Maintenance costs are baked into the wholesale electric rates though. Numbers are old, but for a natural gas plant I had the costs of fuel at $30/MWh, capital expenditure at $20/MWh, and maintenance around $10/MWh (profit at $7-10/MWh)-- for a wholesale rate of $0.07/kWh. It will vary by the type of plant and what is done for heat recovery (and if they sell their CO2 and heat).
By comparison, transmission/delivery is typically around $0.05-$0.20/kWh depending on your load profile.
We are now at a point with multiple battery technologies that provide $400/kWh(B) storage with 100% rated depth of discharge for 10,000 cycles and >85% round-trip efficiency.
This isn't a grid-replacement cost yet, but it is getting closer. Today a 10kW PV array, 50kWh battery, and 2kW generator start to look pretty attractive if you have moderate electrical demands (1,200 kWh/month) and pay over $200/month. Many people would have a challenge with the initial capital investment though-- around $70k.
I agree with almost everything you have to say. However, having worked to de-commission several hotel CHP plants in the early 2000's, the problem is that over time natural gas prices fluctuate. We are also likely to see increases in safety regulations for gas pipelines with more automatic shutoff valves which tends to necessitate local storage. Propane is easy enough for backup at a residential scale.
Also competing with CHP are ground-source heat pumps, although it really comes down to your heating loads.
The problem is you end up with 3-day spells with near zero PV production. Microgrids with a local genset would be smarter than each person having a genset, but you are still saddled with the interconnection costs.
The most efficient use of infrastructure is microgrids with batteries to load-shift to cover through about 10PM and from about 6AM-10AM. The generator can then run from 10PM-6AM each day, with extra hours when needed.
The only time transmission lines should really come into play are when a highly centralized generation system can be dramatically more efficient (or lower emissions), or when you have concentrated loads that cannot be offset locally.
Your body releases sensible, latent, and radiant heat. When the outside (dry bulb) temperature exceeds your body temperature, you are not able to transfer any heat via sensible means. This leaves perspiration and hopefully cool surrounding surfaces. Since the latter isn't going to happen you are 100% reliant on perspiration. Once the wet bulb exceeds your body temperature too then you are stuck and you are in extreme danger of heat stroke.
130F in the sun even with 0% humidity isn't really viable without heat stroke.
In this case, the dewpoint was around 5F; wouldn't want to be there for long.
The utilities cannot exist as a backup for 3-10% power demand; the cost of delivery would far exceed the cost of energy. Most homeowners would quickly turn to a small natural gas or gasoline generator to recharge batteries. Fortunately, cities don't work especially well for off-grid, so there should be some form of baseload.
By my math, batteries at $250/kWh(B) are comparable to a generation cost of around $0.07/kWh when fully discharged each day. The problem for off-grid is that you are going to want enough batteries that you don't need to start your generator more than a few days per year, which almost doubles your battery count. It quickly becomes poor resource utilization.
I would think that it is far more likely that we will see variable voltage/variable frequency distribution circuits that allow opportunistic load management options: the lower the voltage/frequency the higher the cost, and the greater the incentive to feed back into the grid. With customers having a bi-directional inverter, it becomes easy to manage.
Completely fair point. If you can survive with a 7-year old laptop though you might not be a high-demand user. Yeah, it will work for most things, but there are limitations that aren't viable for many people.
Meh... I'm an Apple Fanboy, sitting in front of a brand new 27" iMac. I thought about getting the new iPad Pro (not for what the iMac is for), but I tried typing on the keypad and hated it... so I'll hang on to my 1st generation iPad Air for a while longer.
But, I do understand that people's needs are different. I can do most of my work easily enough from a tablet, until I get into writing a heavy document or thinking about opening a spreadsheet.
I tend to agree with the assessment that it is not a suitable laptop replacement (for me), and didn't really expect many people on/. to feel differently. I think Apple needs to expand the intended use-cases for the Pro models if they want the line to flourish; significant improvements in software and hardware are needed for it to be more universally acceptable.
