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Heat Storms Friends, I don’t normally just echo things I have ...

2026-10-22T03:24:54Z

Heat Storms

Friends, I don’t normally just echo things I have read on other web sites. But I have just read an article over at Reuters that has affected me strongly. In fact the article brought tears to my eyes. It enunciated something that I think had sort-of-been-in-the-back-of my-mind, but which was previously – to my knowledge – unnamed.
The article’s authors describe a phenomenon they call a Heat Storm.
You can read the full article here.
You can track heat storms here .
And here’s a link to a short You Tube Summary
What is a Heat Storm?
The Reuters article suggests two new ways of looking at the data on global surface air temperatures.
The first is a uniform definition of a heat wave across the planet. They choose a definition of daily temperatures being in the top 10% of the historical record for that location (based weather data between 1961 and 1990).
The second is a definition of a heat storm which is a heat wave which covers more than 1% of the planet (i.e. about 6 × the area of the UK) and lasts for more than 5 days.
These are arbitrary definitions, but they allow us to see what is happening to us more clearly. The graphic below explains this definition.
Click on image for a larger version. Graphic from the Reuters article showing the procedure for identifying heat storms.
In the article, it is pointed out that once one identifies a heat storm as a distinct phenomenon, one can begin to understand how the frequency, intensity, spatial extent and lifetime of heat storms has changed. For example:
The largest heat wave of the 1960s reached about 6% of the planet as it drifted for 46 days over the Atlantic Ocean, parts of Latin America and West Africa.
The largest one this decade swept across almost 85% of the globe during its 367-day lifetime, stretching into the polar latitudes and touching virtually every human being on Earth.
The definition is especially important in that it reflects human experience of weather and climate. No individual experiences the global average temperatures that we plot on the ever-rising charts.
Click on image for a larger version. Data from the Berkeley Earth record of global temperatures since 1850 plotted relative to the average temperature between 1850 and 1900. Each data point represents the annual average of data from thousands of meteorological stations – a statistic that only weakly corresponds to the experience of individuals who live in one location.
The definition is distinct even from animations of global temperatures. In typical animations one can see the hot spots “flickering around” but what is being plotted are annual averages of temperature. These annual averages only weakly reflect the occurrence of a week or two of exceptionally high temperatures. To see heat storms one must look globally, but with a fine spatial and temporal resolution.
Heat Storm Vera
As I write, the first Atlantic storm of the 2026/27 season, Austen, has just been named. Naming storms allows us to focus on one aspect of the ever-changing weather, even though the “boundaries” of the impact area are somewhat vague. Similarly, the Reuters article suggests naming heat storms in order to allow us to see that stories about events around the globe are actually linked to the same heat storm.
As an example, the article describes events attributed to heat storm Vera which lasted for 367 days from July 29, 2023 to July 29, 2024 and at any one tome typically covered around 30% of the planet.
Click on image for a larger version. Snapshots showing the extent of Heat Storm Vera in August 2023, January 2024 and July 2024.
During its lifetime, heat storm Vera was behind multiple stories from across the world:
USA: In Texas, players of American Football were affected by heatstroke
Spain: The olive harvest collapsed leading to an extreme shortage, high prices, and piracy
Brazil: In lakes, rare Dolphins essentially cooked in water at 41 °C.
Poland: Early crocuses in the Tatra mountains.
The Phillipines: Children collapsing in school, vomiting and bleeding from their nose.
The Ivory Coast: Collapse of the cocoa crop.
Recently Heat Storm Raimundo began in February 2026 and is still ongoing. It gave rise to wildfires in Spain and France and delivered our own exceptional summer. Reuters state that “Since its inception… Raimundo has touched almost three quarters of the planet’s surface.”
Is the idea of a Heat Storm useful?
Friends, in a way the concept of a heat storm tells us nothing new: we already have all this data. Nonetheless, I personally think the idea is useful. Why? Because in the same way that naming storms allows to us track them and comment on them and their consequences, similarly identifying heat storms allows us to see that what might have appeared to be disparate events are in fact linked.
Importantly, the concept of heat storms allows us to understand the impact of climate change on people in a way that stating there has been a 0.1 °C rise in global temperature does not.

https://protonsforbreakfast.wpcomstaging.com/2026/10/21/heat-storms/

#heatstorms #data #stormvera #earth #tubesummary

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Broken Tesla Powerwall 2 Update Friends, it’s now been 7 weeks ...

