Why not? Even if it's empirically shown that self-driving cars are safer than human cars (and this is going to happen soon), people are still not going to trust AI cars, just because.
Lets get some self driving cars first, then worry about all this other stuff. People seem fine with airplane automation.
The other problem with spinning ships is being able to look outside. Who knows what the psychological impact of seeing a spinning universe all the time would be. If you had a ring ship with tubular spokes and a center vessel, you theoretically could have a window at the axial center and counter spin to see a 'still' universe. But that is a whole lot more complex than a cable counterweight setup.
For a three tubular spoke setup, you could have balancing weights that could move in or out along each of the three spoke tubes for wobble stabilization.
Before, the cost of existing infrastructure was zero. Now the cost of that infrastructure is the rebuild cost. It makes sense to explore more cost effective alternatives.
But much of the grid is still usable, just needing repair. The best bang for the buck would be to strategically bury select distribution line.
True, but I think that is what the OP had in mind when he talked about 'scaling up'. Aircraft type drones are typically not VTOL, but Amazon was looking at a copter/wing hybrid for package delivery.
I haven't seen any good information on why drone technology can't simply be scaled up in size to carry passengers. Seems like we already have the technology to solve traffic and other problems. We just need to supersize it.
Copter style flight requires much more energy than winged flight.
And I had a manager say "don't be afraid to hire people smarter than you." Seems obvious in retrospect, but I wonder how often that's followed.
Smart is a hard to define term, but I have hired people that were certainly more capable than me at certain things, and people that i knew I could learn from. It always made my life easier and our performance better. I've had more than a few employees that I paid more than me as well.
I'm not angry. Its not really a solar plant, its a storage plant, and it benefits from subsidies. I just like accuracy, why would you be angry about me wanting that?
Usually these renewable reports are grossly exaggerated to make it seem like renewable is more capable than it really is. But this one is actually fairly accurate.
10 MW * 0.097 capacity factor = 970 kW
970 kW / 2500 homes = 388 Watts per home
Average UK home annual consumption is 3940 kWh
3940 kWh / 1 year = 450 Watts average consumption.
A 6 MW facility, when operating at 100%, will feed the 4 KW average demand of about 2500 homes. With a.097 CF, this demand will be met an average of 10% of the time, but since output is actually variable, the equivalent of 10% of the time. So the remaining 90% of demand from those homes must be provided by another source.
Strange that the days with highest solar and wind contribution (nearly 100%) where in January days in Germany then.
Well, I spoke only of solar, which is the topic, not wind. So those days are almost 100% wind contribution. But the highest contribution days are typically Sundays with moderate weather and very low demand and high wind.
This is a load balancing project, needed because existing wind and solar generation fluctuates so much. The real money here is in the battery storage, which will be charged from the grid and is only needed because of subsidized solar and wind generation generation projects elsewhere.
Thanks for getting to the real facts of the matter. The hype machine will roll on regardless.
The article, unfortunately is not specific enough to know. From the wording chose by the owner "subsidy free development", it appears there were no subsidies provided to construct the facility. But there may still be subsidies or other incentives on power purchased from it. I wish these journalists would get all the facts, rather than leave us all to assumption.
Typical misunderstanding of the difference between energy and energy capacity and production by reporters, and the/. author.
BTW, irradiance in this region is on par with Germany, where average solar capacity factor is around 10% nationally. They are pretty much useless in the winter, but do OK in the summer.
When I was in Korea a few years back I was intrigued to see everyone on the subway watching OTA broadcast TV on their phones. This wasn't "streaming" video coming in over their data plan - The phones and tablets had antennas that extended from them and they were watching broadcast TV.
There are only a couple of manufacturers of Android ATSC tuners that can plug into a phones usb port, I suppose because the demand is low. You can find a few more options for DVB-T
Are you saying you'd keep driving with a dashboard failure? No? Then what difference does it make?
Not sure what your point is. I was just pointing out that with just about every interior and comfort function tied to one interface device, failure of that device would be a bigger inconvenience than failure of a discrete device control. Drive-ability wasn't pertinent. But since you brought it up, I might continue to drive if there were a 'dashboard failure', depending on exactly what that is. Most dashboards have multiple devices on them that would not all fail together. But, even if they did, as long as the car was drive-able I'd drive it. Yes, that too would be a major inconvenience.
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Why not? Even if it's empirically shown that self-driving cars are safer than human cars (and this is going to happen soon), people are still not going to trust AI cars, just because.
Lets get some self driving cars first, then worry about all this other stuff. People seem fine with airplane automation.
The other problem with spinning ships is being able to look outside. Who knows what the psychological impact of seeing a spinning universe all the time would be. If you had a ring ship with tubular spokes and a center vessel, you theoretically could have a window at the axial center and counter spin to see a 'still' universe. But that is a whole lot more complex than a cable counterweight setup.
For a three tubular spoke setup, you could have balancing weights that could move in or out along each of the three spoke tubes for wobble stabilization.
Some people lose power during a storm.. film at 11.
Before, the cost of existing infrastructure was zero. Now the cost of that infrastructure is the rebuild cost. It makes sense to explore more cost effective alternatives.
