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I think power transmission efficiency is the biggest problem and next frontier to both migrating to renewables but also in technology in general. Imagine being

by _8j50 4y ago

I think power transmission efficiency is the biggest problem and next frontier to both migrating to renewables but also in technology in general. Imagine being able to power any part of a country or even from/to remote places like sahara or antarctica. It's not just about building cities and transportation but so much more. Clean water, affordable housing, economic boom,etc... Copper just isn't the future in my opinion. Light and radiation is how the sun transmits energy to us, maybe we can do the same thing with lasers, gammaa rays,etc...

bsder 4y ago
> Copper just isn't the future in my opinion. HVDC is just fine, thank you very much. The problem is that the US doesn't have very many HVDC links. Even without solar, we really should have more of them. The real problem, though, is that you really want distributed solar and distributed storage. The current electrical infrastructure is woefully unprepared to deal with that, however. It is far easier to insert gigantic farms into the system via HVDC links that it is to retrofit enough of the system to deal with distributed generation and storage.
- _8j50 4y ago
  Can hvdc transport nuclear amd solar from nevada to alaska or new england? It's still metal,resistance and all.
  - defrost 4y ago
    Why ask that which you can readily lookup? a 1,100 kV link in China was completed in 2019 over a distance of 3,300 km (2,100 mi) with a power capacity of 12 GW. High voltage is used for electric power transmission to reduce the energy lost in the resistance of the wires. Since the power lost as heat in the wires is directly proportional to the square of the current, using half the current at double the voltage reduces the line losses by a factor of 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current Kept in mind that magic beams (microwave, laser) also fan out and meet resistance and lose power in transmission.
    - _8j50 4y ago
      I couldn't tell the resistance difference compared to AC transmission. > ...also fan out and meet resistance and lose power in transmission. Didn't know that either but magic beams also don't need cables and poles, or at least would require less infra
      - defrost 4y ago
        It's significant and a good excercise to keep looking until you find it. Reduced losses is why HVDC is greatly preferred over AC transmission. Research in general is good exercise, I see you've already learnt that copper cables aren't used for AC transmission at scale. As for beamed power, if you compare the ~ 100 year history of industrial scale HVDC distribution to the (?) history of similarly scaled beamed power .. uhhh, well, that's telling. Has promise, needs more work?
perilunar 4y ago
> Copper just isn't the future in my opinion Copper isn't the present either. Most power transmission cables are steel reinforced aluminium.
- _8j50 4y ago
  Interesting, I had no idea

by _8j50 4y ago

bsder 4y ago

> Copper just isn't the future in my opinion. HVDC is just fine, thank you very much. The problem is that the US doesn't have very many HVDC links. Even without solar, we really should have more of them. The real problem, though, is that you really want distributed solar and distributed storage. The current electrical infrastructure is woefully unprepared to deal with that, however. It is far easier to insert gigantic farms into the system via HVDC links that it is to retrofit enough of the system to deal with distributed generation and storage.

_8j50 4y ago
Can hvdc transport nuclear amd solar from nevada to alaska or new england? It's still metal,resistance and all.
- defrost 4y ago
  Why ask that which you can readily lookup? a 1,100 kV link in China was completed in 2019 over a distance of 3,300 km (2,100 mi) with a power capacity of 12 GW. High voltage is used for electric power transmission to reduce the energy lost in the resistance of the wires. Since the power lost as heat in the wires is directly proportional to the square of the current, using half the current at double the voltage reduces the line losses by a factor of 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current Kept in mind that magic beams (microwave, laser) also fan out and meet resistance and lose power in transmission.
  - _8j50 4y ago
    I couldn't tell the resistance difference compared to AC transmission. > ...also fan out and meet resistance and lose power in transmission. Didn't know that either but magic beams also don't need cables and poles, or at least would require less infra
    - defrost 4y ago
      It's significant and a good excercise to keep looking until you find it. Reduced losses is why HVDC is greatly preferred over AC transmission. Research in general is good exercise, I see you've already learnt that copper cables aren't used for AC transmission at scale. As for beamed power, if you compare the ~ 100 year history of industrial scale HVDC distribution to the (?) history of similarly scaled beamed power .. uhhh, well, that's telling. Has promise, needs more work?

perilunar 4y ago

> Copper just isn't the future in my opinion Copper isn't the present either. Most power transmission cables are steel reinforced aluminium.

_8j50 4y ago
Interesting, I had no idea