syllable_studio

Hi, I'm the founder of Terrament. We're building low-cost, high-scale energy storage to enable our power grid's transition to renewable energy.

We're seeking a co-founder who is a PhD Engineer (civil or mechanical) with experience in large-scale infrastructure.

Thanks! https://www.terramenthq.com/

From a quick search, here are similar discussions:

https://www.instructables.com/id/The-Pandemic-Ventilator/ which links to: https://panvent.blogspot.com/

https://www.projectopenair.org/

https://github.com/jcl5m1/ventilator HN discussion --> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22599415

Learning about Ventilators: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000458.htm

https://www.reddit.com/r/medicine/comments/fgmsrh/open_sourc...

As I understand it, many COVID19 deaths could be prevented if cities didn't run out of ventilators. What open-source good-enough version can we mass-produce in a hurry?

This isn't my project. But I was thinking along similar lines, found this on the web, and now I want to find a way to contribute. I'm posting this here on HN to add our collective brain power to the cause.

I'm looking now to see what other similar projects are out there. I can help build a better web-presence for the project if it's helpful. (My agency: https://www.syllablehq.com/)

I experimented with a similar idea, but with a solution that I think is simpler. My idea is called "Skipper": A dead-simple password keeper that is end-to-end encrypted, open-source, and free. A master password syncs your encrypted database store from any decentralized cloud hosting service. It's not fully featured yet, but others could add layers on top to add 2fa, proper federation/decentralization, etc.

The prototype works, but is super rough. https://github.com/syllable-hq/skipper

Hey there @rudism, I'm glad you found out about Brave, thanks for sharing about it! You should consider verifying yourself as a brave publisher so we can tip you on this platform that you're "not going to use any time soon" :)

My brave browser tells me: " rudism.com: Not yet verified This creator has not yet signed up to receive contributions from Brave users. Any tips you send will remain in your wallet until they verify. "

In the chart from the article I see that capacitors are shown as having high specific power. Would it not work to use a hybrid approach of capacitors for takeoff and then Li-ion for most of the flight? I know it would make the system more complicated and therefore more expensive up front, but I wonder if it's an option or if it's out of the question for one reason or another. I've read that supercapacitors are being used for busses and other applications. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercapacitor

^ That's pretty darn cool, thanks. Among the things you'll learn: - Around 4000 miles into Neptune's crust, there is a sea of hydrogen where carbon crystallizes into diamond which falls like rain to the center of the planet forming a diamond layer. And that layer is actually solid crystals of diamond inside a sea of metallic liquid carbon. Lol wat? Damn, nature.

Good question, it doesn't really need to be, those numbers are partly just to visualize it. But we do have some reasons to keep it with more surface area: - less digging - less reinforcing needed - it's more stable - In some cases we're interested in floating solar on top of the reservoir which wouldn't work well if the reservoir was too deep.

But it's certainly not out of the question to go deeper instead.

yup! More fun facts about a 1 km head height... Off-the-shelf turbines are actually spec'd for a max head height of something closer to .5 km. So the design calls for a double-drop. This design approach is taken from the DOE research linked on our website.

Hmm, I think what you're alluding to is that pumped hydro is about 70-85% efficient and Li-ion is sometimes quoted at 100% efficient (in theory). But here are some more details.

In reality, when Li-ion batteries are installed in a large system, I believe the round-trip efficiency is quoted much closer to PHS. Sorry, i can't find the best research to cite right now, but here are a couple sources i found with a quick search.

"lithium-based ESS rated for two hours at rated power will have an AC round-trip efficiency of 75 to 85%." https://www.windpowerengineering.com/how-three-battery-types...

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03062... "Conversion round-trip efficiency is in the range of 70–80%"

This one says 90-95% https://researchinterfaces.com/lithium-ion-batteries-grid-en...

I've heard that Li-ion installations can get up to 90-95% round trip, which is fantastic, and better than PHS for sure. But it's not the most important detail in the equation. Here's why:

One thing to remember is that power is lost all over the system in conversion and transmission. So raw efficiency can be less important than getting the right capacity to the right place on the grid. And that brings us to cost.

Even though PHS is a little less efficient than Li-ion, 85% for PHS is still really good. (see other my other comment below about 70% vs 85%) And the math shows that investing in PHS is simply cheaper -- even after assuming that Li-ion will drop in price by 3x in the coming decades. This is partly because Li-ion has a much shorter life span and needs to be replaced about every decade.

