Created by Tomas Kalisz
A "fast Energiewende" within ca 15 years can be achieved using sodium as energy storage and transport medium instead of hydrogen (the title paraphrasing the European "Green deal" comes from association of sodium with its intensively yellow light emission)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/para-hydrogen
The conversion of ortho-hydrogen to para-hydrogen is an exothermic reaction. The heat of conversion is related to the change of momentum of the hydrogen nucleus when the direction of spin changes. The amount of heat given off in this conversion process is temperature dependent. The heat of conversion is greater than the latent heat of vaporization of normal and para-hydrogen at the nbp. If the unconverted normal hydrogen is placed in a storage vessel, the heat of conversion will be released within the container, which leads to the evaporation of the liquid. Because of these peculiarities in the physical properties of hydrogen, the boil-off of the stored liquid will be considerably larger than what one would be able to determine from calculations based on ordinary heat leak to the storage tank. In order to minimize the storage boil-off losses, the conversion rate of ortho-hydrogen to para-hydrogen should be accelerated with a catalyst that converts the hydrogen during the liquefaction process (Newton 1967a,b; Baker and Shaner 1978; Hands 1988).
The use of a catalyst usually results in a larger refrigeration load and consequently in an efficiency penalty primarily because the heat of conversion must be removed. The time for which hydrogen is to be stored usually determines the optimum amount of conversion. For use within a few hours, no conversion is necessary. For example, large-scale use of liquid hydrogen as a fuel for jet aircraft is one of those cases where conversion is not necessary since utilization of the liquid is almost a continuous process and long-term storage is therefore not needed (Baker and Shaner 1978). For some other uses, a partial conversion might be required to create more favorable conditions. It should be noted that for every initial ortho concentration there exists a unique curve for boil-off of hydrogen with respect to time.
further refs.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S036031992204099X
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_isomers_of_hydrogen
https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/44/2014/08/Bliesner-Masters-Thesis-Final-P-O-heat-shielding.pdf
Bliesner-Masters-Thesis-Final-P-O-heat-shielding.pdf
Hydrogen is one of "permanent gases", very reluctant to form a condensed, high density body.
Consequently, achieving high volumetric energy densities, a prerequisite for an economical energy storage, is difficiult.
Even in liquified hydrogen, the energy saved in one L of this medium reaches 2 kWh only. Hydrogen pressurized to 70 MPa at a normal temperature compérises only about 1 kWh in 1 L.
Liquified hydrogen boils at -253 °C and is thus unsuitable for a long-term energy storage on Earth, wherein ambient temperatures are in the range ca -50 - +50 °C.
Highly insulated tanks for day or week-long stoprage would be expensive and still could not prevent significant losses by evaporration.
High pressure storage would be also pretty expensive - it will require huge high-tech vessels + equipment for hydrogen compression.
To my best knowledge, Europe does have natural gas storage facilities wich could cover its energy consumption for several days, maybe for 2-3 weeks, but certainly not for sveral months of the winter season.
Should there be storaged hydrogen instead of methane which has ca 3.3 times higher volumeric energy density at the same temperature and pressure, we have to buld additional underground caverns having 30-50 timeshigher volume than currently available to secure a reasonable hydrogen reserves.
Authors of the Green Deal idea are obviously aware of the fact that hydrogen is, for many reasons, NOT suitable for large-scale and/or long-term energy storage and transport.
Hydrogen is currently used for production of ammonia, hydrogen chloride, hydrogenations in organic chemical industry, starting with production hydrocarbon fuels for internal combustion engines.
For all these purposes, hydrogen is currently produced by partial oxidation or steam reforming of hydrocarbons, processes which inherently yield commensurate amounts of carbon dioxide as a by-product.
Among other "power-to-fuel" concepts, hydrogen is exceptional in that both electrolyzers for its production as well as fuel cells for electricity recovery therefrom are technically mature.
The disadvantage is that especially fuel cells still require significant amount of precious metals such as platinum and are thus expensive.
Stationary batteries,e.g. Li-ion, have too low energy density and too high costto represetn an economically feasible way towards "Energiewende"
Even if the price would be reduced to about 100 Euro per kWh, the investment necessary for building capacity necessary for a seasonal storage of 100 TWh would reach astronomical 10 000 bilion Euro.
A common disadvantage of all carbon-based fuels:
carbon dioxide capture and recycling
Even ectrochemically active carbon-based fuels such as methanol or formic acid, which could be perhaps considered as promising for development of the respective fuel cells, will necessarily require capture and recycling of carbon dioxide formed in such cells.
Production of such fuels form atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is sometimes presented as a viable alternative, suffers from low concentration of this species in ambient air which will necessarily act as a technical and, consequently, economical burden.
Efficiency of solar cells decreases with increasing tempertaure.
An effective cooling can be achieved by water evaporated from the surface of solar cells.
A prerequisite for all combustion-based P2F concepts:
Clean electricity must become cheaper than heat generated from fossil fuels.
In other words, unless clean electricity becomes 2-3 times cheaper than electricity generated from fossil fuels, an economically feasible "green" fuel requires a highly efficient direct fuel-to-electricity conversion
Should we convert the chemical energy saved in any medium back to electricity indirectly, in combustion engines, the efficiency of this step drops to some 40-50 %, with a consequence that for the assumed 50 TWh consumption during winter season in Czech Republic, we should not produce some 25% of this consumption in excess (which would be sufficient in case of highly efficient direct conversion), but rather something between 200-300%.
For more complex fuels than hydrogen, e.g., for carbon-based fuels, the ratio will be even more disadvantageous, due to energy loses during indirect productin of such fuels from "clean" or "green" hydrogen.
The effect of evaporative cooling might b eparticularloy remarkable in cities that recently form a kind of "artificial deserts" with particularly weaken small water cycle , characterized by extremely small evaporation and extremely quick precipitation drainage.
As "truly renewable" may be solar and wind energy, hydropower and/or tidal hydropower, nd even biomass incineration - provided that there are measures preventing "collateral damages" such as soil erosion, biodiversity and/or ecosystem degradation, and like.
I believe that solar energy can be most easily im plemented into currrent infastructure of human civilization and that really smart ways of such implementation may even help fixing previous soem of earlier "collateral damages" inflicted to environment by industrial rand demographic revolution.
Hydrocarbons are notoriously electrochemically inactive.
Consequently, no reliable fuel cells working directly with a hydrocarbon fuel are known yet, and a short-term development thereof is rather unlikely.
It disqualifies all hydrocarbon-based fuels, such as methane (which can be generated from carbon dioxide and "green" hydrogen using well-known and industrially mature Sabatier process), for use in efficient power-fluid-power concepts.
Carbon-based fuels produced from carbon dioxide are often touted as a solution for the intended economy conversion to clean energy.
Yet, all concepts relying on various carbon/CO2-based fuel cycles suffer from several serious disadvantages.
Your feedback is welcome at tomas.kalisz@gmail.com
To my best knowledge, no direct electrochemical synthesis of a carbon-based fuel from carbon dioxide is known yet.
This necessarily brings along a significant inefficiency in electricity conversion into such fuels, because any chemical step comprising a spontaneous reaction inherently causes a loss of a part of chemical energy saved in reagents.
Ammonia volumetric energy density is above 4 kWh/L.
At thius level, it may already become competitive with fossil fuels.
In combination with collection and storage of precipitations (rain, snow etc) drained from civilization infrastructure, evaporative cooling of solar cells integrated in the infrastructure with the collected water could both improve efficiency of electricity production therefrom as well as return the precipitation water back in the small water cycle.
This is a yet unexplored and unexploited additional option how we could implement solar energy exploitation in a more environment -friendly manner and perhaps even in certain extent help fixing the disruptions previosly caused by civilization infrastructure in the environment.
Can be electrochemically oxidized back to nitrogen and water.
Yet, ammonia fuel cells are not as technically mature as hydrogen fuel cells.
There are two concepts which may combine into a feasible and fast way towards a complete "Energiewende"
Readers of "Twenty thousand leagues under sea" perhaps remember that Nautilus was driven by sodium electrochemical cells.
Indeed, sodium can be very good alternative energy carrier as well..
..almost as good as ammonia..
..and its main advantage may consist in the circumstance that neither its electrochemical production nor its conversion back into electricity may need a catalyst.
Ammonia (NH3) can be seen as "concentrated hydrogen with an easy handling"
A good popular lecture to this topics.
