China’s Electricity Problem

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Writing by Sam Denby and Tristan Purdy
Editing by Alexander Williard
Animation led by Josh Sherrington
Sound by Graham Haerther
Thumbnail by Simon Buckmaster
References
[1] data.worldbank.org/indicator/...
[2] www.iea.org/countries/united-... www.iea.org/regions/europe; www.iea.org/countries/china
[3] www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-...
[4] www.worldscientific.com/doi/p...
[5] unfccc.int/news/china-meets-2...
[6] a9w7k6q9.stackpathcdn.com/wpc...
[7] www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...
[8] chinadialogue.net/en/energy/u...

[@anthonybeervor2265]

"China has a problem" -9000 social credit

[@davesprivatelounge]

Enjoyings of your stay in reeducation camp

[@spider6660]

Not funny

[@jerodwolf5582]

Social credit should be renamed, 'Xi's big sad credit'

[@zeccy337]

@@jerodwolf5582 My guy I hope you know social credits just a meme because seeing you faceplant so hard is sad

[@GoodlyPenguin]

@@spider6660 actually very funny

[@nasonguy]

1.1MV DC transmission lines?!?! That deserves a 45 minute video all on it's own.

[@ulwen]

I believe that might be the Hitachi (previously ABB powergrids) lines.

[@beaman_2000]

Many top Chinese engineering students will choose to study abroad for postgraduate or Ph.D., but my UHV teacher said that this law does not hold in the field of UHV power transmission.

[@robertlomax543]

I've removed my original comment to avoid getting the same response 1.1 Million times.

[@beaman_2000]

@@robertlomax543 nope. It’s 3300km ±1100 kv UHVDC from Changji to Guquan. The longer the transmission line, the more economical it is, but it is true that the cost of this line is very high, so currently there is only one line.

[@xiaohu3859]

@@robertlomax543 Ultra High Voltage Transmission are almost exclusively DC. Power frequency AC transmission goes out of phase roughly at a distance of ~ speed of light / frequency = several thousand kilometers. At such a distance, DC transmission is the only option. Also, solid state transformers / converters / inverters are much more energy efficient than traditional iron-core based transformers, as iron loss is zero in solid state electronics.

[@PLPCPLAPD]

I find it kind of funny because about 10 years ago (or even longer, can't remember), I found out that China was building a new coal plant every week or something such, and my intuitive response was "Oh, so they got infinite coal or what? Won't that be a tough and costly transition when they finally run out?" and I guess this answers that

[@echoeversky]

China's coal power plants are spec'd to burn Australian coal so whoops on the ban.

[@kangking5460]

@@echoeversky This is an error message. The proportion of Australia's steam coal is not high in China

[@pastexpiry2013B]

Some places like Canada, have 100 year supply of coal.

[@arthas640]

They're so desperate for coal they're one of the world's only users of brown coal, which is far more toxic, less efficient, and harder to transport. I could be wrong but I don't think the US ever even used the stuff to any real degree, even when coal was THE source of energy

[@arthas640]

@@pastexpiry2013B similar to the US, who also have massive stores of coal left even as coal use is rapidly tapering off. I don't know about Canada but I know the US still has massive deposits of the highest quality types of coal whereas China exhausting their supplies of high quality coal long ago.

[@dasottonator1363]

If you think China has electricity problems. You'd be shocked to see the electricity crisis South Africa is facing, going as far as declaring it a national state of disaster

[@luipaardprint]

The problems in south Africa stem from social issues though, not necessarily from systemic design choices.

[@davidtran2026]

The Phillipines also go through power demand issues too. I've had coworkers we had hired overseas that had occasional outages interrupting their work.

[@chinguunerdenebadrakh7022]

​@@luipaardprint It is systemic design issues when the government has ignored blaring warnings for decades about power generation reaching its limit.

[@luipaardprint]

@@chinguunerdenebadrakh7022 from what I heard its sabotage with the intent to profit from repair contracts. Basically a nationwide shakedown. While those are systemic problems, they're not by design.

[@davidz7858]

And India

[@eragonawesome]

You should totally do a whole video on the economics and ethics of services like Hello Fresh and whether they really live up to the ad reads in terms of claimed benefits

[@xBINARYGODx]

and bite the hand that feeds? youtube are happy to lie to you, and they can get away with some shady crap so long as the keep blaming youtube

[@eragonawesome]

@@xBINARYGODx with their external platform and direct support from Patreon it's not as big a deal as you might think for them to do so. But also Tom Scott has done something similar before with VPN ads which actually changed the advertisements to be more truthful and transparent. Wendover is a channel I think has enough integrity to be willing to face such a topic if they found it interesting enough for a video

[@artemis_fowl44hd92]

@@eragonawesome Sadly vpn companies have only done it partially and also mostly only in English speaking communities. But having someone like Wendover be willing to look deeper would be a great idea

[@orionbukantis6470]

Yes please!

[@dbgrfdg]

It's good food, but it's way cheaper to make it yourself, I mean, who's paying for all the ads, shipping costs and the additional middle man in the end? you

[@laurenconrad1799]

I spent a week in August in Florida where my grandmothers took me out to eat every night. You will not find a building without AC. In those months, you need to wear a t-shirt and carry a sweatshirt because you'll be inside your car with the AC blasting, then in 100 degree weather for 2 seconds before entering a restaurant where the AC makes it freezing. lol

[@CHMichael]

Beach - you have to stay clos to the ocean and it is quite comfortable. ( Lots of people get sick from the temperature fluctuations. )

[@pyropulseIXXI]

I live in California and every summer it gets to 110, and every winter below freezing. A lot of us dont have AC's here cuz they just break from running all the time

[@Bpinator]

Florida is unlivable without AC. I dont think I have ever seen a home or a building here in central florida without some sort of AC

[@mackenziemoore5088]

This is the way

[@RJT80]

The Hooters waitresses developed their own dress code because of how it was with the original locations in Florida were open air. I was at the original Hooters maybe 30 years ago. It was unique. Now most are just like any other restaurant and I'm sure you can get better wing snow. Back then they were a bit of a novelty.

[@divinexrogue8857]

Great video, you should look at the electricity problem in South Africa. Currently the power goes out for 4 hours a day which has happened consistently for over a decade now with almost no exceptions. The electricity market in South Africa is a complete monopoly with only one government owned business providing electricity to the entire country. The company is called eskom and has proved to be extremely useless. Due to this constant power outages in South Africa, it’s caused their economy to suffer drastically with one article I read even saying it causes South Africa to be 50% less attractive to foreign investors and companies due to the lack of electricity.

[@kennethisaac233]

Do you think they should privatize it all? I think if they could seed control to private firms while maintaining ownership.

[@divinexrogue8857]

@@kennethisaac233 absolutely. They’ve been trying to do that for a few years now but there’s so many laws not allowing for privatization, plus the government wants to keep it a monopoly since it allows for more corruption.

[@dustin628]

South Africa is such a sad tale. Completely ruined by corruption.

[@40below1000]

@@dustin628 No kidding. Not many places can say that having intermittent power is not the biggest of their problems

[@ZenoDLC]

Why improve and provide actual services when you can be below mediocre and still get paid?

[@virgilfenn2364]

Nuclear is completely ignored.

[@LucasSmart-nz8nu]

I know! Though nuclear IS less cost competitive than renewables. I still think its the ideal base load solution, but its cost inefficiency has always been what made it hard to produce.

[@tayyabafatima5584]

I was thinking the same.

[@AN-xl7ej]

Here in India not turning the AC on during summers just isn't an option. Soon the temperatures of north Indian cities are going to literally be unlivable, and ironically ACs are a big part of that :(

[@profwaldone]

Y'all need a hot water line equivalent to what iceland has but in reverse. Suck all the heat into large heat pipes and pump it to large factorys that can use the heat as raw power for manufacturing.

