Methods and apparatus for creating large energy storage mass through the collection and use of warmed water

Abstract

A system for heating and supplying electricity to residential, commercial, and industrial buildings using renewable energy that is stored, at little or no incremental cost, in a large mass of warm or hot water. The large thermal mass is sized based on the building. Thermal energy from a number of sources, including, but not limited to renewable energy panels, waste heat, and flue gas, are used to provide heat to the large thermal mass.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION[0001]This invention relates to the field of renewable energy. Specifically, this invention relates to the large-scale creation and storage of water, which is warmer than the ambient environmental conditions, using renewable heat sources.BACKGROUND OF INVENTION[0002]Currently, most of the world's economies are reliant heavily on fossil fuels. Fossil fuels have many drawbacks. Fossil fuels pollute and are largely responsible for deleterious Global Warming, the greenhouse effects. Additionally, pollution from fossil fuels makes air in many major cities, such as Mexico City, Beijing, and Los Angeles, unhealthy to breathe for many people. The procurement of fossil fuels, whether in mining coal or drilling for petroleum, is inherently polluting. Mountaintop removal for coal and fracking for natural gas both contaminate ground water, endangering the life and health of those nearby. Drilling for petroleum is also fraught with hazard; witness the BP drilling catastrophe in...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention describes an apparatus and method for storing ambient environmental energy in the form of warm or hot water. This technology can be used in residences, offices, and industrial settings. It can collect and store heat energy provided by a variety of sources such as fossil fuels, solar, and other methods. The system includes a system for making and storing the water, a cover and insulation, a piping system, a controller for regulating the flow of hot liquid, and a device for removing heat energy from the storage area. The system can be scaled up from small to large volumes, allowing for a long-term storage of thermal energy that can be used for various applications such as space heating, hot water, or electricity production. The invention enables the affordable capture and storage of heat energy from various sources, and its use can be adapted based on different factors such as application, terrain, and access to natural or man-made bodies of water. The patent application includes a list of examples of systems and methods for making and storing large scales of warm or hot water.

Problems solved by technology

Fossil fuels pollute and are largely responsible for deleterious Global Warming, the greenhouse effects.

Additionally, pollution from fossil fuels makes air in many major cities, such as Mexico City, Beijing, and Los Angeles, unhealthy to breathe for many people.

The procurement of fossil fuels, whether in mining coal or drilling for petroleum, is inherently polluting.

Mountaintop removal for coal and fracking for natural gas both contaminate ground water, endangering the life and health of those nearby.

Drilling for petroleum is also fraught with hazard; witness the BP drilling catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 or the grounding of the Exxon Valdez in 1989.

Fossil fuels give undue influence to governments who control large exportable quantities.

Many oil-exporting Middle East regimes are openly hostile to and contemptuous of the United States, notably Iran.

Many other autocratic “friendly” regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are clearly unstable and vulnerable, in light of the Arab Spring.

Even without these serious national security issues, to the extent that fossil fuels are imported needlessly, a nation exports its wealth, needlessly.

Fossil fuels are also becoming increasingly scarce, meaning that their price is rising.

This has led to volatility in the oil markets, with the cost of a barrel of oil peaking at $140 in 2008.

Since then, the price for crude oil has varied from a low of $70 per barrel to a high of $110 per barrel; such swings of 50% in a basic commodity are painful all by themselves.

Current renewable resources all have three drawbacks: cost, environmental impact, and consistency of availability.

Currently, no renewable sources are cheaper than fossil fuels over the short-run (3 years or less).

Environmental impact means not only pollution, but also a visible, intrusive installation foot-print.

To produce hydro-electric energy, a dam must be built, disturbing the environment far upstream, and potentially disrupting wetlands and delicate eco-systems.

Last, many renewable energy installations are severely limited as to the times, during which they can provide power.

For example, most types of PV only provide significant power with direct beam sunlight.

Wind turbines only provide power when it's very windy.

This means that a wind turbine can only add to the grid when there is wind.

When the wind dies down or PV arrays have a cloud pass overhead, the electrical grid must suddenly be able to provide power using other more reliable means; severe grid destabilization, threatening regional blackouts, can occur when PV and wind comprise more than 4 to 5% of a region's generating capacity.

Moreover, the grid requires 100% of its former fossil capacity as backup, since PV and wind promise zero baseline stability.

The inconsistency of power generation therefore greatly reduces the appeal of these renewable energy resources.

One potentially under-appreciated component of such a system is water.

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