3 ms·
> Cheap doesn't mean free Means cheap enough to be mass produced, and available. > But most importantly, the power grid doesn't lose all that much to resistan
by usrbinbash 3y ago
> Cheap doesn't mean free
Means cheap enough to be mass produced, and available.
> But most importantly, the power grid doesn't lose all that much to resistance
Laws of scaling, even a small percentage of power lost to resistence is a hige overall loss, the avoidance of which is desirable.
And as I said, this is only the simplest example.
- Dylan16807 3y ago> Means cheap enough to be mass produced, and available. But so are all our existing cables. > Laws of scaling, even a small percentage of power lost to resistence is a hige overall loss, the avoidance of which is desirable. We could cut those losses right now by making the existing cables thicker. But we don't. Even a cheap superconductor might not be used at all in electrical grids, because the benefit isn't worth the cost. > And as I said, this is only the simplest example. What are the better examples?
- usrbinbash 3y ago>We could cut those losses right now by making the existing cables thicker. But we don't. If we could make cables superconducting simply by making them thicker, we wouldn't need superconductors. > What are the better examples? Microelectronics for a start. Resistence bleeds heat, heat buildup limits designs. A novel superconducting materials would allow us to make more efficient chips. As for further examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_applications_of_superconductivity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_applications_of_...