Li-ion is still great and super important! But it's not looking like the best contender right now for grid-scale storage.

Thanks to the commenter below who posted the link to the paper. Yes please! If you want to email me I'd love to see how we could work together. eric at terramenthq.com or syllablehq.com

If we attach our installation to an existing reservoir, we'll take up nearly zero land above ground. If we build a new self-contained upper reservoir it will be about 0.5 miles on each side and 40 feet deep. It can be built with material excavated from the lower reservoir. This may seem large, but it's for a huge amount of storage 20GWh - enough to balance the load of a large city. And keep in mind that it's about the same size of the many large reservoirs that are scattered around a large city.

Again, the most promising option would be to simply attach our installation to an existing reservoir. We don't use any additional water, we just borrow it. For an ample sized reservoir, each cycle would just raise and lower the water level by an inch or so. Another promising option is that we can even use the ocean as an upper reservoir. Salt water can be accommodated -- See our notes about the Okinawa Yanbaru Station.

There are more details in our white paper posted on the website.

I love this quote: Hydro pumped storage is “astoundingly efficient…In this future world where we want renewables to get 20%, 30%, or 50% of our electricity generation, you need pumped hydro storage. It’s an incredible opportunity.” – U.S. Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu in 2009. Still true today.

And actually, we think that 80-85% round trip is more accurate for our projects because we'll use the latest/greatest tech (variable-speed reversible francis style pump/generator turbines). I think the 70% from these figures is citing older projects with pump/turbines that were not quite as efficient.

Thanks! Yes, and our research agrees that the short-life of Li-ion is a problem, and it's one of the reasons why we believe our solution has so much more promise than Li-ion for grid scale storage.

The pump/turbine technology we use is the same that's been used for a hundred plus years for traditional pumped hydro dams, and the maintenance cost is very low. The life of a project is 40+ years. And in reality it can be 100 years with relatively low amount of maintenance. The San Diego County research posted on our website has good figures on this. thanks!

Thanks for expressing this johnmorrison and for being very uninflammatory about it :) Here is my white paper that sites ample research. https://www.terramenthq.com/underground-pumped-hydroelectric...

If you want to send me research supporting some of your thoughts here then I'd love to see it. I do know for example that it's a very valid debate whether or not nuclear has a place in our climate fight.

I'll try to re-work the language in my materials to make sure I'm not excluding other valid viewpoints. Thanks!

Solving the world's trillion-dollar energy storage crisis. (multi-trillion, actually.) https://www.terramenthq.com/

About a year ago, I started spending more time researching about climate change. I learned how important energy storage will be to enable renewable energy to displace fossil fuels. The more I read, the more fascinated I became with the idea of building underground pumped hydro energy storage. I found a research paper from the U.S. DOE written in 1984 showing that the idea was perfectly feasible and affordable, but it seems that nearly everyone has forgotten about it since. (they didn't build it at the time because the demand wasn't there yet. Now energy storage demand is growing exponentially)

A year later, I'm applying for grant funding to get it built. I know that nearly everyone will tell me I can't do it because this or that reason. Because people don't like change and they're scared of big things even if the research shows it makes perfect sense. But I'm doing it anyways because no one else is getting it done. The idea is too compelling and too important to ignore. So here goes nothing!

Yup, though we don't consider it a problem, that's just the simple math. Our solution tunnels down 1 mile deep and excavates an underground reservoir. While this may sound extreme, it's entirely feasible and cost-effective. We can say that with confidence because we're basing our analysis on research from the U.S. Department of energy. We link to that research on our website if you're interested.

This is a smart solution - it's great that stories like this are getting attention. I'd like to share a similar project that I'm working on called Terrament. https://www.terramenthq.com/

Terrament is building underground pumped hydro energy storage (UPHS). Just like other pumped storage solutions, UPHS is extremely cost competitive (measured by LCOE, levelized cost of energy). It's extremely efficient (80-90% round trip). But unlike most pumped hydro, you can build UPHS anywhere. Just like this liquid air solution, you only need a couple acres of land. Many people assume this would use lots of water, but it doesn't because it's a closed-loop system.

I see that Heindl energy's solution was also mentioned above -- I love that design. Though, our analysis suggests that our design will give us better capacity.

Thanks everyone for your interest in this important field! This is not just a booming business, it's also critical for supporting the sustained growth renewable energy.