Using California as an example, we have 2.2GW of nuclear after losing roughly 2.2GW when San Onofre shut down. Our baseload is 17.5-18GW, so something closer to 10GW would make sense from a systems perspective.
But, looking at the history of Plant Vogtle and screwed up its construction is, I am left wondering what exactly China is doing to build as many as they are "on schedule."
Retail needs to track shrinkage, aka theft by staff or customers. Other benefits such as more real-time tracking of stock levels are possible, but I would think they would do all that via RFID...
GPON/10GPON. Two strands per building, no active equipment, split as needed per tenant up to 128x, shared ~2 Gbits today, 10G down the road. Add strands for extra customers or the occasional customer that needs dedicated 10G.
Just because the telcos want two racks for a building doesn't mean it is the only solution.
From the landlord space perspective, you can always do what the cell companies do... rent space. Carrier neutral conduits to the building make things easy.
Sweden is having difficulty integrating asylum seekers and immigrants into their society. It has increased crime, and prompted my in-laws to move out of Gothenburg.
Sweden doesn't have a terrorism problem, but unless they solve the economic and integration issues they might in a decade or three.
Well, for parking lots specifically you are much better off providing PV shelter structures than relying primarily on an asphalt coating.
There is a downside for the reflective coatings; it dramatically increases light pollution. By mixing PV and reflective coatings (where needed) you can address both issues.
I go to a chiropractor periodically; if they can't do what needs to be done in two or three sessions, it likely won't help.
But, after I ditched the first quack (Schwartz on Sepulveda), I found a pretty good one who helped me better understand my muscles and what is causing my pain. It is 50-50 on if I come away feeling better, and when I do massages most aren't really properly qualified to address my issues. I recommend him to my friends, and afterwards they are generally appreciative of the care given.
The issue with the majority of back pain is in how people walk. I wish that had been adequately explained to me in actionable terms 20 years ago!
But going to a chiropractor for nutritional health advice... well, whatever. I (visibly) roll my eyes when my chiropractor starts going on about that crap.
Because the US has no exit security, and this is a viable way of adding it into the mix; you can't change the airports to allow for physical exit security.
It is worse than that. Going through Canadian immigration the facial recognition kept telling me to take my hat off... refused to accept a picture. No hat of course... or glasses... or...
There are likely a number of areas where very meaningful savings could be achieved, if it was really accounted for in the first place. The government is about 15 years behind the private sector in many IT cost-savings initiatives including data center consolidation.
But actually making some of these changes work will cost huge sums and be fraught with risks.
Thanks. It sounded like Fresh and Easy all over again, which had to have been the dumbest grocery venture in decades. (Not only was it wired, but they tried to compete head-to-head with Trader Joe's with many stores less than a quarter mile apart!)
Break-in reports in my area indicate the robbers locating and taking security DVRs, cutting fiber/phone/cable lines, and working methodically for high-value items.
Ultimately though, the best strategy for protecting your PC is to not have much on it. Keep your data on a NAS/small server or three locked in a heavy cabinet secured to the floor.
All government contractors defraud the government at some level or another. The way the contracts are set up there is often no alternative.
Silly example from my company: individual employees added to a project need to be approved with billing rates assigned before they can work on it. We had 4 people working on the project, and three quit within a month, two or three weeks before a major deadline. Per the contract, we have to finish the project on schedule, but cannot bill for people that are not approved. What do you do?
The purpose of all the contract requirements is to try to maintain accountability. It just gets out of hand sometimes.
Not defending BAH, but there is often more to the story than the headlines.
Development in flow batteries seems to be slowing, precisely because they are stationary. Long term though, I do think they make the most sense as well. Once wind farms need enough local storage to support production contracts I imagine we will see more of a grid scale growth in flow batteries.
Tesla somehow manages to be competitive now, but it really is the wrong tool for the job.
