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Electrify Everything
- Thread starter ItsNotAboutTheMoney
- Start date
In my opinion, AI is more likely to cause a disastrous event than prevent one, particularly regarding possible existential threats to humanity.
AI electricity usage starting to get coverage in more "mainstream" media outlets:
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Original Source, possibly paywalled:
Link:
Original Source, possibly paywalled:
Did you mean to provide your source?
Generally there is enough generation for EVs if they are plugged in at night.
You can't just do easy math on these things and many people try to do just that. Electricity use by households and business is very peaky and generation is about matching peaks. As long as you incentivize and educate people to plug in at night, it is a non issue.
Except possibly in NZ which is very heavy hydro if they turn down the hydro significantly at night. I think everyone turns down the hydro at night if they are able to (unless heavy solar is in the mix also).
Generally there is enough generation for EVs if they are plugged in at night.
You can't just do easy math on these things and many people try to do just that. Electricity use by households and business is very peaky and generation is about matching peaks. As long as you incentivize and educate people to plug in at night, it is a non issue.
Except possibly in NZ which is very heavy hydro if they turn down the hydro significantly at night. I think everyone turns down the hydro at night if they are able to (unless heavy solar is in the mix also).
Most renewable energy are by no means guaranteed and easily sustained. They require certain weather conditions for the energy to be harnessed, which can be a bane for certain parts of the world where weather conditions varies by time periods and thereby reducing the ROI on their energy investment.
Other than that, I think that a lot of companies tend to prioritize businesses over people. Businesses often have preferential rates and increased usage allowance which is why Texas had a big problem with it. Part of the solution is to use free market forces to control it, by inflating the prices for consumers and disallowing businesses from using electricity during peak periods. However, it doesn't mean that it would work out in the long run. Energy requirements are always on the rise and we're probably required to continually increase our capacity to ensure that electricity can be free and accessible.
Look at electricity use in the US. It isn't really on the rise.
Gasoline use?
Both of these are flat from 2003-2023. That is total despite increase in population and economic activity.
It is an absolute falsehood that "Energy requirements are always on the rise". Not in a country that has wasted so much for so long. Staying flat or going down is easy. Going down a lot is a bit harder.
Except heating oil use - I bet this year was fantastically lower than typical. Not necessarily a good sign.
Funny my solar panels are "easily sustained". And yes - there are cloudy days but those are days I don't need as much a/c so it works our really well relative to usage. And the sun is guaranteed to come up every day otherwise we have bigger problems.
Gasoline use?
Both of these are flat from 2003-2023. That is total despite increase in population and economic activity.
It is an absolute falsehood that "Energy requirements are always on the rise". Not in a country that has wasted so much for so long. Staying flat or going down is easy. Going down a lot is a bit harder.
Except heating oil use - I bet this year was fantastically lower than typical. Not necessarily a good sign.
Funny my solar panels are "easily sustained". And yes - there are cloudy days but those are days I don't need as much a/c so it works our really well relative to usage. And the sun is guaranteed to come up every day otherwise we have bigger problems.
mspohr
Well-Known Member
Today, most power lines consist of steel cores surrounded by strands of aluminum, a design that’s been around for a century. In the 2000s, several companies developed cables that used smaller, lighter cores such as carbon fiber and that could hold more aluminum. These advanced cables can carry up to twice as much current as older models.
In many places, upgrading power lines with advanced conductors could nearly double the capacity of existing transmission corridors at less than half the cost of building new lines, researchers found. If utilities began deploying advanced conductors on a nationwide scale — replacing thousands of miles of wires — they could add four times as much transmission capacity by 2035 as they are currently on pace to do.
That would allow the use of much more solar and wind power from thousands of projects that have been proposed but can’t move forward because local grids are too clogged to accommodate them.
The difficulty of building new lines has led many energy experts and industry officials to explore ways to squeeze more out of the existing grid. That includes “grid-enhancing technologies” such as sensors that allow utilities to send more power through existing lines without overloading them and advanced controls that allow operators to ease congestion on the grid. Studies have found these techniques can increase grid capacity by 10 to 30 percent at a low cost.
There are also mismatched incentives, the report found. Because of the way in which utilities are compensated, they often have more financial incentive to build new lines rather than to upgrade existing equipment. Conversely, some regulators are wary of the higher upfront cost of advanced conductors — even if they pay for themselves over the long run. Many utilities also have little motivation to cooperate with one another on long-term transmission planning.
mspohr
Well-Known Member
India's Exponent Energy brings 15-minute charging to passenger three-wheelers | TechCrunch
Exponent Energy has partnered with Omega Seiki Mobility to launch its passenger electric three-wheeler with 15-minute charging in India.
techcrunch.com
The new three-wheeler, called the Stream City Qik and priced at $3,900 (324,999 Indian rupees), launched Friday and will go on sale from May 15 in Delhi and Bengaluru. It’s a take on the previous Omega Stream City and carries an 8.8kWh proprietary battery pack to deliver over 86 miles (126 kilometers) of range. It is equipped with Exponent Energy’s charging tech, which the startup claims fully charges a battery in 15 minutes when connected at the startup’s charging station (dubbed e^pump).