[@sleepyjoe4529]

Yeah India is like 40-50 degree C this year... imagine in 10 years lol

[@andyc9902]

It's impossible!

[@andyc9902]

Good thing atleast we have good solar Cell. Good sun

[@gytoser801]

South and SOuth -east asia will be uninhabitable

[@hhydar883]

'All eyes are on China..' yes but we should also consider the fact that industrial footprint there is not just attached to local consumption but companies from all over the world manufacture their products in China. These companies and their country of origin should also be held responsible for these emissions. Just bcoz we keep our own home clean by polluting another country doesn't make us less responsible. Its a collective effort to save the only planet we have.

[@lemster101]

Agreed, it was disappointing to hear the negative undertone throughout the video. Yeah, China is far from perfect, in fact they flat out suck in a lot of areas, but outsourcing all your manufacturing to them because it's cheap and then saying "you pollute too much" feels very easy to do. It's not like the US requires Apple for example to only use manufacturers that use renewable energy.

[@Nat3ski]

Yes, but given china tells everyone to button out of their domestic issues, there's little we can do without simply pulling out of China. Many industries can't profitably survive if they do, so they won't.

[@bratmut]

Indeed, look at the global narrative when China banned plastic waste imports. Many news sites blamed China for its decision.

[@captainalex157]

you forget that there are strict environmental regulation in western countries, filters, waste management,... that basically doesnt exist in china due to corruption. China could produce cleanly but thats more expensive and they would lose their comptitive edge. not a companies fault chinas government doesnt enforce environmental rules.

[@MsEverAfterings]

@@captainalex157 The same could be said that these foreign companies would lose out their competitive edge if they just stuck to manufacturing their products in countries with strict environmental regulations. And by extension, the consumers like you and I as well

[@joeo2195]

It's hard for modern Americans to imagine there was a time when an air conditioner in an automobile was an option...an option most people passed on (the technology has advanced considerably, so it's complicated, but still).

[@hiphipjorge5755]

As someone who studies economic development, it seems there are many things modern Americans don't realize their grandparents lived without.. I think the average American doesn't even know that universal electrification (meaning 99% of the populace has direct access to electricity) wasn't complete until the 1970s. There were still several million Americans who didn't have home power during the "golden 50s" we always rave about

[@davidz7858]

Yes, I remember my 1st new car - Honda Accord 1991 model, air conditioning was optional and my 1st car , 1985 Renault lee car did not have air conditioning.

[@rbrookeb]

@@hiphipjorge5755my grandma bathed in an outdoor bathtub until she got married/moved away lol

[@gokarengo]

Every car I had , had AC and I'm a boomer. In 2020 AC played out in my Nissan Rogue OMG I was living in Apple Valley California in the high desert. Cost 800$ for another one. I was upset about the amount but I realize how blessed I was to have the money. Thank God.

[@randybobandy9828]

​@@hiphipjorge5755the 50s were golden... I dont see how a small percentage of homes not having electricity somehow changes that. Anyone who lives near a city has power then.

[@Frank-jn3zg]

remember starting before Beijing Olympics in 2008, there were all news about china pollution and in the past 5 or 6 years there were no more about China pollution news. You know why? It was becasue if you want to talk about it you need to mention how successful they have done to fix the pollution. China with 1.4 billion people uses 5880 kWh per person per year while in USA with 3.3 million people uses up 12,100 kWh per person. China as World's factory still uses up much less energy per person than the USA.

[@zhuowang7525]

6:26 It's inaccurate to say that Beijing doesn't regulate domestic coal prices. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) regularly summons leaders of coal mining companies and electricity corporations to "negotiate" a fair coal price. The price is not fixed but doesn't fluctuate as much as the international market.

[@Jay-pq7nf]

@@asbestosfibers1325 Name all the inaccuracies then

[@BlackHawkBallistic]

@@asbestosfibers1325 why make a claim if you aren't going to back it up? If you're not willing to back it up then thats no different than your claim bring false

[@tomstratman9977]

@@asbestosfibers1325 then your claim is void if your not going to provide evidence.

[@theoneandonlydetraebean8286]

@@asbestosfibers1325 least hypocritical KZbin commenter

[@MrHel-hf3nk]

@@asbestosfibers1325 lmfao

[@verchojanskij]

"China has a problem, it's getting hotter and it's getting wealthier" I know what it feels like... don't worry China, you're not alone

[@yolandasanchez7127]

How do you know China is getting hotter?

[@Random_dud31]

@@yolandasanchez7127 How do you even know China exists?

[@Elitaria]

@@yolandasanchez7127 global warming patrick 150 LIKES LETS GOOOO

[@sw36jl]

Lmao I think your joke went over a lot of people's heads HAHA.

[@mrgreatauk]

Just like your mom

[@twa9342]

“China, like the US, is hot” Me in Beijing and freezing to death: Am I a joke to you?

[@Chris-hp9be]

Amazing how China and US match so well in latitude and size. Definitely the beasts of the east and west.

[@monatam3019]

China's population live in warm climate. latitude range is greater then US. Most of the population live in the southern and eastern sea line. China own the best piece of land according to climate, without invaded and kill the western Indians as the US did.

[@doctordank4751]

@@monatam3019 First off, they’re Native Americans. Second, you do know what’s going on to the Uyghurs in northwestern China right? Not every country has a perfect rep with its people, ofc the U.S is no exception. Not every country is crystal perfect so watch who you’re taking a jab at.

[@monatam3019]

@@doctordank4751 Uyghurs? Where is your information come from? Western media? That is my root, where I come from. Do you think who know more, me or you? Killed 99 % of the Western Indian is perfect for them. Their target is searching for Asia, Far east, For our wealth. I feel sorry to the American Indians, because they settle in between Europe and Asia. Without them, where is China now? ??? # Dead bodies #.....

[@doctordank4751]

@@monatam3019 Not my point. The original commenter was just trying to point out how they’re amazed at the comparison. Then you just had to reply and take a shot at the U.S. which was unnecessary and also acting like China isn’t capable of the same thing…

[@monatam3019]

@@doctordank4751 LOL. They are trying to " amaze " the stupid youth as you to believed in what they say. but actually what they did was completely opposite. Don't listen to what they say, watch for what they did.

[@chaosXP3RT]

It's crazy how people talk about temperature, but they don't talk about humidity. I wore a long-sleeve shirt and jeans in Nevada in 90°F (32°C) weather and I was fine. If I wore that in Florida or Georgia, in 60% humidity, I wouldn't be having a great time.

[@averywellsand888]

My first few months in Georgia my uniform was soked dripping in sweat but eventually only high amounts of effort woulf result in damp sweat drenched uniforms soo its possible but it takes time, water and shade breaks is life

[@kerimgueney]

"Wet bulb effect" for the interested.

[@appalachiabrauchfrau]

I'd rather hike the CDT again in a blistering summer than ever visit my family in Florida for Christmas, the humidity is disgusting even at lower temps.

[@Atechet]

@@appalachiabrauchfrau arguably worse in low temps 🤢 I hated growing up there

[@84MadHatter]

and has nothing to do with global warming or whatever they want to call it

[@maxheadrom3088]

We're building a new house for our family - here in Brazil we use masonry. The walls that will receive direct sunlight will be made of solid ceramic bricks while the others will use the hollow ones. Thick walls make for more expensive foundations and costs more but in the long run makes for a more comfortable and more energy efficient house. That's way, btw, the Empire State Building is the more energy efficient building in NY - the walls are made of stone.