2026-10-20T03:48:56Z

Broken Tesla Powerwall 2 Update

Friends, it’s now been 7 weeks since my Powerwall 2 was disabled by Tesla.
“What?” I hear you say. “Has it not been replaced yet?“. No.
Tesla apparently know of the fault and they promise on the front of The App that the battery will be replaced, but unfortunately there is no way to communicate with them directly.
The installers, The Little Green Energy Company have failed to respond to repeated e-mails requesting a status update, and when I telephone they make no effort to hide their indifference.
In the absence of any information from The Little Green Energy Company, I asked Google who told me that:
The Reddit Link in this reply has tales of disorganisation and chaos from Australia, the UK and the US. So basically, if I am lucky, it may happen sometime this year.
September 2026 versus September 2025
Trying to think positively, I took the chance to look at how the solar PV system has worked this year (without the battery) compared with last year. To do this I first noted that average solar generation this September (17.7 kWh/day) was very similar to last year (17.8 kWh/day).
Click on image for a larger version. Monthly generation expressed as kWh/day since November 2020. I added extra panels in November 2022, so data from 2023 onward can be fairly compared.
However lots of other figures changed pretty much as one might have surmised. The months are compared in the table below.
Click on image for a larger version. Table comparing the performance of the Solar PV system this year (no battery) with last year. All the figures monthly averages expressed as kWh/day. See text for commentary.
Notably:
Exports increased by more than 50% from 7.0 kWh/day to 11.8 kWh/day because the energy could not be stored.
Imports also increased – from 0.4 kWh/day to 7.2 kWh/day – because we had to buy electricity (!!)
Consumption also increased – from 10.8 kWh/day to 13.1 kWh/day – which amounts to an extra 68 kWh over the month. This is probably due to EV charging.
Last year the September bill came to around -£16 but this year it “increased” by £12 to approximately -£4, so this “disaster” does not currently entail much in the way of financial hardship. But as we enter the dark months, and the cold months, this cost could rise substantially. If the battery were not replaced before spring, it could cost a few hundred pounds, which is enough to be irritating.
What I have learned
Friends, everything breaks. No matter how wonderful the technology or the craftsmanship, everything breaks eventually.
Overall, I have been pleased at the durability of the works I had done and the kit I purchased.
The External Wall Insulation still looks good.
The Triple Glazing still works well.
The Heat Pump has worked flawlessly for 5 years.
The Solar PV and inverters appears to be fine and show no (detectable) degradation.
The battery is the only piece of kit I have installed that has definitively failed. However, when it was working it was fantastic!
When I installed the Powerwall 2, there was no comparable alternative product. Now there are an overwhelming number of choices. Internet chatter seems to suggest that batteries from SigEnergy are now “the best” in terms of features, but even these batteries have suffered recent recalls.
My hope is that in the future, somehow (!) there will emerge a specification for battery energy storage systems that will enable them to work interchangeably, so that additional extension batteries could be purchased from different manufacturers. Of course, the manufacturers are working hard to prevent this – hoping to lock each customer into future purchases of related products from the same brand.
Interesting times…

https://protonsforbreakfast.wpcomstaging.com/2026/10/17/broken-tesla-powerwall-2-update/

#tesla #kwh #powerwall #littlegreen #greenenergy #energycompany #september #solar #november

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The Tesla Roadster: Some numbers Friends, as my Tesla battery ...