Slashdot Mirror
Do your parents use power after the sun goes down?
Maintenance costs are baked into the wholesale electric rates though. Numbers are old, but for a natural gas plant I had the costs of fuel at $30/MWh, capital expenditure at $20/MWh, and maintenance around $10/MWh (profit at $7-10/MWh)-- for a wholesale rate of $0.07/kWh. It will vary by the type of plant and what is done for heat recovery (and if they sell their CO2 and heat).
By comparison, transmission/delivery is typically around $0.05-$0.20/kWh depending on your load profile.
We are now at a point with multiple battery technologies that provide $400/kWh(B) storage with 100% rated depth of discharge for 10,000 cycles and >85% round-trip efficiency.
This isn't a grid-replacement cost yet, but it is getting closer. Today a 10kW PV array, 50kWh battery, and 2kW generator start to look pretty attractive if you have moderate electrical demands (1,200 kWh/month) and pay over $200/month. Many people would have a challenge with the initial capital investment though-- around $70k.
It is in society's best interests to have viable utilities.
I agree with almost everything you have to say. However, having worked to de-commission several hotel CHP plants in the early 2000's, the problem is that over time natural gas prices fluctuate. We are also likely to see increases in safety regulations for gas pipelines with more automatic shutoff valves which tends to necessitate local storage. Propane is easy enough for backup at a residential scale.
Also competing with CHP are ground-source heat pumps, although it really comes down to your heating loads.
The problem is you end up with 3-day spells with near zero PV production. Microgrids with a local genset would be smarter than each person having a genset, but you are still saddled with the interconnection costs.
The most efficient use of infrastructure is microgrids with batteries to load-shift to cover through about 10PM and from about 6AM-10AM. The generator can then run from 10PM-6AM each day, with extra hours when needed.
The only time transmission lines should really come into play are when a highly centralized generation system can be dramatically more efficient (or lower emissions), or when you have concentrated loads that cannot be offset locally.
Your body releases sensible, latent, and radiant heat. When the outside (dry bulb) temperature exceeds your body temperature, you are not able to transfer any heat via sensible means. This leaves perspiration and hopefully cool surrounding surfaces. Since the latter isn't going to happen you are 100% reliant on perspiration. Once the wet bulb exceeds your body temperature too then you are stuck and you are in extreme danger of heat stroke.
130F in the sun even with 0% humidity isn't really viable without heat stroke.
In this case, the dewpoint was around 5F; wouldn't want to be there for long.
The utilities cannot exist as a backup for 3-10% power demand; the cost of delivery would far exceed the cost of energy. Most homeowners would quickly turn to a small natural gas or gasoline generator to recharge batteries. Fortunately, cities don't work especially well for off-grid, so there should be some form of baseload.
By my math, batteries at $250/kWh(B) are comparable to a generation cost of around $0.07/kWh when fully discharged each day. The problem for off-grid is that you are going to want enough batteries that you don't need to start your generator more than a few days per year, which almost doubles your battery count. It quickly becomes poor resource utilization.
I would think that it is far more likely that we will see variable voltage/variable frequency distribution circuits that allow opportunistic load management options: the lower the voltage/frequency the higher the cost, and the greater the incentive to feed back into the grid. With customers having a bi-directional inverter, it becomes easy to manage.
Pretty much by definition, Netflix has more free content than Amazon.
Completely fair point. If you can survive with a 7-year old laptop though you might not be a high-demand user. Yeah, it will work for most things, but there are limitations that aren't viable for many people.
Meh... I'm an Apple Fanboy, sitting in front of a brand new 27" iMac. I thought about getting the new iPad Pro (not for what the iMac is for), but I tried typing on the keypad and hated it... so I'll hang on to my 1st generation iPad Air for a while longer.
But, I do understand that people's needs are different. I can do most of my work easily enough from a tablet, until I get into writing a heavy document or thinking about opening a spreadsheet.