[@williamyoung9401]

LOL! Love it. "Here in Brazil, we use masonry." You know, that little trick humans have known about for around 8,000 years? ;-)

[@yashvardhanojha6796]

An average person can't afford one. People want to build a house and decorate it with their savings as soon as possible. Get some bricks , cement and sand and build one. For heat? Get an AC , it's the cheaper option. I believe when the rich start shifting towards using mud walls and other things for building houses, it will gain an aspirational value. It will take a decade or two for that to happen.

[@Edward4Plantagenet]

I am going for masonry House for myself in India. With lots of trees and Water harvesting.

[@SasquatchsCousin33]

I agree, but i think it comes down to cost in north america. Brick takes longer to build, can't be built below -5C, costs more to transport....etc while there is a full industry behind delivering standard sized, lightweight treated wood. So foundations are concrete, houses are wood. Also labor costs being so high here, it makes sense to use the faster build material

[@forloop7713]

I highly doubt the Empire State Building is the most energy efficient in nyc

[@laegi]

I grew up in Shanghai and when I was a kid I did have frequent power cuts, especially in the summer, and had to light candles to do my homework. Now it's completely different, China has 30% of the world's power generation capacity, but some media are still stuck in the same place as 20 years ago!😮😮

[@zacharyz6590]

we can't ignore that China has the biggest population in the world, which is literally more than other the continent's risdents in Europe North America Australia combined

[@cathie3874]

China's population is peaking, and high energy cost industries are moving out of China too. hopefully it can make things better.

[@Sophia4syn]

Don't watch media that doesn't tell the truth, the concept of power outages is almost gone in the minds of Chinese people.His purpose is very obvious, to comfort the Europeans.

[@shinigummyl1586]

second*

[@widodoakrom3938]

Not anymore

[@maxheadrom3088]

One of them - the first - is in Brazil and connects Itaipu to São Paulo state. The DC power lines are also useful to insulate the grid's parts so a disturbance on one part won't propagate to other parts. Brazil's DC line has other reasons: Itaipu was built on the border of Brazil and Paraguay and, at the time, there was a decision to set up half of the generators in 60Hz and half in 50Hz. Brazil buys the 50Hz produced for Paraguay - retifies it at Itaipu and alternates it near São Paulo city. For those who don't know, Itaipu was, until the Three Gorge Hydro Power Plant was built, the largest in the world.

[@gwho]

very enlightening. quality comment.

[@quagengineer1877]

modern wall paneling and double gazing windows are as much or more efficient than old masonry

[@josephburkhalter5105]

What the devil is going on at KZbin? For a while, every new channel that appeared on YT was marked😮. “Subscribed” even though it was the first time I had ever clicked on the channel. Now I am getting new channels with no ability to subscribe, 😮even on channels with no political or moral message. What is going on? I have been subscribing and “liking” channels for about 5 years. Does Musk have to buy KZbin to straighten things out. I would pa say $5 per month for a channel that was not liberal, political, or woke, or evil. Just free speech. The only time a user should be blocked or cancelled is when their comments were illegal or disrupting or crippling of other’s usage. JoeB

[@pastexpiry2013B]

A DC power line is a TERRIBLE idea. The reason you use AC is that the current alternates so the power line does not get HOT. When a powerline gets HOT, your efficiency of transferring power does DOWN, and you get sizeable voltage drops.

[@l4nd3r]

@@pastexpiry2013B HVDC is a new thing for long lines because it has smaller losses compare to our common AC lines. You're also incorrect as to why we use AC for transmission lines currently, nothing to do with heat/temperature but with power losses in long distances and more materials required for the cables.

[@therougechipmunk8058]

Perfect video to why being an HVAC tech is a great job, money only increases with skill plus job security.

[@RJT80]

All those jobs are great. I know so many young guys who do something like that for a decade while learning all manner of things and who eventually start their own businesses with what they learned. The overlap in skills is large. You will learn multiple other skills along the way so an HVAC guy learns electrical, plumbing ,etc. The only thing I ever taught myself that I didn't learn on the job was welding which is massive. Every young man should learn to weld in Jr High or High School.

[@bluepurplepink]

Air conditioning is never going away. So the job security will always be there

[@jakleo337]

@@Harmz7 You can't outsource your tradesman. IT jobs know no boundaries.

[@VinceroAlpha]

@@Harmz7 tell that to the TENS of THOUSANDS of IT and CS who just got laid off from Facebook, Google, Uber, Twitter. Trade jobs don't pay as well because the focus hasn't shifted to it YET.

[@VinceroAlpha]

@@Harmz7 IT and CS are both high paying in demand fields yes. But they are also becoming high turnover and easily outsourced jobs. Eventually your EV will breakdown, the robots to build said EV will need to be repaired, upgraded and replaced. You will need more electricity and a place to use the restroom, a place to stay and ways to get to and from work/ school. IT and CS are vital yes, in the grand scheme of things they need tradesmen just as much if not more than tradesmen need them.

[@sadmanpranto9026]

"For hours, Chinese cities went dark" That's like.... daily thing in the country I live..

[@meow-ic6gz]

poor countries: how cute 😊

[@flaplaya]

The UHV line shown at 8 minutes in was UHVAC ultra high voltage alternating current 1000kV Single circuit / 3 phase. UHVDC would have just 2 conductors (bipolar dc). It's all an amazing system. China has really stepped up their game they aren't messing around. Thanks for covering this stuff a rare treat.

[@austinmitchell2652]

I thought I read somewhere that China had plans to drastically expand it's nuclear energy capabilities; I'm surprised there wasn't much discussion about that.

[@rcbrascan]

It is true, China developed a new type of nuclear reactor that is smaller, safer and generates little radioactive waste and over 200 of them are being developed and built with most coming online in the next decade. This new reactor is also currently being built for the Belt & Road countries. When it comes to China, Wendover Productions tend to pick data that matches its narrative so anything that does not fit is not included.

[@arrogantprickly]

Yep. This video was well presented, but factually a complete fail. Nuclear is China's solution to energy production, greenhouse gases, and pollution.

[@evankurniawan1311]

@@rcbrascan lol, you also cherry picking your data. Remember when China claim they pioneering green energy with their big solar farm? That's gone now Reversing deserts? That's also failed.

[@didyoumissedmegobareatersk2204]

China bad so...he won't show it

[@valerievankerckhove9325]

China does plan to drastically expand its nuclear energy, but building nuclear power plants is very tricky. Old technologies require nuclear power plants to be near a large body of water for cooling, which limits the locations, and they take a long time to build. So China is also trying newer technologies which still require a lot of testing. For example, it's testing Thorium Molten Salt reactors, which is an entire other branch of technology compared to uranium, so large-scale commercial deployment is only expected in 2030 (but the hope is that if it works, it can be mass-produced).

[@samreid6010]

Another downside to relying so heavily on coal is that it’s not very adaptable. The grid’s demand is constantly fluctuating and utilities have to match the demand rather accurately or they risk either brownout or surge. This means you have to have a segment of your generation capacity devoted to matching the ebbs and flows of the grid. This is pretty easy in the US as this job is assigned to natural gas turbines. Regulating the generation of a turbine is a simple matter of restricting how much gas flows into the turbine. If more generation is needed, a gas turbine can go from cold to spin up and synced with the grid in about a half an hour. For coal, it’s not so simple. For a coal plant to heat up takes hours and regulating using a coal plant is highly inefficient. It isn’t a matter of throwing more coal on the pile. Generally, if you want to close regulate with a coal plant you have to throttle the turbine, which is less adaptive and still uses the same amount of coal as going full blast. Utility providers are much like farmers, using an almanac of previous years to predict the power peaks based on time of year, temperature, weather, etc, but even with the best predictions, grid providers can still be surprised. The US is fundamentally better equipped to deal with these fluctuations because the grid is built around fluid adaptability

[@TheSuperior100]

Lol, all the more shows how much of a failure the US is, when it has worse power grid availability than China

[@samreid6010]

@@TheSuperior100 first off, grid availability is based off transmission and distribution, not generation. Second off, the main reason china has the much shinier and fancier distribution infrastructure is because they got into the game much later. The US signed the rural electrification act in 1936 and within the decade every American citizen had access to reliable power. China has only recently started pushing for countrywide electrification with reforms in 1994. Even still, there are decent portions of western China, especially in areas with high percentages of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities that simply do not have consumer access to power. It’s also worth noting that one of the main struggles with modernizing the US grid is property rights. Most of the land in the US is already developed and the owners of that land have the right to refuse the construction of utility infrastructure such as new high voltage power lines. In China, the party has much more power to completely ignore the protests of the people and build whatever is easiest. Finally, get off your high horse, there are still lines in use in certain parts of southern China that date back to the early 1900s. If we’d be able to look forward a hundred years, I’m quite certain China’s electrical infrastructure would be in equally dire need of modernization as the US’s is now. That is assuming the world hasn’t been destroyed by then

[@TanSenYuan]

You obviously know something about power grids, so it baffles me why you would talk as if China only uses coal for power. Even in the video, it says China generates about 65% of its power from coal, so isn't it obvious that China would use coal as a baseline, and have all sorts of other power to handle the fluctuations? It's not like China doesn't have natural gas, or nuclear, solar, wind & hydro.

[@MrLando1996]

Sounds like you know a thing or two how utilities think. As a nuclear engineer works in the energy industry (NUCL safety analysis), I’d love to pick your brain on how the current system needs adapted to better work for a solely nuclear and renewables (just considering hydro/solar/wind here) based grid. (Primarily how peaking will be handled)

[@TanSenYuan]

​@@MrLando1996 I think I get it now. Both you and the other dude seem to focus on how a single source of power generation would handle different circumstances, maybe that's how power grids work in the US, separately and privately. However, the power grid in China works differently. The entire grid is owned by two companies that are both state-owned, they both own a huge variety of power plants, ranging from coal to gas, hydro, solar, nuclear, etc. They also built a variety of power preservation stations ranging from battery to water pumps. So what they'll do is keep coal and probably nuclear plants running all the time, and have the rest adjust to fluctuations. As for why such a mighty solution seemed to be causing blackouts this year, it's mainly because the water bureau usually lowers the water levels of all the dams before every summer to prepare for the flood season, and this year they were expecting huge floods so they did their job a little too good. Later it turned out that this summer was very dry and extremely hot, leaving hydro unable to provide as the residents were demanding more. It's like a perfect storm situation.

[@sutherlandA1]

China's coal may be plentiful but is of low quality which is ok for power production (albeit not as efficient as good quality coal). The coal Australia exported was of high quality metallurgical coal used for coking for blast furnaces used for steelmaking (the ore Australia also provides but not sanctioned) therefore essential for their economy, when China put sanctions on many Australian products there was always another country willing to purchase our goods especially coal

[@barrettcarr1413]

Their manufacturing sections relied on the Australian coal and are geared to such, thus they were in strife when it wasn't available. My understanding is that India buying the Aussie coal and then China is buying it from India at a much price thna previously

[@taiwanstillisntacountry]

Aussies coal = 2% of the total coal consumption. More funny remarks?

[@Gongolongo]

This is some serious cope dude.

[@ABC-ABC1234]

Yes Ashley because you can name how many other countries that have 1.44 billion people resulting in a megamarket for your product?! This is the problem I have with ignorant stupid Australians like yourself! "We can easily get another country willing to purchase our goods" ====> No you can't! There isn't a single country on earth with that population (minus India) that even WANTS those amounts of wine/fish/coal etc. etc. If you had a basic sense of how trade works, you'd realize that Australia f'ed themselves badly by badmouthing China to do USA's bidding!

[@sutherlandA1]

@@ABC-ABC1234 hmmmm someone is triggered. All I know is that while China's economy is imploding, Australia is doing just fine including this proud Aussie 🇦🇺🖕🇨🇳💩

[@mikeharris1792]

This analysis is spot on highlighting the disconnect between tightly regulating electricity prices and leaving coal prices unregulated. But it's absolutely missing the mark with renewables. These are financial losers, and they're not reliable (they really don't work when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing). The complaint that the high voltage power lines bringing electricity from the far west to the population centers are "underutilized" is BECAUSE OF THAT. Renewables are NOT the solution. Nuclear and future fusion are the solution. This is simply nuts to keep claiming that renewables are going to suddenly work if we just throw enough money at them.

[@patrickiamonfire965]

Nuclear is the cleanest, the strongest and the safest if managed by competent people who run it properly with proper security measures and personnel. Especially if we use plutonium. We just need good public perception and proper political support with good investment capital and awareness.

[@ajs787]

I've heard Thorium is also a good idea.

[@2failepic]

Its clean but also expensive. China does not want to invest up front, same problem like the renewables, the initial investment is to expensive for them. They would rather have short term gains then long term.

[@RJT80]

People also don't think about how much the LED bulb and the CFL before it led to plateauing energy in advanced countries. Every light bulb in my house is LED and every single one could be ion and it might be 100 watts total. That's crazy. We aren't that far removed from 60 watts being the standard for a single bulb. And at night the lights that are typically on in my house equal maybe 10-12 watts. Even our biggest TV uses just 52 watts. My last CRT TV used over 200 watts. Computers and game consoles are the only remaining energy suck beyond cooling or heating your house. Or charging your car...

[@RJT80]

@@2failepic China is building a lot of them but it's the same problem everywhere. The upfront costs and that time to build means most politicians won't be around to benefit. So governors were fine with letting the insane environmentalists dominate the narrative.

[@davesprivatelounge]

I'm convinced (at least India) would be significantly ahead in thorium reactor tech if Homi hadnt been merced by the CIA

[@stacywilson957]

Awesome! love your perspective. I currently make 106k/yr. No home or iπvestment and the job is in NY as I work from home. I need to do something quick or else I’m going to be paying thousands to the IRS come tax season. What can I do?

[@gabriellewilson5625]

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[@davidnewbury1721]

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[@gabriellewilson5625]

@@davidnewbury1721

[@williamskohler8337]

@@gabriellewilson5625 Amy is the best in this space, I'm happy to come across these recommendations. I have worked with her and I am impressed with the thoroughness and professionalism of the investment diligence packages she provides

[@sheliaswelttk2535]

@@williamskohler8337 To better understand the potential factors that contribute to your finance as a beginner. It's best to seek the help of a Fin. Advisor. They have wealth of information on current conditions and future trends.

[@Avetho]

Maybe adding nuclear power would help a lot, its kinda the highest output power tech around and its damn clean too, building lead-lined bunkers to store the waste that comes out every couple years when they need their fuel rods replaced is not that bad, we know how to seal the stuff away and we know how to reuse it now too for both space applications with RTGs or ultra-long-life low-power installations for experiments and/or sensors for weather and how much cosmic radiation is hitting us from both the sun (which is the main driver of the climate I mean sunlight is kinda responsible for about 108 PW of light and heat globally while mankind consumes just around 31 TW) and the rest of the galaxy, and nuclear can throttle slowly up and down with oil and coal based plants providing ride-through for those times that solar, wind and perhaps hydro inevitably go up and down, since batteries powering the grid is kinda not good for the environment at all, unless we figure out a way to make massive amounts of sodium-based batteries and/or really good gigantic supercaps that don't use loads of rare earth metals that are really expensive and also really dirty to mine and process, like cobalt and lithium are. Basically, nuclear good, renewable good but not something we can fully rely upon, fusion nowhere near viable yet (no exploding a tiny capsule and getting more energy out than the lasers is not viable that's an explosion not sustained fusion), and oil and coal power can be the thing that patches over the gaps in throttling nuclear up and down to match renewable ebbs and flows. In fact, those ultra-long-life sensor installations can be used to calculate when to throttle up and down nuclear plants depending on weather around solar and wind installations, know when wind will pick up or more sun will come through the clouds so it can be throttled down in time with the rising generation from renewable, or throttle back up when conditions deteriorate and sunlight wanes and wind weakens. The theory is simple, implementation will be a real pain in man's collective asses, it'll sure make a lot of jobs for people to find work in and it'll keep us going until the time if/when fusion finally becomes viable, in several decades or so at least methinks.