It could fuel electrical vehicles, storaged in simple low-pressure steel tanks
Direct sodium conversion into electricity in fuel cells is preferred, due to much higher efficiency in comparison with thermal processes (which include also combistion engines)
Btw., sodium can replace Diesel fuel in ICEs
US3911284_Stephen_Skala_alkali-metal_ICE
US4364336_Self-starting ICE_Skala
US4189916_Vehicle system for NaK_Skala
US4020798_ICE fueled by NaK_Skala
Further Espacenet search results as a tribute to Stephen Skala
Although indirect "green ammonia" production in two steps (water electrolysis followed by classical Haber-Bosch process) results in loss of ca 25% energy saved in "green hydrogen", "ammonia economy" based on this combination might be still more technically advantageous and more economically feasible that the "hydrogen economy" itself, due to comparably high energy losses during hydrogen storage and higher investments into infrastructure which would be necessary for hydrogen storage and transport in comparison with ammonia.
The main technical aspect delaying "ammonia economy" introduction may be thus development of sufficiemtly powerful and efficient ammonia fuel cells.
Sodium is still almost completely neglected as a possible clean energy carrier, although the Na/NaOH fuel cycle may offer significant advantages over other power-to-fuel concepts:
(i) provided that Geisler's fuel cell indeed works, Na/NaOH fuel cycle may become a true power-liquid-power concept combining
a) high efficiency of direct electricity conversion into chemical energy and its recovery therefrom in electrochemical cells,
b) low unity costs of fuel/flow concepts, and
c) favourable volumetric energy density of liquid chemicals as energy storage media in comparison with hydrogen,
d) no catalyst required, further development of the concept is an engineering, not a scientific task.
An explanation to point d):
Development of any catalytical chemical process may be quite tricky and complex.
As direct nitrogen conversion into ammonia is impossible without a suitable catalyst, waiting for an ecenomy based on direct renewable electricity conversion into ammonia may need lot of patiency.
Direct electrochemical synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and water is already described in scientific literature as well, however, it is technically immature yet.
The "Monash process" is still a laboratory method which may need a long further development.
Contrary to carbon dioxide (currently about 400 ppm in Earth's atmosphere), nitrogen is the most abundant component in Earth atmosphere (about 78 molar %, ca 780 000 ppm).
For this reason, ammonia/nitrogen - based fuel cycle might be significantly more feasible than any hydrocarbon/carbon dioxide based fuel cycle:
(i) carbon dioxide produced by combustion should be captured and transported back into plants converting it in a fuel; these steps may incur significant additional costs
(ii) should we desist from carbon dioxide capture and transportation and would consider "sucking" carbon dioxide from atmosphere instead, this recovery process may be significantly more expensive than nitrogen recovery, because the expenses may be inversely proportional to the above mentioned atmpospheric concentrations.
An estimate of overall energy consumption in Czech Republic for the year 2010 gave 1850 PJ (514 TWh). It corresponds to ca 190 million tons NaK alloy.
Should ca 75 % of overall energy consumption represent the necessary energy reserve for winter season, a rough estimate of necessary storage capacity in this central European country having roughhly 10.5 million inhabitants could be about 150 million tons. According a prognosis, overall energy consumption in CR in year 2030 should be only about 1300 PJ (361 TWh); in such case, the necessary storage capacity could be accordingly lower.
Remark:
Please note that so far, electricity (with annual consumption about 78 TWh) accounted only for a small fraction of the overall energy consumption in Czech Republic.
So far, "grey" hydrogen that is produced from fossil fuels, with a significant carbon trace, absolutely prevails.
Three is a hype in media about "blue" hydrogen which would be still produced from fossil fules, however, with carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS).
It should be noted that
(i) yet, the technical feasibility and economy of the CCS on the desired scale remains completely unknown,
(ii) still, this wouod be still only a slight modification of our "business as usual" civilization approach based on consumable natural resources.
There are strong hints that "blue hydrogen" is mostly supported by fossil fuel industry as a way for continuing their business.
CAES power plant Huntorf in Germany (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraftwerk_Huntorf ) has two underground caverns with an overall volume 310 000 m³ and its storage capacity in the CAES regime is 1200 MWh.
One kg of an alloy consisting of 50 weight % Na and 50 weight % K, if burned with oxygen and water to corresponding alkali metal hydroxides, releases ca 2.7 kWh energy.
For simplicity, let us assume density of the alloy 900 kg/m3 (although it may be rather closer to 970 kg/m3 for sodium than to 860 kg/m3 for potassium). Full storage capacity of both caverns filled with the alloy would be 310 000 m3 x 900 kg/m3 = 2,79x108 kg, corresponding rouhghly to 7.5x108 kWh (750 000 MWh).
