This is probably not a great solution, because if it was someone else would've already thought of it, but why cant they use 'water' itself for power storage?

Lets say they have to spill extra load, why not just run pumps and refill the dam with that extra power they need to spill, then at night time open the gates and let that water create the energy back when its needed?

That way, the water is the battery.

Hasbeen,
Is that really all you have to say?

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Armchair,
They do this already, and have done for decades in the eastern states. It's known as pumped storage.
There are several plans for more pumped storage in Australia, the biggest of which is known as Snowy 2.0
But battery technology is advancing so fast that the economic case for more pumped storage is unclear.

As for the articles you don't know what to make of, it's because the network operators have been asleep at the wheel. The rapid growth of solar power has taken them by surprise, and the infrastructure to take advantage of it isn't there yet. So the incompetents are seeking ways to avoid having to fix the problem.

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Fester,
Why do you think we should artificially inflate the profits of the coal fired power industry by restricting its more efficient competitors?
In practice there'll be no need for a ban - the solar power generators will install batteries for economic reasons. So will their coal fired competitors in a desperate attempt to survive.

Hi Aidan,

I think solar/batteries for home power is great in remote locations, and I hope it becomes cheap enough to compete with coal fired power. AC raises a good point of using water as a battery. Water is a very good battery when you heat or cool it. Still more expensive than coal though.

The current warmth in Australia is due to anomalously cold surface temperatures in the surrounding ocean. How has global warming caused this cold water? If there was warmer water then Australia would be getting more cloud and rain which would make it cooler. Ocean fertilisation could trap more heat in the ocean surface, which would result in more rainfall.

Cheers

Fester,
Your information is out of date. Solar plus batteries is already cheap enough to compete with coal, though home scale batteries probably aren't the best solution except where electricity distribution infrastructure is inadequate or where an uninterruptible power supply is required.

Load balancing activities, such as heating or cooling water, are important in the future of electricity supply, but don't equate to batteries.

You ask how global warming can cause cold water - the answer is that it can disrupt can currents, resulting in some places getting colder despite the ocean getting warmer overall. But what makes you think that's the cause of the current warmth in Australia?

And is there any actual evidence that ocean fertilisation could trap more heat in the ocean surface and cause more rainfall?

Aidan if you want to be taken seriously with garbage like your last post, at least try to give some scientific support to your statements. Your bold statements for example, "it [CO2],can disrupt can currents" is total garbage, & it is statements like this, without proof, or at least a sound theory, that will finally put the nail in the coffin of global warming.

Tell me, do you consider king Neptune gave CO2 a paddle to stir the oceans, or do you have another theory?

With genuine temperature figures, not those homogenized by the BOM, we find we are having record night lows here, for the same reason we are having very high, [not record] highs. The air is very dry. As in my first post, this highlights that it is water vapor that moderates the planets temperature, CO2 is such a minor bit player that it is not worth considering.

Hi Hasbeen,

A week ago, Monday and Tuesday, in the weather reports, the Australian printed that the minimum temperature ever for those days was 9.1 degrees.

On the ABC, which I always listen to, the announcer said that the minimum temperatures on those mornings was nine degrees. Obviously, those anomalies were statistical outliers.

The maximum recorded temperature here in Adelaide occurred early this year, half a degree above the previous highest temperature recorded, back in 1939. Adelaide's population has gone up five times since then, since the days when there were few air-conditioners pumping out hot air. Half a degree difference in eighty years. Perhaps, a statistical outlier.

Joe