[@devin19222]

Way simpler solution that is fool proof, reduce demand, reduce user count. As the saying goes reduce, reuse and recycle, clear out useless players first, do this in indirect ways that make it seem like it is their own decision to rage quit in one way or another, after all were in the civilized 21st century, useless will be defined as anyone who can be replaced with a machine to do the task they filled, and the player is no longer able to adapt a new strategy to be productive. Reuse, these are all the players who are of slightly higher quality than the previous group and are able to adapt to fit into a new piece of the system that rewards them a smaller share of resources, this is done through monetary inflation so nominally this new task appears to pay them more which is why they take it in reality it pays less and they consume less doing x task. Finally recycle, with the resources being freed up from the first 2 groups all of that can be recycled to the people, who actually matter and are smart enough to use them productively to build a better future.

[@DARNEJITENDRA]

Nuke-powered power stations in an autocratic country are dangerous... the world has seen one Chornobyl disaster... I don't think the world is ready for another disaster.

[@leroyj62]

@@devin19222 honestly, your plan sounds amazing, start by reducing yourself

[@johnzuijdveld9585]

The best way to store energy from renewables has been with us since the 50's or so it's called hydropower and we can use the extra energy created by cheap renewables to lift water or anything actually and drop it when it's needed as it falls it powers a turbine. Coal is already obsolete, have you not noticed that some of the biggest miners are already leaving it and going into renewables, even our mineral smelters and furnaces are already heading that way calling it 'green steal' not blue steal (as the coal industry wants). We simply don't have the time to wait for new Nuclear to come online and no-one wants it or it's radioactive rubbish near them, despite what it's promotors will tell you about their safety they are not!

[@Baud2Bits]

Not an issue - China's population is about to plummet == demographics

[@robd8577]

Local solar and aircon use generally match very well. Location inefficiency is offset by lack of transmission losses.

[@lieshtmeiser5542]

It seems from this video that solar pv isnt as disruptive in the chinese system, as the pricing system is borked.

[@ZDatsunBoy]

You don't want high voltage lines working at 100%. If lines are at their limit shifting load and maintaining them becomes very difficult. Especially in the hotter months.

[@TheKlaun9]

I have no idea about line maintenance, but the video implied 60% was low. Is that incorrect? I don't remember it suggesting 100%. Please let me know

[@dalazyworf]

Also the electricity running through the lines generates heat and in hotter climates, those lines can get extremely hot. Further disrupting power distribution.

[@deuterium2132]

@@TheKlaun9 Usually you have transmission lines running in parallel for redundancy. If one line goes down, you want the active lines not overloaded

[@vlhc4642]

The concept of planning for future demand growth is mostly foreign to countries that doesn't build anything

[@vlhc4642]

@@TheKlaun9 Saying 60% is low is like saying the highway was badly planned because it's not congested. Fun fact, sun only shines for half the day, if the line is designed to carry solar, it will always average to around 60%.

[@fastfiddler1625]

Nuclear is both the past and future of power generation. See info about coal exhaust vs total EVER nuclear waste. It's crazy. And it's important to remember that the nuclear accidents that have happened were the result of severe design flaws and/or negligence. We can figure out what to do with (nearly) indestructible crates of nuclear waste later, but this needs to be solved now.

[@vince6473]

What about external factors like plane accidents, extreme natural disasters, wars and terrorism? Unthinkable now in most places but you never know how everything will be in 50 years.

[@gallectee6032]

My problem with nuclear is that it comes with a CIA. A few guys with guns are not enough to protect these plants. With nuclear follows mass surveillance, aka the giving up of privacy. Meaning these massive infringes that happen today will never be stopped when they have the nuclear protection card. It's not only about getting rid of peoples' right to privacy, but that it also follows with societal control. You are likely aware that their interests (of the ruling class) rarely align with yours. Which means that power will be used against your interests, especially when it is clear where neoliberalism is headed. If you think the instability today is bad, it's going to get far worse in the upcoming decades.

[@TheKlaun9]

People are working on it, the French are betting their entire future on that. But it's actually not that easy - Nuclear power is way too expensive at the moment and it's such a slow process to build new plants. The issues shown in this video are immediate and so is the global crisis this belongs to. We need something now, figure out nuclear power later ... or build a time machine

[@samuela-aegisdottir]

I dont understand, why Germany is shutting down their remaining nuclear plants. They will burn coal instead - how is that better? Untill we find a new source of energy or a way how to storage renewable energy, we need nuclear as a transitory energy source. With the climate change becoming worse every year, there is not really any other option.

[@dex6316]

@@vince6473 we already dealt with this. In the US there is reinforced concrete protecting nuclear plants so powerful, they slammer a fighter jet into it at high speed, and the jet crumbled.

[@jaxchan3916]

Hey I love these useful informations and different perspective on this world issues wondering if you'll considering having a podcast channel?

[@cpt01]

If we ignore the fact that wind and solar energy extreme fluctuation(because you know...sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow) then maybe it may be competitive.

[@Paul_Lucas]

I have never noticed that China is a (kinda) similar shape to the continental USA before!

[@jeffo7799]

It’s not

[@elllieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]

......what?

[@WillHellmm]

Ummm

[@sinoroman]

snarky

[@Dragoon77]

It is!

[@willtree8142]

This was such an impressive video to watch, 20 minutes of densely packed information but in a format where every sentence served a purpose. The data was combined with sharp, insightful analysis that made it easy for those with no knowledge to understand and appreciate what they're being told. It's not even an especially interesting topic but after watching this, it feels interesting, important and I want to know more. Wendover and their sister channels have come so far recently.

[@bullfrog5037]

It felt like leftwing propaganda to me.

[@BuddyLee23]

I agree with Bullfrog, it’s a little sad to see how much he has jumped onto the unfalsifiable ‘climate change’ thing.

[@neondemon5137]

@@bullfrog5037 🤡

[@6Sparx9]

And making the false association between air pollution locally in its cities and climate change. Sure, they're both in the same domain of science, but are completely different things in what they study and their effects.

[@intfamous4001]

"It's not even an especially interesting topic but after watching this, it feels interesting, important and I want to know more" yeah thats how YT gets you lol

[@chaorommel1204]

To be honest, this year the Three Gorges reservoir in China's Yangtze River did not have enough water, and power shortages in areas around Sichuan did prevent residents from turning on their air conditioners. This is essentially a problem with grid planning. In fact, coal-fired power generation from the eastern and northern provinces cannot be transferred to the central provinces. In other words, China is a huge country with an unprecedented population and a shortage of resources. If you are truly an internationalist, think globally and don't always compare China to the US.

[@novat9731]

Not touched upon explicitly in the video. As pointed out, the output cost is set by the government. But the input cost is not. So coastal power plants were used to purchasing coal from overseas, and have it delivered by shipping. So there was little or no possibility to purchase inland coal at input prices lower than output price. Since the coastal power plants does not usually purchase massive amounts from the inland, there are few or no rail transport. Meaning that coal had to be driven on trucks. So now you got 1. Higher demand for inland coal 2. Higher demand for trucking = Unprofitable to produce energy. This is how China faced an energy crunch.

[@GotYourWallet]

12:20 This is the reason why price caps need to be handled with care. The power plant owners are smart and shut down production when coal prices rose. This is one of the reasons why price caps often lead to shortages.