I tend to agree with the assessment that it is not a suitable laptop replacement (for me), and didn't really expect many people on /. to feel differently. I think Apple needs to expand the intended use-cases for the Pro models if they want the line to flourish; significant improvements in software and hardware are needed for it to be more universally acceptable.
But, looking at the history of Plant Vogtle and screwed up its construction is, I am left wondering what exactly China is doing to build as many as they are "on schedule."
Retail needs to track shrinkage, aka theft by staff or customers. Other benefits such as more real-time tracking of stock levels are possible, but I would think they would do all that via RFID...
GPON/10GPON. Two strands per building, no active equipment, split as needed per tenant up to 128x, shared ~2 Gbits today, 10G down the road. Add strands for extra customers or the occasional customer that needs dedicated 10G.
Just because the telcos want two racks for a building doesn't mean it is the only solution.
From the landlord space perspective, you can always do what the cell companies do... rent space. Carrier neutral conduits to the building make things easy.
Sweden is having difficulty integrating asylum seekers and immigrants into their society. It has increased crime, and prompted my in-laws to move out of Gothenburg.
Sweden doesn't have a terrorism problem, but unless they solve the economic and integration issues they might in a decade or three.
Well, for parking lots specifically you are much better off providing PV shelter structures than relying primarily on an asphalt coating.
There is a downside for the reflective coatings; it dramatically increases light pollution. By mixing PV and reflective coatings (where needed) you can address both issues.
I go to a chiropractor periodically; if they can't do what needs to be done in two or three sessions, it likely won't help.
But, after I ditched the first quack (Schwartz on Sepulveda), I found a pretty good one who helped me better understand my muscles and what is causing my pain. It is 50-50 on if I come away feeling better, and when I do massages most aren't really properly qualified to address my issues. I recommend him to my friends, and afterwards they are generally appreciative of the care given.
The issue with the majority of back pain is in how people walk. I wish that had been adequately explained to me in actionable terms 20 years ago!
But going to a chiropractor for nutritional health advice... well, whatever. I (visibly) roll my eyes when my chiropractor starts going on about that crap.
Because the US has no exit security, and this is a viable way of adding it into the mix; you can't change the airports to allow for physical exit security.
It is worse than that. Going through Canadian immigration the facial recognition kept telling me to take my hat off... refused to accept a picture. No hat of course... or glasses... or...
There are likely a number of areas where very meaningful savings could be achieved, if it was really accounted for in the first place. The government is about 15 years behind the private sector in many IT cost-savings initiatives including data center consolidation.
But actually making some of these changes work will cost huge sums and be fraught with risks.
Thanks. It sounded like Fresh and Easy all over again, which had to have been the dumbest grocery venture in decades. (Not only was it wired, but they tried to compete head-to-head with Trader Joe's with many stores less than a quarter mile apart!)
Break-in reports in my area indicate the robbers locating and taking security DVRs, cutting fiber/phone/cable lines, and working methodically for high-value items.
Ultimately though, the best strategy for protecting your PC is to not have much on it. Keep your data on a NAS/small server or three locked in a heavy cabinet secured to the floor.
All government contractors defraud the government at some level or another. The way the contracts are set up there is often no alternative.
Silly example from my company: individual employees added to a project need to be approved with billing rates assigned before they can work on it. We had 4 people working on the project, and three quit within a month, two or three weeks before a major deadline. Per the contract, we have to finish the project on schedule, but cannot bill for people that are not approved. What do you do?
The purpose of all the contract requirements is to try to maintain accountability. It just gets out of hand sometimes.
Not defending BAH, but there is often more to the story than the headlines.
Development in flow batteries seems to be slowing, precisely because they are stationary. Long term though, I do think they make the most sense as well. Once wind farms need enough local storage to support production contracts I imagine we will see more of a grid scale growth in flow batteries.
Tesla somehow manages to be competitive now, but it really is the wrong tool for the job.
Yeah... you would think they could simplify it so every second is just incremented, and have some standard libraries to convert to human form...