Whereas in the CAES regime, the facility can provide 300 MW power for four hours, as a liquid alloy storage facility it could deliver an equivalent heat output for roughly one hundred days.
If the cavities were full of liquid ammonia which has volumetric energy density about 4.3 kWh/L, the capacity of the facility would further increase to 310 000 m3 x 4300 kWh/m3 = 1.3x109 kWh (1 300 000 MWh). As a liquid ammonia storage facility, the plant could theoretically deliver 300 MW heat output for roughly 180 days.
Sodium hydroxide is a strong base, nonvolatile and inflammable.
Contact with skin or other tissues should be avoided, however, the stuff is environmentally benign. Sodium hydroxide released into environment is gradually neutralized by spontaneous absorption of atmospheric carbon dioxide and finally forms harmless sodium bicarbonate, also known as "edible soda".
Metallic sodium can be recovered by electrolysis of molten NaOH, with oxygen and hydrogen as by-products
Overall annual energy consumption in European Union is about 1.6x109 t of oil equivalent what corresponds ca 19 000 TWh. Using state-of-art solar cells having efficiency about 20 %, the peak power obtainable in central Europe from 1 square kilometer area can be roughly estimated to 150 MW and annual production (which is usually counted for this region as a yield of 1000 hours of peak power) can be about 150 GWh.
Supposing that wind energy could deliver 15 % of European Union overall annual energy consumption (2850 TWh), and that the remaining 16 150 TWh would have to be covered by solar energy, we can very roughly estimate that necessary area of solar cells would be about 110 000 square kilometers.
Curently, the land not exploited for agriculture (buildings, communications and like) and thus preferred for installation of solar panels accounts in EU countries like Czech Republic for ca 2 % of total area.
Let us assume that from the overall EU territory (ca 4 million km²), about 2.5 million km² belong to southern and central areas which are more-less favourable for solar energy production. 2 % of this area account for ca 50 000 square kilometers, less than one half of the 110 000 km² needed.
Remark:
Please note that electricity still accounts for a smaller fraction of the overall energy consumption.
Production of metallic sodium by Castner process
US452030_Hamilton_Castner_1891
reached its maximum shortly after World War I, when the world annual production was about 10 000 t.
Both sodium and hydrogen form on the cathode (the electrode connected to negative electrical pole of the direct current source), molar ratio H:Na is 1:1.
Oxygen forms on the positive electrode (anode).
Critical process parameter is temperature, which shall be kept in a narrow range ca 10-20 °C above sodium hydroxide melting point (which is slightly above 300 °C).
Indeed, electricity can be recovered from sodium by direct sodium (Na) reaction with water and oxygen in a specially designed fuel cell described in the expired patent US3730776A:
US3730776A_Lockeed_consumable_metal-anode.pdf
"Green" hydrogen is available by water electrolysis using electricity from renewable sources, or as a by-product in an old industrial process for sodium production by electrolysis of molten sodium hydroxide NaOH.
In Czech Republic, a country with ca 1250 km highways, ca 9500 km railways and ca 55 000 km roads, sheltering these communications with solar panels might result in an overall area of several hundreds km².
Assuming 500 km² covered with state-of-art solar panels and average specific power 150 MW/km2, peak power provided by this installation would be about 75 GW and estimated annual production about 75 TWh.
This production could almost fully satisfy current annual electricity consumption in this country; alternatively, taking into account that 70 % of this energy would be in fact produced during three hottest summer months, a significant part of the excessive energy produced during the 3-4 hottest summer months could be converted into ca 10 million t NaK alloy and distributed for local storage at individual end consumers.
Side benefits of the proposed integration of solar shelters into transportation infrastructure might consist e.g. in sparing road maintenance costs due to lower weathering, improved safety in winter season and noise reduction.
The investment can be favourably low especially in case that solar cells sheltering the communications will be organic „solar foils“ which may weight significantly less than current lower limit for state-of-art silicon solar panels which is about 10 kg/m2.
Such solar foils could be installed on lightweight, low cost constructions, might be designed semi-transparent, might be moved to mitigate rainfall, snow or ice load and perhaps even packed as a protection thereof in case of windstorms or other extraordinary situations such as a vehicle fire.
Currently, Castner's process is not industrially used, because hydrogen was considered as a useless by-product which may be more economically produced from fossil fuels.
