4 ms·

And don't be sleeping on the potential of UHVDC transmission.

mapt 2y ago
This is like the potential of High-Speed Rail. It isn't a theoretical, it's something China is 30+ completed projects deep on. The technology existed decades ago. We just treat infrastructure like it's an impossibility here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-voltage_electricity_transmission_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-voltage_electricity...
- closewith 2y ago
  What you and the GP are discussing are fundamentally different solutions to agrivoltaics. One is inherently decentralised (not only decentralised power generation, but also local nitrogen fixing and reduced water demand) and the other is Just A Better Grid™. Just A Better Grid™ is inherently valuable, but it's not a substitute nor is it in competetion with agrivoltaics.
- grumpy-de-sre 2y ago
  Was in Northern China recently, Got to say the shiny and non-rusted transmission pylons in Hebei got me more excited than was probably warranted. I don't think I've seen a shiny pylon before, I guess we mostly just stopped building them decades ago. On the topic of agriculture I was very impressed by all the polytunnels we spotted from the high speed rail heading north out of Beijing. Every valley, and nook and cranny was full of them. Took a couple photos of a small town in inner Mongolia that we passed, was amazing seeing green crops in the middle of a Siberian winter. I believe this was a farm using recycled water to grow cut flowers https://imgur.com/a/kw1IDZ3 https://imgur.com/a/kw1IDZ3
  - ZeroGravitas 2y ago
    I think those might be a specific kind of greenhouse rather than a standard polytunnel. The back wall is essentially a solar heat store. Here's an article on them: Chinese-style Solar Greenhouses https://ag.purdue.edu/department/btny/ppdl/potw-dept-folder/2022/chinese-style-greenhouse.html https://ag.purdue.edu/department/btny/ppdl/potw-dept-folder/...
    - mapt 2y ago
      Yeah, this highly optimized passive solar design is one of those things that seems very obvious when energy is too expensive to waste on international transportation or excessive heating in a cold climate. Citrus production in 40 below zero. By pursuing artificially inexpensive energy we are doubling down on a great number of wasteful practices that are largely avoidable.
    - grumpy-de-sre 2y ago
      Thank you! That's exactly what they are. Even "higher" tech than I first anticipated.

mapt 2y ago

This is like the potential of High-Speed Rail. It isn't a theoretical, it's something China is 30+ completed projects deep on. The technology existed decades ago. We just treat infrastructure like it's an impossibility here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-voltage_electricity_transmission_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-voltage_electricity...

closewith 2y ago
What you and the GP are discussing are fundamentally different solutions to agrivoltaics. One is inherently decentralised (not only decentralised power generation, but also local nitrogen fixing and reduced water demand) and the other is Just A Better Grid™. Just A Better Grid™ is inherently valuable, but it's not a substitute nor is it in competetion with agrivoltaics.
grumpy-de-sre 2y ago
Was in Northern China recently, Got to say the shiny and non-rusted transmission pylons in Hebei got me more excited than was probably warranted. I don't think I've seen a shiny pylon before, I guess we mostly just stopped building them decades ago. On the topic of agriculture I was very impressed by all the polytunnels we spotted from the high speed rail heading north out of Beijing. Every valley, and nook and cranny was full of them. Took a couple photos of a small town in inner Mongolia that we passed, was amazing seeing green crops in the middle of a Siberian winter. I believe this was a farm using recycled water to grow cut flowers https://imgur.com/a/kw1IDZ3 https://imgur.com/a/kw1IDZ3
- ZeroGravitas 2y ago
  I think those might be a specific kind of greenhouse rather than a standard polytunnel. The back wall is essentially a solar heat store. Here's an article on them: Chinese-style Solar Greenhouses https://ag.purdue.edu/department/btny/ppdl/potw-dept-folder/2022/chinese-style-greenhouse.html https://ag.purdue.edu/department/btny/ppdl/potw-dept-folder/...
  - mapt 2y ago
    Yeah, this highly optimized passive solar design is one of those things that seems very obvious when energy is too expensive to waste on international transportation or excessive heating in a cold climate. Citrus production in 40 below zero. By pursuing artificially inexpensive energy we are doubling down on a great number of wasteful practices that are largely avoidable.
  - grumpy-de-sre 2y ago
    Thank you! That's exactly what they are. Even "higher" tech than I first anticipated.