[@haplon33]

almost like it should just be nationalized as a national security issue or something

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

That's why private energy is a silly idea.

[@twerkingfish4029]

@@haplon33 it already pretty much is in China, and if they wanted to, they could bring the power authorities under direct government control easily, and yet they don’t.

[@LuluTheCorgi]

The correct solution is for the government to cover the increase in coal cost temporarily until coal stabilises again This is just proof that nationalising a company while still running it as a profit oriented company is nonsense If China had fully nationalised their power industry they would have zero problems right now and their economy would be stronger

[@williamyoung9401]

So THIS is why in Sim City games, nuclear is so expensive and coal and oil are so cheap. =P (4:57)

[@SureJungle23247]

People figured this out over 100 years ago. My house is 120 years old in Australia, it's not fancy but it's got 12 foot high ceilings. In summer it's so cool inside wouldn't even think about air conditioning because all the heat rises to the ceiling and vents let the hot air out. Shame about winter though it's a bit cold.

[@1967250s]

Some ceiling fans blowing down the warm air during winter would help, eh?

[@edwardbyard6540]

@@1967250s Yep, in Spain, ceiling fans have "winter" mode where the fan reverses, pushing warm air downwards.

[@XDF745]

High ceilings don't always work and when they don't it costs a fortune to cool with AC.

[@santumi2298]

have high ceilings in Michigan, shit does not work

[@SureJungle23247]

Maybe it also has to do with the construction of the walls got double clay brick with gap between.

[@lexslate2476]

If those coal plants could be refitted for a different heat source with a lower carbon output and that did not need to be imported, it might help. If, and I am keenly aware that this is a big if, the gyrotron drill tech pans out, they could feed those plants geothermal heat.

[@ttry1152]

Geothermal requires geothermal activity

[@lexslate2476]

@@ttry1152 That's the fun part of using better drilling tech that can go deeper at a lower cost: if you go far down enough, you will find heat.

[@ttry1152]

@@lexslate2476 faif

[@jaxxgaming7937]

Yeah so um they sometimes alert factories and stuff ahead of time to slow down power consumption. Here in Texas it sometimes just goes.

[@JesterHorse]

I wanted to suggest a video idea. My company is trying to get a new plane for our fleet but we are able to find aircraft but they have no engines. It’s a trend that the engines are more often than not leased out separate from planes creating an interesting market for aircraft engines leasing apart from the whole package.

[@pilsen8920]

Wow that's one of the biggest anticonsomer things I have ever heard. Don't tell Apple or the car makers it will not be long now when you have to lease your cars motor. Own nothing and be happy about it seems to be the new market direction and it's shameful.

[@Ezekiel903]

@@pilsen8920 this happened 30 years ago with cars, as they get more and more expansive, they told the consumer: you don't need to buy every year the new model and loosing a lot in selling your older model, you can now lease the car and you can have always the newest model!

[@andrew_koala2974]

What are 'NO Engines' and who are the makes of these "NO Engines ? What is the price of a NO ENGINE -- I wish to buy one [ I searched the internet and I cannot find any entity that manufactures NO ENGINES. So I ask - How can I buy NO ENGINES when they are impossible to find. I need to have NO ENGINES - please supply the name of the manufacturer of these NO ENGINES i WOULD ASSUME THESE NO ENGINES USE NO FUEL

[@JesterHorse]

@@andrew_koala2974 I was specifically being vague to not give away my companies information. If you can’t understand what I say then ignore it. Don’t be a wise ass.

[@JesterHorse]

@@pilsen8920 Well jet engines cost more than any other component on an aircraft. The engine on a 737 max can cost between 10-15 Million dollars per engine. Car engines account for far less of a car haha.

[@whatever_12]

The ac problem can be found in most places as well, Africa, India, Australia... For me it's something that should be the world top priority and get better research funding from everyone just like EV had in recent times. Hopefully we will have a new innovation in these coming years,

[@Konsaki]

The problem is that ACs are already super efficient heat pumps, depending on the quality of the model. The 'fix action' is better insulation for the buildings being cooled. Considering all the tofudreg buildings in China, the buildings probably have an insulation value of 10-20% of an average 'western' building. That exacerbates the power draw to keep buildings cool vastly more than the AC itself.

[@cetriyasArtnComicsChannel]

@@Konsaki Id also think of better flow too? not a buiilder, but as a home buyer in the south I looked for a house that has good flow in case (as it has happpened) I have no ac.

[@jonathanodude6660]

australias problem is unique. we produce TOO MUCH solar power during the day, leading to grid instability, then it all shuts off at the same time, then people get home and turn on their AC and start draining the grid, causing more instability. if we didnt have solar, the AC issue would be easy to manage. storage will be incredibly important in the very near future for australia. i wont be surprised if we end up having the highest energy storage per capita in the world once grid-compatible sodium ion batteries become mass produced.

[@Lysergic_]

@@cetriyasArtnComicsChannel good flow doesn't do nearly as much as good insulation. If you have poor insulation good flow just means the building loses heat just as quickly as it spreads, so it could even do a building worse

[@Konsaki]

@@jonathanodude6660 check into gravity batteries for grid usage. Think a company in turkey set one up. Basically an automated electric crane that stacks blocks of concrete when power is high and then unstacks them when demand is high, with the motors acting as alternators.

[@DaveEtchells]

One big problem has with coal as a power source is that they have almost no rail-freight capability, so much of it has to be transported by truck. What - China has no rail-freight capacity? How can that be, they have railroads *everywhere*, don’t they? They have high-speed *passenger* rail everywhere. The government was infatuated with high-speed rail, so kept building it everywhere, despite almost no passenger demand for the majority of routes. As a result, they wasted billions on a vastly-underutilized passenger rail system instead of building freight infrastructure that would actually have benefited society :-/

[@bikingmoments]

In 2021, half of this video’s footages of China are filmed before 1991 lol.

[@Twiggy163]

4:36 I recognise that place. Had a project there some years ago when they were working on the plans for those floating solar panels. Nice to see it in this video, but at the time, they just got in my way.

[@ChadwickTheChad]

It's obvious when an ad is about to begin because you break out the unwarranted compliments.

[@ooooneeee]

IKR, it's cringe.

[@stevenwxjie]

According to data released by the National Energy Administration on the 18th, the total electricity consumption of China in 2023 was 9,224.1 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 6.7%.

[@KbB-kz9qp]

Solar does not work when the sun is not shining, and wind power does not generate electricity when the wind isn’t blowing. Grid-level batteries are being developed, but they are not yet ready for broad deployment.

[@guilhermetavares4705]

Brazil has also experienced two powerful droughts, which affected our energy production because more than 50% of it comes from hydroelectric power plants. The solution the government found was to encourage the construction of new natural gas thermoelectric plants, which raised controversy because of the high costs and pollution. On the other hand, wind power production is growing at a fast pace and is already the third largest source of energy.

[@teekay_1]

Natural Gas is non-polluting. OTOH, windmills are highly polluting when they reach the end of their useful life and need to be disposed of.

[@lieshtmeiser5542]

Natural gas plants, properly regulated, dont produce that much air quality pollution. The CO2 emissions are moderate (~600kg per MW/h?). The claim that is made is that it is forest clearing and ranching that have been the main cause of the drying of Brazil and the droughts. Irrigation as well? Dams and changes to the water flows might have had an impact as well. It is a big hungry population of 200+ million people. The government will need to try and do major land works to try and improve yield and productivity. And people there will need to adapt to the changing conditions, very little of it can actually be % attributed to global climate change. Most of it will be regional factors.