2026-10-20T03:18:20Z

The Tesla Roadster: Some numbers

Friends, as my Tesla battery sits discharged in my porch, it’s been good to see that Tesla engineers have been working hard on making a flying car.
Click on image for a larger version. Screenshot from the Tesla Roadster demonstration showing the car landing using thrusters.
The thrusters that the car used are powered by a large tank of compressed air located in the middle of the car.
Click on image for a larger version.
As a lover of water rockets (link) I immediately spotted the similarities: an object that could fly as a result of a rapid release of compressed air. However the physics of the Tesla off–roadster are really quite extreme, and I thought it might be of interest to share some of the numbers.
Warning: All these numbers are so-called “ball park” estimates made using an old-fashioned technology known as Natural Intelligence. As such there may well be errors in the results
Compressed Air Storage
From screenshots of the video, I estimated that the compressed air tank had a volume of around 400 litres and the video stated that it was compressed to 10,000 psi (pounds per square inch). In more accessible units that’s an extreme 680 atmospheres or 69 MPa.
Assuming the tank is made of 50 mm thick carbon fibre, then it will weigh about 300 kg when empty. When pressurised with the air the tank will weigh an additional 325 kg – equivalent to an additional four passengers!
When discharged rapidly, the energy available in the 400 litre tank is around 16 kWh. This amounts to an energy density of around 0.04 kWh per litre. It’s interesting to compare this with the energy density in the lithium-ion battery pack that powers the car on the ground, which is typically 0.13 kWh per litre, i.e. more than three times higher. However all the energy stored in the pressurised tank can be released in just a few seconds – something which is not possible using batteries.
Charging and discharging, results in very large associated changes of temperature. When charging the gas heats considerably, and the temperatures reached depend on the charging rate. This excess thermal energy needs to be dissipated otherwise it could damage the carbon composite structure of the tank.
If charged at constant temperature, the required energy of compression is around 49 kWh which is around 3 times the energy available on discharge. In other words, the charge/discharge cycle is only around 33% efficient.
The discharging air also becomes very cold, in principle much colder the temperature at which air condenses, but in practice probably limited to around – 50 °C. For this reason it will be critical to keep the air dry during compression. If even 1% by mass of the stored air were water then on discharge, the cooling might cause valves to clog with ice.
Summary
The Tesla flying car demo was very dramatic and left journalists stunned. But running the numbers one can see that this is not a technology that anyone should want in a car also containing human beings.
My hope is that now they have finished the demo, Tesla’s engineers can can get back to making me a replacement Powerwall!

https://protonsforbreakfast.wpcomstaging.com/2026/10/18/the-tesla-roadster-some-numbers/

#teslaroadster #air #compressedair #numbers #kwh #charging

#rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

The Tesla Roadster: Some numbers Friends, as my Tesla battery ...

2026-10-19T03:25:42Z

The Tesla Roadster: Some numbers

Friends, as my Tesla battery sits discharged in my porch, it’s been good to see that Tesla engineers have been working hard on making a flying car.
Click on image for a larger version. Screenshot from the Tesla Roadster demonstration showing the car landing using thrusters.
The thrusters that the car used are powered by a large tank of compressed air located in the middle of the car.
Click on image for a larger version.
As a lover of water rockets (link) I immediately spotted the similarities: an object that could fly as a result of a rapid release of compressed air. However the physics of the Tesla off–roadster are really quite extreme, and I thought it might be of interest to share some of the numbers.
Warning: All these numbers are so-called “ball park” estimates made using an old-fashioned technology known as Natural Intelligence. As such there may well be errors in the results
Compressed Air Storage
From screenshots of the video, I estimated that the compressed air tank had a volume of around 400 litres and the video stated that it was compressed to 10,000 psi (pounds per square inch). In more accessible units that’s an extreme 680 atmospheres or 69 MPa.
Assuming the tank is made of 50 mm thick carbon fibre, then it will weigh about 300 kg when empty. When pressurised with the air the tank will weigh an additional 325 kg – equivalent to an additional four passengers!
When discharged rapidly, the energy available in the 400 litre tank is around 16 kWh. This amounts to an energy density of around 0.04 kWh per litre. It’s interesting to compare this with the energy density in the lithium-ion battery pack that powers the car on the ground, which is typically 0.13 kWh per litre, i.e. more than three times higher. However all the energy stored in the pressurised tank can be released in just a few seconds – something which is not possible using batteries.
Charging and discharging, results in very large associated changes of temperature. When charging the gas heats considerably, and the temperatures reached depend on the charging rate. This excess thermal energy needs to be dissipated otherwise it could damage the carbon composite structure of the tank.
If charged at constant temperature, the required energy of compression is around 49 kWh which is around 3 times the energy available on discharge. In other words, the charge/discharge cycle is only around 33% efficient.
The discharging air also becomes very cold, in principle much colder the temperature at which air condenses, but in practice probably limited to around – 50 °C. For this reason it will be critical to keep the air dry during compression. If even 1% by mass of the stored air were water then on discharge, the cooling might cause valves to clog with ice.
Summary
The Tesla flying car demo was very dramatic and left journalists stunned. But running the numbers one can see that this is not a technology that anyone should want in a car also containing human beings.
My hope is that now they have finished the demo, Tesla’s engineers can can get back to making me a replacement Powerwall!

