They are going to start running one of their supercomputers off solar power. This should guarantee that we get fewer of their trademark inverted forecasts, because the computer will be inoperable most of the time.
Running supercomputers on sunshine
Work is underway to install a solar panel array at the Met Office which will generate enough energy to power one of our supercomputers.Work is underway to install a solar panel array at the Met Office which will generate enough energy to power one of our supercomputers.
The array will generate 221,000 kW hours of electricity per year – enough to power the equivalent of 67 houses – and will save about 116 tonnes of C02 per year.
How much CO2 could they save if they shut down all of their supercomputers?
They made an almighty cock up of their forecast for April.
http://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/april-weather-in-the-uk/
Now it’s looking like May will be just as wrong.
Did they factor in how much CO2 was used in manufacturing those panels to begin with?
I’ll bet the solar panels are a supplement instead of a primary source of power, unless the Met Office is predicting sunny days from now on.
A triumph of politics over reason. They shold be called the Lysenko Office, not the Met Office.
That’s right ralphcramdo, I suspect that going by their previous predictions they should bin the whole exercise right about now..
221,000 kWh hours / 67 homes / 365 days / 24 hours = 376Watts per hour
I hope nobody wants to heat their house. Or use the stove. Or an A/C unit. Or do much of anything.
They didn’t figure in the CO2 emissions of back-up power plants necessary given all the clouds and rain they failed to predict in April.
I have a prediction!
They’ll still get the wrong answers.
They are being installed at the Met Office Exeter headquarters. That happens to be the sunniest part of Britain, receiving a ‘whopping’ 2.9 kWhr/m^2/day of solar insolation averaged over the year on a horizontal surface. Its just about as bad as Binghamton, NY, one of the worst solar insolation locations in the US.
Or, the system receives about 2.9 hours/day of full solar insolation (about 1 kW/m^2).
To get to the reported 600 kWhr/day requires 600/2.9 = 207 kW AC solar PV system. At a typical 80% system efficiency, that requires a 260 kW DC nameplate array.
Surprisingly, no cost for this system was reported, nor was there any discussion of the feed in tariffs the Met Office will receive if they sell this power to the grid.
How much methane could we save if Mann and Hansen were not allowed to speak to the media?