[@abelhapedras]

@@lieshtmeiser5542 agreed, hopefully the government will make it harder to continue the deforestation in the next 4 years

[@agentbarron3945]

coal plants can be "scrubbed" with algae and moss in a large pool of water. Lots of studies were done and have shown to reduce co2 emissions a ton. Its a stopgap measure as coal wont last forever obviously, (but the algae can also be burned off once it gets too dense and needs to be cut off so its semi renewable.) But its a fairly low cost and incredibly efficient method of scrubbing co2. The stuff I read about, probably in popular mechanics or popular science, I cannot remember, talked about stuff that was swimming pool levels, so just imagine the efficiency of a pond. Like I said, its a stopgap measure, but its also a way for a country with tons of inhabited land to become "carbon neutral" also, finally, chinas 2nd biggest co2 producer is most likely concrete production, and thats just in the nature of producing concrete. You cant really make it "carbon neutral" so you HAVE to scrub that excess. I am not incredibly knowledgeable about the process, but from my understanding, just the chemical change of the limestone>lime produces co2 so that cant be removed from the equation. And ALL developing nations and developed nations need concrete by the assloads, China especially as they are building like mad and have many problematic rivers that are prone to flooding so concrete retaining walls are especially useful I bet. And hydroelectric power is incredibly concrete expensive, the Hoover dam required more concrete at that point than had ever been produced combined (not sure if that made sense, if you used all the concrete that had ever been produced from the beginning of time to the day of construction, it still wouldnt have been enough.) So some form of advanced form of scrubbing, such as algae farms will still have to take place, even if china switches entirely from coal to solar or whatever

[@Tattletale97]

秧苗助长，欲速不达 - China proverb To try to help the shoots grow by pulling them upward is Haste makes waste.

[@jessipanda]

Interesting. The domestic supply issues could point to why they're reaching out and investing in opening mines in other countries (like canada for example)

[@Lucifer-fj7mg]

Yeah China already began to source coal in other countries

[@CubicSpline7713]

Bear in mind, vast arrays of solar panels have to be kept clean on a schedule, otherwise their efficiency goes down due to sunblocking particles (natural dust, sand, bird stuff etc). And they have a life span of 20 years ish. So it's not a completely free solution.

[@hstapes]

I'm not so confident they're really cheaper when all costs are considered. The US, for example, regulates the price at which solar and wind can be bought and sold and the industry is heavily subsidized.

[@MrCenturion13]

It's called kicking the can down the road.

[@frankcrosby6222]

Solar is awesome for sail boats, tiny homes and homesteads. They are a waste otherwise. We can't even recycle the panels. They cost nearly 5 times to break down then the recycled material is worth.

[@joshbooth8408]

Almost all solar panels and batteries are made in China. So they should be able to build them for even cheaper than what they sell for. Thus is a clear admission that solar and wind on large scale does not work and certainly does not work for a giant industrial plant.

[@creamofbotulismsoup9900]

@@hstapes Oh it's most definately more expensive that what is claimed. Solar/wind does not replace conventional power sources, they reduce fuel consumption. You still have to keep those power plants up and running or you'll end up with blackouts whenever the wind slows or the sun goes down. Effectively we're paying the cost of wind and solar on top of the cost of keeping the conventional power plants running minus some fuel consumption.

[@kelvinw.1384]

China though has been focusing on Nuclear Power. Building alot of new plants in the west for keeping them remote. They even have a whole university just for nuclear engineers in the west. So i see China going nuclear mostly within 2 decades

[@psychollek]

around 5:00 you say that upfront cost of KW of coal is lower - this is not true actually - not anymore at least. it is more predictable power source for sure, but at least for AC - this doesn't matter as the peak solar power production obviously corresponds to peak AC usage.

[@StNemo]

This sounds not too dissimilar from our Loadshedding here in South Africa. We literally have scheduled load reductions (balckouts) set by the government. The province of the Western Cape is the only province that can alleviate this problem buy using several different means. Also, our energy provider is literally a state run monopoly

[@Abyus]

Next Wendover Video: “How planes are the key to solving China’s electricity problem”

[@williamyoung9401]

All they have to do is build a billion bicycles attached to a battery and a power cord to add the energy to the electric grid. +P

[@cru3her608]

5:26 thats not the only reason. there's also the fact that solar takes up 10 times more space, is unreliable and requires tons of precious medals

[@zyxlsy]

Several corrections: 1) Beijing doesn’t allow coal fired power generation or heating at all within its city border, so its coal price vs electricity price is irrelevant; 2) China can fully support its own coal needs without any imports unless policies sabotage coal productions like what happened in 2021.

[@hacker52057]

I believe it is quite hypocritical when other countries and global organizations put pressure on China’s pollution when everyone relies on its industrial production. It is the same if you dump trash on your neighbor’s yard and then proceed to complain on how filthy it is. We still have a long way to go and I think carbon credits will be relevant (when done correctly)

[@angelkilier]

Imagine in early 2018 when China banned waste importing. Almost all developed countries were crying China broke their recycling system.

[@jay-uo2bi]

I agree. It's unfair not to be considate of China's emissions given its circumstances.

[@JM-The_Curious]

I agree, but at the same time we need to cut carbon emissions. Give each other ideas and support, work together and share tech, but we do need to move on this.

[@MGZetta]

Instead of helping China to reduce its emission, the west criticizes and demonize them so their political party will be united against a common enemy. best way to reduce domestic arguments is to make enemies abroad. it's as same as the world never gonna be united until aliens attack.

[@MichaelChuanPG]

I went to China more than 6x times since 2010, what I saw in China are totally different what you see in western platform. Many articles just from their imagination, from their comments " they never visit china".

[@zf2645]

China gets a strategic RELIABILITY and RESILIENCY advantage to having provinces produce their own electricity: if one province goes down, the others are still up and can sell them power. Wendover can argue at 10:02 that is is more cost efficient to produce power in the lowest cost region, and more environmentally friendly to produce in the high WIND and SOLAR power regions, but it is less resilient to rely on power imports from far away... one or two power lines go down and the whole country could go down.

[@Darca1n]

That's why you have redundancy in the systems, not to mention it's important to have proper maintenance and solid construction, which considering china's track record on any kind of construction... probably won't go well.

[@marczhu7473]

Plus if there a war it's harder to shutdown the whole.

[@latrofu]

In hindsight, ROFL at "virtually eliminated covid." 😂

[@tofuyam7361]

the rest of the world failed 1st

[@gorkyd7912]

Eliminate people who talk about covid = eliminate covid.

[@Avetho]

@@gorkyd7912 Exactly, if you remove knowledge of something, clearly that something stops existing, like the fibrous growths the shots cause clearly don't exist just like how if you miss the ground you can fly :P

[@84MadHatter]

covid was never as big as a problem as the lockdowns around the would was

[@maryhadid]

@@Avetho source? also novavax is at least not mrna

[@jmanj3917]

15:28 Idk. I guess anything is possible, but based on just the examples you listed, I would lean toward a qualified answer. That answer would be, "Sure, they can still do it, but what would be the costs, both financial and the other costs (such as human rights, the well-being of the Chinese people, etc.)?"

[@QuantumBoyMacau]

The power outage I experienced in Bayarea CA in a year is more than I experienced in China in a decade.

[@javieroliveras344]

Because... California...

[@catchfishattexas]

China has its own standard. Most of area dont have a power outage in years.

[@highimwolf]

That's cause Cali has forced population diversity whereas China is actively getting rid of ethnic diversity. Ethnic unity is strength and China is set to run over the US given enough time because of it

[@QuantumBoyMacau]

@@highimwolf Ethnic diveraity cause power outage!? Seriously!? What a racist!

[@justinpetersen5273]

China and California are pretty much alike. Both being communist and all

[@harveyrice8504]

0:55 that person must be buying a lot of air conditioning units

[@nk4j272]

It's Joe, he likes buying air conditioners. His family says it's starting to become a problem.

