Power In Scotland From Tides and Whiskey

tsamsoniw writes "Singapore-based Atlantis Resources Corporation, which brings to the table tidal-turbine technology, is partnering with Scotland-based datacenter developer Internet Villages International) to construct a tidal-powered 150MW 'Blue Datacenter,' InfoWorld reports. If all goes to plan, the facility will eventually be powered entirely by clean energy produced by tidal-current turbines in the Pentland Firth, the stretch of water between the far north Scottish mainland and Orkney. The firth's currents could generate 700 megawatts of electricity by 2020." And reader Mike writes "Here's something to raise a glass to: recently the Rothes consortium of whiskey and scotch distillers announced that they have partnered with Helius Energy to install a power plant fueled entirely by whiskey by-products. The completed plant will use biomass cogeneration to convert draff and pot ale from the distillery into 7.2 MW of electricity — enough to power 9,000 homes."

Comments

Re:7.2MW for 9000 homes?

[borizz]

I bet 800W is the average power draw of a Scottish home. I bet it's also about the average power draw of a Dutch home. I think they also use natural gas for heating and (mostly?) for cooking, like we do. Your microwave might use 1100 Watts, but you're not running it 24/7. Your fridge only uses a lot of power when it runs its compressor. You're not running your washing machine constantly.

The trick with these calculations is is that they're on average. Yes, during the day the plant will probably not be able to supply them all. But you should look at it this way: The plant generates x terajoules per year, and 9000 homes use x terajoules per year. In reality, sometimes the plant will only feed 1000 homes, sometimes it'll feed 18000 homes.