to being\nbled for ever; sapping the nation\u2019s wealth, and also its health and\nenvironmental well being. Such long term issues are of no interest to\npoliticians who are assured of a pension after even one term in office, with\nnear absentee attendance in parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\nChandre Dharmawardana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chandre Dharmawardana All the political parties have now issued their manifestos. A large part of the government\u2019s foreign exchange budget goes for purchasing fossil fuels for generating electric power, and for feeding the fleet of vehicles, tractors, trains and other internal combustion engines used in Sri Lanka. These total some 8-10 million engines. All this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chandre-dharmawardana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105020\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}