https://protonsforbreakfast.wordpress.com/2026/10/18/the-tesla-roadster-some-numbers/

https://2.gravatar.com/avatar/271b9fe419d37aaa4e100c51187274299e6d1e8eea6dd6ea6419122447e2a44f?s=96&d=identicon&r=G

#teslaroadster #air #compressedair #numbers #kwh #charging

#rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Broken Tesla Powerwall 2 Update Friends, it’s now been 7 weeks ...

2026-10-18T03:38:59Z

Broken Tesla Powerwall 2 Update

Friends, it’s now been 7 weeks since my Powerwall 2 was disabled by Tesla.
“What?” I hear you say. “Has it not been replaced yet?“. No.
Tesla apparently know of the fault and they promise on the front of The App that the battery will be replaced, but unfortunately there is no way to communicate with them directly.
The installers, The Little Green Energy Company have failed to respond to repeated e-mails requesting a status update, and when I telephone they make no effort to hide their indifference.
In the absence of any information from The Little Green Energy Company, I asked Google who told me that:
The Reddit Link in this reply has tales of disorganisation and chaos from Australia, the UK and the US. So basically, if I am lucky, it may happen sometime this year.
September 2026 versus September 2025
Trying to think positively, I took the chance to look at how the solar PV system has worked this year (without the battery) compared with last year. To do this I first noted that average solar generation this September (17.7 kWh/day) was very similar to last year (17.8 kWh/day).
Click on image for a larger version. Monthly generation expressed as kWh/day since November 2020. I added extra panels in November 2022, so data from 2023 onward can be fairly compared.
However lots of other figures changed pretty much as one might have surmised. The months are compared in the table below.
Click on image for a larger version. Table comparing the performance of the Solar PV system this year (no battery) with last year. All the figures monthly averages expressed as kWh/day. See text for commentary.
Notably:
Exports increased by more than 50% from 7.0 kWh/day to 11.8 kWh/day because the energy could not be stored.
Imports also increased – from 0.4 kWh/day to 7.2 kWh/day – because we had to buy electricity (!!)
Consumption also increased – from 10.8 kWh/day to 13.1 kWh/day – which amounts to an extra 68 kWh over the month. This is probably due to EV charging.
Last year the September bill came to around -£16 but this year it “increased” by £12 to approximately -£4, so this “disaster” does not currently entail much in the way of financial hardship. But as we enter the dark months, and the cold months, this cost could rise substantially. If the battery were not replaced before spring, it could cost a few hundred pounds, which is enough to be irritating.
What I have learned
Friends, everything breaks. No matter how wonderful the technology or the craftsmanship, everything breaks eventually.
Overall, I have been pleased at the durability of the works I had done and the kit I purchased.
The External Wall Insulation still looks good.
The Triple Glazing still works well.
The Heat Pump has worked flawlessly for 5 years.
The Solar PV and inverters appears to be fine and show no (detectable) degradation.
The battery is the only piece of kit I have installed that has definitively failed. However, when it was working it was fantastic!
When I installed the Powerwall 2, there was no comparable alternative product. Now there are an overwhelming number of choices. Internet chatter seems to suggest that batteries from SigEnergy are now “the best” in terms of features, but even these batteries have suffered recent recalls.
My hope is that in the future, somehow (!) there will emerge a specification for battery energy storage systems that will enable them to work interchangeably, so that additional extension batteries could be purchased from different manufacturers. Of course, the manufacturers are working hard to prevent this – hoping to lock each customer into future purchases of related products from the same brand.
Interesting times…

https://protonsforbreakfast.wordpress.com/2026/10/17/broken-tesla-powerwall-2-update/

#tesla #kwh #powerwall #littlegreen #greenenergy #energycompany #september #solar #november

#rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit