The Energy Thread

[Jeff Lebowski]

One thing that interests me but I haven't time to research is how much the electrical grid will need to be upgraded to support an all electric vehicle fleet. I imagine it's a lot and the cost will be enormous and there's no way the municipalities can get that done in time to support the 2035 or 2050 deadline.

I think I posted it here somewhere, but California will need something like 29 new nuclear plants and a massive overhaul of their power grid to make their 2035 deadline feasible. Not to mention what it means in terms of mining lithium, cobalt, nickel, etc.

We need some breakthroughs in battery technology. I tend to think we will engineer our way through this somehow. I am bullish on the future in this regard, in spite of my joking about fusion.

[Moliere]

2016 case study on commercial conversion: https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/3...31876_DS1.pdf?

Thanks, that’s interesting. It doesn’t totally cover the overall impact to the grid but it definitely shows it’s not insignificant. I worked for the local utility in Houston and juts getting it approved to install smart meters (and pass through the cost) was a huge undertaking. I suspect this will be bigger. My hope is the electric never takes off and something else is found. Something less harmful to the environment.

[Uncle Ted]

Grandpa Joe sez we are shutting down all the coal plants...

Embedded Tweet

Machin has a few words to say about that: [Crazy Joe's remarks are] “outrageous and divorced from reality” and suggesting it’s “time he learn a lesson.”



Get the popcorn... it's a rat fight.

[wuapinmon]

Modern Life,
Walks on by me
Modern Life
Openly mocks me,
Modern Life,
Won't get me to the church on time,
Church on time
Chargin' my Tesla
Church on time
Should've taken my Cessna
Church on time
Guts my faith in Twitter Man
Twitter Man
Cares more about rockets
Twitter Man
Too much dough in his pockets
Twitter Man
Don't believe in modern life

5458559252173013761_120.jpg

[Uncle Ted]

Modern Life,
Walks on by me
Modern Life
Openly mocks me,
Modern Life,
Won't get me to the church on time,
Church on time
Chargin' my Tesla
Church on time
Should've taken my Cessna
Church on time
Guts my faith in Twitter Man
Twitter Man
Cares more about rockets
Twitter Man
Too much dough in his pockets
Twitter Man
Don't believe in modern life

5458559252173013761_120.jpg

Maybe the above picture explains the following... and the generator shortage.

Electric Vehicles Cut US Gas Consumption by a Measly 0.54%
A new report shows that national gasoline usage barely changed in 2021, despite increasing EV adoption.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES HAVE never been more popular. Just about every automaker is in the midst of an electrification effort, spurred on by impending government regulations around the world aimed at reducing our dependency on fossil fuels. But is the movement having an effect? Here in the US, plug-in vehicles are selling better than ever, despite supply chain shortages and frequent hefty dealership markups.
[...]
This report is not an argument against people buying EVs, of course; any gas savings is an improvement on turning that gasoline into atmospheric pollution that worsens climate change. But it should be clear now that EVs on their own are not a panacea to our transport-related climate problems, and the future will require many more people to walk, cycle, or take the bus to get to where they're going.

https://www.wired.com/story/american...-0-54-in-2021/

But by the time the price of gasoline hits $99.9/gallon next year I bet gas consumption will be down by 5%. Joe should raise the gas taxes and make it happen sooner.

[wuapinmon]

Southern Africa is experience daily power outages for hours at a time. This article explains a little bit of the reason.

https://www.energypolicy.columbia.ed...can-hydropower

[Shaka]

I got back from South Africa this week. I stayed in Cape Town for a couple of days and then drove up the coast eventually ending up in Port Elizabeth. Every city and every hotel I visited was affected by load shedding for at least two hours a day. It was annoying. Some places, including the two Marriott properties, had battery backup or generator systems in place. Even then the power would go out for thirty seconds or so until the secondary power switched on. That meant the TV and internet had to reboot which oftentimes to five or more minutes.

[All-American]

US scientists achieve q>1 from fusion reaction, meaning, more energy output than input.

This is a little misleading, because it counts energy put into the system but not energy needed to run the experiment. Still, an important milestone.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-b2243247.html

[Jeff Lebowski]

And there it is...

It is still at least a decade — maybe decades — away from commercial use, but the latest development is likely to be touted by the Biden administration as an affirmation of a massive investment by the government over the years.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...-breakthrough/

[Uncle Ted]

And there it is...



https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...-breakthrough/

I know lots of people that were convinced they were going to see the second coming before their death…. Most of them are dead now. I wonder if I am going to see a nuclear fusion power plant before my death. I think I have a better chance of seeing the second coming.

[All-American]

https://xkcd.com/2710/

hydropower_breakthrough.png

[Scott R Nelson]

Good details in this article: https://arstechnica.com/science/2022...ced-this-week/

The power aimed at the hydrogen was 2 megajoules and they got 3 megajoules back out, but overall power to get the lasers to fire was 300 megajoules, and they can't repeat it without a long wait in between. The lasers were designed 30 years ago, so not quite the latest technology. The article makes it more clear about where we're at currently and other directions the research needs to consider.

[Uncle Ted]

And there it is...



https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...-breakthrough/

The professor guy near the end of this 60 Minutes report said that Joe Biden's goal of achieving commercial nuclear fusion within ten years is pure BS... we most likely won't see commercial fusion power until like 2050. And to get those 3 megajoules out it actually took like 300 megajoules in (not 2 megajoules). They still need to work on that efficiency problem.

Commercial fusion power is possible but it is going to take a heck of a lot more engineering. We can't live on solar and wind power until then.

[All-American]

The professor guy near the end of this 60 Minutes report said that Joe Biden's goal of achieving commercial nuclear fusion within ten years is pure BS... we most likely won't see commercial fusion power until like 2050. And to get those 3 megajoules out it actually took like 300 megajoules in (not 2 megajoules). They still need to work on that efficiency problem.

Commercial fusion power is possible but it is going to take a heck of a lot more engineering. We can't live on solar and wind power until then.

Sure, but might as well shoot for it. If, by shooting for it, you are actually committing resources to try to achieve it.

My worry is that fusion is going to become somebody's political objective and the whole thing gets polarized. Oh, democrats like fusion, therefore we republicans hate it. Or vice versa.

[Bo Diddley]

Sure, but might as well shoot for it. If, by shooting for it, you are actually committing resources to try to achieve it.

My worry is that fusion is going to become somebody's political objective and the whole thing gets polarized. Oh, democrats like fusion, therefore we republicans hate it. Or vice versa.

It will probably be a political fight over spending money on it early on. I'm guessing that when you factor in all the costs, fusion will be more expensive at first.