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Musk Says US Electricity Production Needs to Double to Transition to EV Vehicles

4 points by Bostonian 5y ago

LinuxBender 5y ago
How difficult would it be to wire in some of those modular mini nuclear power plants into a majority of sub-stations? I believe a lab in Idaho is working on a small nuclear power station. I've seen some articles on various countries working on modular power plants as well. One of the sub-stations near me has a solar panel field wired into it. Would a few constant megawatts at each sub-station should significantly reduce the overall load on the long-haul transmission lines?
Proven 5y ago
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Bostonian 5y ago
It does not make sense to push EV to stem climate change, if that entails doubling electricity production. Not all of that electricity will come from renewables.
- space_rock 5y ago
  It does when you consider EVs and fossil fuel plants efficiency. It's less CO2 emissions to use electric vehicles. Combustion engines even nowadays I only get around 30% efficiency. That's not close to what a power plant gets
  - GDC7 5y ago
    > It does when you consider EVs and fossil fuel plants efficiency It does not if you consider all the intellectual capital and talent which is going into EVs, which are essentially a bandaid on an open wound. EVs were never about climate change, they were always about having clean and much more livable city centers, moving the pollution elsewhere, during the electricity generation phase which happens where humans don't live, or if they live there the population density is way lower. It's not like the goal is not worthy or doesn't deserve recognition...but you would call out a guy who hits an HR in the last game of the Minor Leagues and then goes on to claim that he won the MLB World Series.
  - lm28469 5y ago
    Using a spoon to cut a piece of steak is better than using your hands but it still isn't as good as a steak knife. Personal EVs are still extremely energy inefficient, 2 tonnes of metal, 500kg of batteries, to transport 80kg of meat. (Not even mentioning the fact that cars are parked 90 to 95% of the time, using space for no reason) Lithium is becoming harder and more polluting to mine too.

4 points by Bostonian 5y ago

How difficult would it be to wire in some of those modular mini nuclear power plants into a majority of sub-stations? I believe a lab in Idaho is working on a small nuclear power station. I've seen some articles on various countries working on modular power plants as well. One of the sub-stations near me has a solar panel field wired into it. Would a few constant megawatts at each sub-station should significantly reduce the overall load on the long-haul transmission lines?

Proven 5y ago

[dead]

Bostonian 5y ago

It does not make sense to push EV to stem climate change, if that entails doubling electricity production. Not all of that electricity will come from renewables.

space_rock 5y ago
It does when you consider EVs and fossil fuel plants efficiency. It's less CO2 emissions to use electric vehicles. Combustion engines even nowadays I only get around 30% efficiency. That's not close to what a power plant gets
- GDC7 5y ago
  > It does when you consider EVs and fossil fuel plants efficiency It does not if you consider all the intellectual capital and talent which is going into EVs, which are essentially a bandaid on an open wound. EVs were never about climate change, they were always about having clean and much more livable city centers, moving the pollution elsewhere, during the electricity generation phase which happens where humans don't live, or if they live there the population density is way lower. It's not like the goal is not worthy or doesn't deserve recognition...but you would call out a guy who hits an HR in the last game of the Minor Leagues and then goes on to claim that he won the MLB World Series.
- lm28469 5y ago
  Using a spoon to cut a piece of steak is better than using your hands but it still isn't as good as a steak knife. Personal EVs are still extremely energy inefficient, 2 tonnes of metal, 500kg of batteries, to transport 80kg of meat. (Not even mentioning the fact that cars are parked 90 to 95% of the time, using space for no reason) Lithium is becoming harder and more polluting to mine too.