But much of the grid is still usable, just needing repair. The best bang for the buck would be to strategically bury select distribution line.
Battery technology has only recently become good enough.
Battery tech has been 'good enough' for 50 years, just not cost effective. Its still costly.
It does involve removing the entire power grid, and rebuilding.
Which would cost even more.
In other news Elon Musk doesn't understand being poor.
What he doesn't understand is that he's proposing a solution to a problem that can be solved in a number of ways if enough money is spent.
"Drone" does not mean "copter style".
True, but I think that is what the OP had in mind when he talked about 'scaling up'. Aircraft type drones are typically not VTOL, but Amazon was looking at a copter/wing hybrid for package delivery.
I haven't seen any good information on why drone technology can't simply be scaled up in size to carry passengers. Seems like we already have the technology to solve traffic and other problems. We just need to supersize it.
Copter style flight requires much more energy than winged flight.
I suppose they could use the same tech with Google Glass 2, only you'd see subtitles.
And I had a manager say "don't be afraid to hire people smarter than you." Seems obvious in retrospect, but I wonder how often that's followed.
Smart is a hard to define term, but I have hired people that were certainly more capable than me at certain things, and people that i knew I could learn from. It always made my life easier and our performance better. I've had more than a few employees that I paid more than me as well.
There's a thing called independent verification that might have helped. Guess its that one guys fault that they didn't practice that.
Point is: it is more a question of cloud coverage than latitude.
Its both, and snow, fog, etc, but that's why I looked at solar insolation charts to make the comparison.
I'm not angry. Its not really a solar plant, its a storage plant, and it benefits from subsidies. I just like accuracy, why would you be angry about me wanting that?
The wonder material graphene gets many of its handy quirks from the fact that it exists in two dimensions, as a sheet of carbon only one atom thick.
Atoms are 3 dimensional, so no!
Well, it does exist in 2 dimensions, also in 3.
Usually these renewable reports are grossly exaggerated to make it seem like renewable is more capable than it really is. But this one is actually fairly accurate. 10 MW * 0.097 capacity factor = 970 kW 970 kW / 2500 homes = 388 Watts per home Average UK home annual consumption is 3940 kWh 3940 kWh / 1 year = 450 Watts average consumption.
A 6 MW facility, when operating at 100%, will feed the 4 KW average demand of about 2500 homes. With a .097 CF, this demand will be met an average of 10% of the time, but since output is actually variable, the equivalent of 10% of the time. So the remaining 90% of demand from those homes must be provided by another source.
The hype regarding solar not needing subsidies. Most others here get it, if you don't then whatever.
Strange that the days with highest solar and wind contribution (nearly 100%) where in January days in Germany then.
Well, I spoke only of solar, which is the topic, not wind. So those days are almost 100% wind contribution. But the highest contribution days are typically Sundays with moderate weather and very low demand and high wind.
Not sure why you think it is strange.
The solar panels aren't subsidized. But they're not the primary purpose of the project anyway.
This is a load balancing project, needed because existing wind and solar generation fluctuates so much. The real money here is in the battery storage, which will be charged from the grid and is only needed because of subsidized solar and wind generation generation projects elsewhere.
Thanks for getting to the real facts of the matter. The hype machine will roll on regardless.
It is still subsidized.
The article, unfortunately is not specific enough to know. From the wording chose by the owner "subsidy free development", it appears there were no subsidies provided to construct the facility. But there may still be subsidies or other incentives on power purchased from it. I wish these journalists would get all the facts, rather than leave us all to assumption.
My bike can also store 30 km/h of speed.
Meh, folks.
Typical misunderstanding of the difference between energy and energy capacity and production by reporters, and the /. author.
BTW, irradiance in this region is on par with Germany, where average solar capacity factor is around 10% nationally. They are pretty much useless in the winter, but do OK in the summer.
It produces water and carbon dioxide. Water isn't a big deal, but CO2 is.
Its OK. Only the rich will be able to fly. Their CO2 emissions are less of a concern than those of joe public.
When I was in Korea a few years back I was intrigued to see everyone on the subway watching OTA broadcast TV on their phones. This wasn't "streaming" video coming in over their data plan - The phones and tablets had antennas that extended from them and they were watching broadcast TV.
There are only a couple of manufacturers of Android ATSC tuners that can plug into a phones usb port, I suppose because the demand is low. You can find a few more options for DVB-T
Are you saying you'd keep driving with a dashboard failure? No? Then what difference does it make?
Not sure what your point is. I was just pointing out that with just about every interior and comfort function tied to one interface device, failure of that device would be a bigger inconvenience than failure of a discrete device control. Drive-ability wasn't pertinent. But since you brought it up, I might continue to drive if there were a 'dashboard failure', depending on exactly what that is. Most dashboards have multiple devices on them that would not all fail together. But, even if they did, as long as the car was drive-able I'd drive it. Yes, that too would be a major inconvenience.
Akin to dashboard screen failure. You pull off, but it's not like it makes you crash.
I don't lose all my interior controls with a dashboard screen failure. I called it an inconvenience, not a catastrophe.
Touchscreen failure becomes a much bigger inconvenience.