Exponent Energy and Omega Seiki Mobility ran close controller pilots for the last couple of months to test consumer behavior. They found three-wheelers carrying up to three passengers sometimes run for up to 22 hours a day, with two drivers using them sequentially to milk intra-city demand. This makes it crucial for the passenger three-wheelers to access fast charging. The other alternative to rapid charging in this case could be battery swapping, but that does not work at scale, according to Vinayak.
If you give people very rapid refueling capability, very rapid recharging capability, a reliable and dense enough network, people actually stop caring about range,” he stated.
mspohr
Well-Known Member
California exceeds 100% of energy demand with renewables over a record 30 days
In a major clean energy benchmark, wind, solar, and hydro exceeded 100% of demand on California's main grid for 30 of the past 38 days.
electrek.co
Jacobson notes that supply exceeds demand for “0.25-6 h per day,” and that’s an important fact. The continuity lies not in renewables running the grid for the entire day but in the fact that it’s happening on a consistent daily basis, which has never been achieved before.
California exceeds 100% of energy demand with renewables over a record 30 days
In a major clean energy benchmark, wind, solar, and hydro exceeded 100% of demand on California's main grid for 30 of the past 38 days.
Jacobson notes that supply exceeds demand for “0.25-6 h per day,” and that’s an important fact. The continuity lies not in renewables running the grid for the entire day but in the fact that it’s happening on a consistent daily basis, which has never been achieved before.
He is counting large hydro in the mix. Which, strangely, California doesn't count as a "renewable". But yeah - the CA ISO stats in the recent past have been fun to watch. California ISO - Supply, Today's Outlook
AI Computing Is on Pace to Consume More Energy Than India, Arm Says
(Bloomberg) -- AI’s voracious need for computing power is threatening to overwhelm energy sources, requiring the industry to change its approach to the technology, according to Arm Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Rene Haas. Most Read from BloombergDubai Grinds to Standstill as Cloud Seeding...
California exceeds 100% of energy demand with renewables over a record 30 days
In a major clean energy benchmark, wind, solar, and hydro exceeded 100% of demand on California's main grid for 30 of the past 38 days.
Jacobson notes that supply exceeds demand for “0.25-6 h per day,” and that’s an important fact. The continuity lies not in renewables running the grid for the entire day but in the fact that it’s happening on a consistent daily basis, which has never been achieved before.
it doesnt seem that difficult in a month like april where literally know one is probably running an AC or a heater.. would like to see how it stacks up in july and august
mspohr
Well-Known Member
AI Computing Is on Pace to Consume More Energy Than India, Arm Says
(Bloomberg) -- AI’s voracious need for computing power is threatening to overwhelm energy sources, requiring the industry to change its approach to the technology, according to Arm Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Rene Haas. Most Read from BloombergDubai Grinds to Standstill as Cloud Seeding...finance.yahoo.com
U.S. electric utilities predict a tidal wave of new demand from data centers powering technology like generative AI, with some power companies projecting electricity sales growth several times higher than estimates just months earlier.
Nine of the top 10 U.S. electric utilities said data centers were a main source of customer growth, leading many to revise up capital expenditure plans and demand forecasts, according to a Reuters analysis of company earnings reports from the first three months of the year.
Apparently you don't realize that CA has elevation changes - I was on the phone with my sister 4 days ago and the high was 45. There is also of course the highest percentage of EVs in the US where 25% of new cars sold last year were EV's.
But yes - April is the one of the best months to showcase these things. But it was so warm across much of the US that Feb and March were probably not bad either. Those short days get you in some trouble and by April, the days lengthen enough to help. And wait a sec - last 38 days is mostly March. So the days are only going to lengthen and A/C still isn't used much.
In my solar only scenario - in the last 5 years - June has been the most positive but April - Jun is generally positive. Of course, we a/c more than most of CA and we are running a/c at night in April. We have electric heat too unlike the vast majority of CA.
CA does differ from NC for sure but being zeroed out in March/April is pretty good. Max solar is typically June 21st as expected.
Madeindex.org
Member
Yeah the electricity grid is the big factor in electrification, hopefully soon there will be superconducting wires & a severe disruption in the market. The problem is many big corporations control the electricity grid in most countries, and as we know big corporations just love to invest in it - NOT
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