And, last but not least: we may start immediately, without waiting for any new invention
A detailed analysis may reveal that a feasible alternative to a complete energetic self-reliability of large regions like European Union may be a close cooperation with nearby, more sunny overseas territories, like Middle East and/or northern Africa.
Let us assume that e.g. the surface of the Dead Sea (which might account for a solar cell area about ca 800 km²) or of the artificial Aswan Lake (ca 5000 km²) might host floating solar panels which, due to favourable geographic situation in these dry sunny areas, may annually produce significantly more energy per square unit than solar panels arranged in central Europe.
Analogously, the Quattar Depression (ca 19 000 km²) and many other analogous areas in northern Africa and/or Middle East could be also exploited for production of huge amounts of liquid sodium-potassium alloy and/or liquid ammonia (through conversion of hydrogen formed as by-product during electrolysis of corresponiding molten alkali metal hydroxides).
Transport of both media into Europe as well as return of alkali metal hydroxide solution back to electrolysis plants could advantageously exploit existing equipment (such as tanks, pipelines, pumps, ships) for transport and storage of liquid and/or gaseous hydrocarbons, such as crude oil and natural gas.
Analogously, existing European infrastructure for hydrocarbon storage and distribution could be partly or completely re-built for storage and distribution of both new energy storage media (alkali metal alloy as well as liquid ammonia) in Europe.
Remark:
Please nite that both alkali metals as well as liquid ammonia do not corrode steel and can be storaged andüor transported in simple steel vessels and pipelines.
Proposed methods may be suitable for storage of tens or hundreds TWh electricity and thus enable, in each EU country individually and in mutually advantageous and optimized configuration, setting a suitable ratio between domestic renewable energy source exploitation and renewable energy import
Contary to other concepts, the "Yellow Deal" (sodium use as an interim energy carrier) requires merely a significant scale-up of processes which were already used industrially.
For storage of huge amounts of clean electricity, hydrogen formation in Castner's process may not be a disadvantage anymore, because it may be utilized e.g. for "green ammonia" production
Roughly after year 2000, it is observed that during summer months, long dry seasons occur in central Europe with a high frequency not observed in previous ca 200 years.
It is believed that it can be a consequence of a gradual small water cycle disruption in Europe caused by deforestation, intensive agriculture and increasing area of urban and industrial infrastructure, because fields and, particularly, buildings and communications contribute significantly less to water evaporation in comparison with forest.
Provided that current solar panels absorb almost all incident light and convert only about 20 % thereof into electricity, that the efficiency falls with increasing temperature and thus an efficient cooling of the panels is desirable, that specific heat of water evaporation is roughly 0.7 kWh/kg and that for cetral Europe, the waste heat generated in one square meter of solar panel during one hour may be also about 0.7 kWh, it may be roughly estimated that direct panel cooling through water evaporation could be able to deliver to the atmosphere about 1 L water per m² and hour.
Assuming 5 L per day and square meter as an average for 100 hottest summer days, 500 km² area of the „solar-sheltered“ communication infrastructure of the preceding example might release into atmosphere overall 2.5x109 L (2.5x106 m3) water per day, 2.5x1011 L during the 100 days of the hottest season.
Assuming that this total amount precipitates back and becomes evenly distributed over the entire teritory of the Czech Republic which is roughly 7x104 km² = 7x1010 m², the corresponding contribution to total rainfall about 3.5 mm might still look negligible.
Taking, however, into account that every mm of precipitation may in fact multiply in small water cycle, that the amount of evaporated water may be in fact underestimated, and that further increase of the area of water-evaporating solar panels above 2 % of overall country area by creating „solar agriculture“ may further shift this balance significantly, it becomes more obvious that combining the considered massive installation of solar panels with means for effective cooling by water evaporation may indeed represent a new and useful tool for drought prevention/mitigation.
And, moreover, the effect of "small water cycle fixing" by installation of solar cells provided with evaporative water cooling might be significantly more pronounced in highly urbanized environments such as large city centres.
This aspect of the "Yellow Deal" can thus significamntly improve living conditions in cities, especially in countries with warm or moderate climate.
As a summary: We can combine two closed carbon-free energy cycles into a viable alternative to hydrogen or carbon-based P2F concepts. Isn't it nice and simple?
Such scale-up may still represent a technical challenge, however, the experience from comparable projects like program Apollo or project Manhattan teaches that engineers can resolve arising problems within years, not decades.