We're sponsoring a company working on a similar solution. We also believe that underground pumped hydro storage holds great promise. https://www.terramenthq.com/

hi @meretext, thanks for engaging in this dialog, I appreciate you taking the time. This is really interesting to me. You're clearly smart and passionate about this. And it sounds like you are an evidence-based thinker. It sounds like maybe you've been bombarded with a lot of media but maybe haven't been given very good evidence, does that sound right?

For example, what do you make of this chart shown on the nasa.gov page? It shows the cycles that you're talking about, but then it shows how our situation is incredibly different from any other cycles over thousands of years. https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

So given evidence like that, what is your reaction? (I'm really not trying to convince you or troll you or anything, I'd love to learn more about how you think and what your arguments are). Do you think that the information isn't convincing or that it's a conspiracy? Do you feel certain that human-made climate change isn't real, or are you skeptical but open to the idea?

I'm also open to the idea that climate change is NOT real if I was confronted with compelling evidence. Though, I just haven't seen any so far...

Last question if you'll allow me: Do you think there's a chance that climate change could be a disaster? If so, do you think it's worth doing something about it? Or at least confirming whether or not it is real? Or do you feel convinced that there is nothing to worry about?

Thanks again, Eric

There is so much important and inspiring work to do in the world. It might take some energy to find it, but I think it will be rewarding if you do. It sounds like you have an amazing opportunity to find this work because you have a financial cushion to fall back on. So good luck in finding it! You could start by just seeking out people to talk to who you think are doing important work. Maybe don't worry about whether there's a job in it or if it even feels related to technology. Chances are those conversations could inspire you to do something you can't picture yet. Maybe an entrepreneurial opportunity. Everything needs technology these days after all. Good luck!

See also: The Nuclear Canal: Project Plowshare and the Dream of Atomic Earthmoving https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21911587

Here's a google earth view showing the center of the circles mentioned here: https://earth.google.com/web/@40.01244676,-119.000836,1390.6...

Here's another google earth view that shows nuclear test craters by the Nevada National Security Site https://earth.google.com/web/@37.15150881,-116.08582114,1329...

Disturbing and fascinating. I guess I'll have to visit the nearby National Atomic Testing Museum someday. https://earth.google.com/web/@36.1141364,-115.1483791,628.17...

See also: You can see lots of old Nevada nuclear test sites on Google Earth. It's pretty wild. I found out about this atomic earthmoving history after stumbling across inexplicably huge concentric circle patterns on google Earth. Crazy. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21909525

I found this by accident on google earth. It's pretty interesting and weird. I guess that people's best speculation is that it is a remnant from nuclear testing around the 60s.

Google earth URL https://earth.google.com/web/@40.01244676,-119.000836,1390.1...

This seems to be some other discussion about it: https://aair.smugmug.com/Aviation-Archaeology-1/Giant-concen...

This is another real-world example of why our lack of energy storage is becoming a crisis. Without energy storage, large amounts of wind and solar energy will wreck our power grids. We must build more storage immediately to prevent a climate crisis.

This is why our project, Terrament, is studying this problem and working on a solution. https://www.terramenthq.com/

I love this project and have started to participate on the platform, thanks @ericvanular!

If anyone lives in New York and would like a real-life community extension of this idea, you're welcome to join us in getting this meetup group off the ground.

https://www.meetup.com/New-York-Climate-Change-Meetup-Group/

Nice! I was going to ask the same question. It's great to know about nodeBB. Great work on the platform!

Wow, I'm surprised by the downvotes.

There are more details in this BI article mentioned in the coindesk one. I would have linked to it directly, but they have a paywall. https://www.businessinsider.com/coca-cola-bottlers-sap-scali...

As the article explains, they're expanding their test because it's demonstrated that they could reduce order-reconciliation duration from 50 days to just a few days. That's a big deal for a $21 billion-a-year supply chain.

So, for those of you who are so sure that blockchain is pointless end-of-story, it seems like you're not taking into account how messy and expensive it is to manage data and legal contracts with many small business entities throughout supply chains. But I'll read more into the links you sent with your arguments, thanks for that.

Regarding your claim that blockchain has almost no good use cases, I see news every week which disagrees.

Here is the first article I could find from just today which shows a great use case.

Coca Cola is expanding their blockchain trial project to a $21 billion-a-year supply chain because they found very significant savings.

https://www.coindesk.com/coca-cola-supply-chain-firm-to-expa...