The "electrical Energiewende" might be thus completed within 10-15 years, instead of time horizon 2050 projected in current plans of many industrial countries. 2050 may be a very realistic timeframe for a "complete Energiewende" exploiting the direct electrochemical ammonia synthesis (or, a yet hypothetical direct electrochemical hydrazine synthesis).
Domestic electricity production from renewables can make economical sense if exploiting abundant local sources (wind in Denmark and/or northern Germany, solar energy in southern and central Europe), particularly if advantageously integrated into infrastructure (such as buildings, noise protection barriers, "solar shelters" which may additionally protect communications against weathering, etc.)
Conclusion 1:
For mere electricity production ("electrical Energiewende"), European Union could self-supply economically from local sources.
Conclusion 2:
For a complete economy conversion to renewable energy sources ("complete Energiewende"), import of renewable energy conserved in a carbon-free electrochemically active fuel ("fluid", ideally in a liquid form - e.g. molten sodium or a liquid alkali metal alloy, or liquid ammonia) from nearby territories may be a more ecocomically feasible alternative.
Steadily decreasing costs of solar cells may act as the most powerful - economical - driving force for the Yellow Deal as well as for the subsequent "ammonia economy"
If the new solar infrastructure should be effectively integrated into existing urban, transportation and/or agricultural infrastructure and contribute to the maintenance and/or enhancement of the local water cycle, the infrastructure must include also a corresponding equipment for supply and distribution of water which has to evaporate to atmosphere.
Although it may sound ridiculous, it may be in fact preferred that scarce local water resources are saved for other purposes and the necessary water supply for the the intended „lanscape air conditioning“ by evaporation enhancement is partly or fully covered by sea water.
The corresponding infrastructure for water supply and distribution would be in this case adjusted for sea water supply and distribution, and would additionally include also an equipment for return of concentrated brine back to sea – except the cases like the example of a solar power plant consisting of solar panels floating on the Dead Sea surface.
In this specific case, the brine resulting from sea water evaporation in properly designed solar panels could be quite likely deployed to the unique Dead Sea water body without any harm.
Even politically motivated acts like German speedy leave of nuclear energy ("Atomkraftausstieg") may be rather counter productive.
Keeping nuclear power plants longer might enable shutting the coal fired power plants down as quickly as they can be replaced by renewable energy - according to the present proposal within 10-15 years.
Spared compensations to nuclear power plant owners might be better invested into new storage facilities enabling quicker installation of solar cells into German and European infrastructure and thus speed up the entire "Energiewende" in a quite cost-effective manner.
In this respect, an artificial support of various conservative and economically less advantageous alternatives for greenhouse gas emission mitigation ("blue hydrogen" production from natural gas with carbon capture and storage, proposals of nuclear energy revival without any clear prospect of a signiicant technical and economical progress) may be rather counter productive and result in an unnecessary delay of the natural trend towards emission mitigation by clean energy production from renewable sources.
Assuming 800 square kilometers of the Dead Sea surface covered by double-purpose floating solar panels provided with cooling by evaporation of sea water distributed to them continuously during sunny day at the rate securing an effective evaporation, it can be estimated that a lower limit for the amount of water evaporated during one day might be about 5 million m³.
Provided that a corresponding amount of sea water has to be supplied by continuos flow during ca 12 day hours, the necessary flow rate would be about 115 m³ per second, and the available energy generated by a hydro power plant suitably installed on such „artificial waterfall“ could be about 2x1013 J (5500 MWh) per day, corresponding to an additional awerage power supply about 450 MW during the assumed 12 operational daily hours.
Although it is a negligible contribution to the estimated average power about 120 GW which would have been in parallel delivered by the floating solar cells, this example may perhaps demonstrate how powerful may in fact become the concept of the Energiewende in case of implementation of present invention.
Let us further assume 200 operational days with this evaporation rate per year, it would result in a contribution to local small water cycle about 1 km3 of evaporated water. Should this amount be in form of precipitation equally distributed over the adjacent area of 100 000 km², it would represent in average about 10 mm contribution to the total rainfall.
It can be, however, assumed that locally, in the Dead Sea depression itself, the contribution to the local water cycle may result in a more substantial enhancement thereof.
Compensations to owners of nuclear and/or coal power plants which have to be shut down but are still in a technically good condition might be bound to conservation of these energy sources as a fallback for extraordinary situations.
Let us consider e.g. a huge volcanic explosion which might significantly decrease sun light intensity for several years.