[@ssrbgangimaribotan6thofthe12]

that's an apartment

[@user-lp3iy4fo8f]

I hate how funny I found this

[@godalseif]

China does use a crazy amount of energy. To cover their yearly usage at this point would require almost 10k nuclear power plants

[@wombattmatt8303]

I don’t know Sam, maybe that’s most of your Wendover viewers. But I personally could not be any less goal oriented and driven. I’ve got so much time on my hands as a result shopping and cooking is never a problem. Do you have a service you could plug in your videos for people like me? Not curiosity stream either, I already have it. And it’s protected by my vpn that you also sold me on. I actually learned how to use all that stuff from skill share so shout out to them. You know, how that I’m thinking about it, you probably can’t even help me with this, I’m gonna talk to the half as interesting guy instead

[@dmnn69]

Brilliant video! Please make more like this in the future. I absolutely love the “X country’s _____ problem” format

[@user-mr5qx6nu3e]

The video production is excellent, thank you. Regarding energy issues, here are a few points that were not mentioned in the video: 1. Nuclear power: Firstly, the proportion of nuclear power in China is currently low at 5%, but there is still significant room for growth. China currently has 55 nuclear power plants in operation, with 46 more planned. There are also 22 plants under construction, with a goal to increase nuclear power capacity by 6-8 units annually. The mass development of third-generation reactors cannot be rushed due to the large consumption of nuclear fuel. Research is also being conducted on six different fourth-generation nuclear power designs, with four of them already having experimental and demonstration reactors connected to the grid. China is in a leading position in this field. 2. Renewable energy generation: The main challenge lies in the weather-dependent and intermittent nature of renewable energy sources. Efforts are being made to address issues related to transmission networks and intermittent power supply through energy storage. Recently, commercial projects for hydrogen production from offshore wind power and solar power have been implemented. The construction of an ultra-high voltage transmission network, which is considered infrastructure, is well underway. China is also in a leading position in this field. Therefore, improvements are expected in the future. 3. Coal-fired power generation and mining: Although China is increasing the proportion of nuclear and renewable energy, coal-fired power generation still plays a significant role. China is a global leader in ultra-supercritical power generation, even reaching the "ultra-ultra-supercritical" level, with a 7% higher efficiency, 15% reduction in coal consumption, and 10% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions compared to subcritical units. In terms of coal mining, small mines have been closed, and large mines have achieved a high level of digitization and intelligence. The increase in coal-fired power generation is mainly due to the seasonal power shortages that occurred in the past two years, which raised concerns. It is necessary to appropriately increase coal-fired power generation in suitable locations. When facing seasonal or unexpected power shortages, the coal-fired power supply can be activated or increased dynamically to ensure power supply and, more importantly, the safety of the power system. Based on the determination and actual progress in increasing the proportion of nuclear and renewable energy generation, there is no need to add coal-fired power generation, except in areas where additional capacity is needed. In conclusion, with a comprehensive understanding, it is clear that there are existing problems that have been identified and are being addressed. Once thorium-based molten salt reactors are successfully commercialized, it will be possible to provide each medium-sized or larger city with small-scale, water-independent, and higher safety standard nuclear power units. As for nuclear fusion, although China has made some leading experimental achievements, it is still premature to draw conclusions. However, considering China's track record, significant progress can be expected. 视频制作很不错，感谢。 关于能源问题，补充几点此片没有提到的： 1. 核电：首先中国的核电占比5%很低，还有较大的空间，已有55座，计划中46座，在建的有22座，正在以每年6-8台核电机组的速度增加。 如果现在大规模发展第三代堆，每年的核燃料消耗量太大，所以不能急。 第四代核电有六种方案都在研究，其中四种已经分别建设实验堆、示范堆且发电并网。 这方面处于领先地位。 2. 新能源发电：主要问题是受天气影响大、不稳定，需要配合储能和远距离输送措施。 前些年有很多太阳能发电、风电浪费掉，目前主要是在解决输电网络、储能解决间歇性问题。最近海上风力发电制氢、太阳能发电制氢已陆续投入商用。特高压输电网络属于基础设施建设，主干已经基本成形，还在陆续建设。这方面处于领先地位。 所以，接下来会好很多。 3. 燃煤发电和采矿：虽然中国在增加核电、新能源发电的比例。 但中国在超临界发电方面全球领先，属于“超超临界”的水平，较亚临界机组效率高约7%，单位煤耗、二氧化碳排放可减少15%及10%。而煤矿方面，关停小煤矿，大型煤矿数字化、智能化水平非常高。 那么，为何煤电有所增加？ 前两年发生的季节性电力短缺引起了重视。 需要在一些合适的位置适当增加部分煤电，当发生季节性、突发性事件导致的电力短缺时，可以启动和增加煤电供应来动态调配，不仅仅保障供电，更重要的是保障电力系统安全。 可见，基于提高核电、新能源发电占比的决心和实际进展，在需要增补的地方之外，没必要新增煤电。 所以，全面了解之下得出的结论：存在问题，已经发现，正在解决。 尤其钍基熔盐堆一旦成功商业化运营，将来可以为每个中型以上城市配置一到两个小型的、不依赖水、更高安全标准的核电机组。 至于核聚变，虽然中国有部分领先的实验性成果，但还不敢下结论。但以中国一向的风格，估计偏离不大。

[@OggyRok]

Replenished my language lexicon on economics and energy

[@nymanson1118]

My hometown is a small city in China's Gansu province, the least developed region of China, which has been growing like crazy since 2014, a city of 300,000 people with 100,000 cars, where summers are getting hotter and hotter

[@didyoumissedmegobareatersk2204]

Tf least developed region and has fhat much people with car

[@johnlop7763]

@@didyoumissedmegobareatersk2204 probably all transports combine since there's alot of minerals

[@user-ir1jy2ss8j]

Getting hot is not necessarily the cause of industrialization. It may also be a normal natural phenomenon.

[@RobertHargraves]

Why was there no discussion of intermittency of solar and wind electricity sources? They did mention the 60% utilization of UHV transmission lines, but claimed it was from "buy local" province administration.

[@arbren]

Take a guess. Look at timestamp 12:46 for the next 30 seconds you will hear a word that will hint why there is no discussion on this subject 🤔 😉

[@cmartinmnl]

Well! You aren't being truthful too! An Indian from the Indian Embassy who was an actual eyewitness has said that no such massacre committed at the Tiananmen Square. Also with their solar and wind projects are being constructed at breakneck speed. The US is population if just 1/4 that of China.

[@johng180]

YOU LOST ME ME AT " IRON CLAD " AND CLIMATE CHANGE. LMAO

[@loscaobossequera4210]

I'm curious, who owns the remaining two ultra-high voltage power lines?

[@1paris1942]

One of them is in the U.S. It takes hydro power from Washington state down to Southern California. It was built almost 3 decades ago.

[@lfemomo77]

@1pars142 wrong. “As of 2020, no UHVDC line (≥ 800 kV) exists in Europe or North America.” - Wikipedia, under HV DC. @los caobos sequera the other (3) are 1 in India & 2 in Brazil.

[@DemonNitrix]

Me.

[@CarlosGomez-tt4jh]

Sam: I’ve met a ton of you. You’re… Me: Yes? Sam: …highly motivated… Me: *snorts coffee while playing Victoria 3 instead of working on my paper*

[@artemisjohnson9368]

Highly motivated towards the discipline of map painting 😉

[@MrCenturion13]

Sam is full of it. Sold his soul for a mess of pottage and some convenience items from Hello Fresh.

[@nikolatasev4948]

I am very motivated to make Green Line Go Up. They should make a Victoria 3 Mod/DLC that moves into the modern era, I would love to wean myself out of coal and into nuclear using Victoria's systems.

[@alexander15551]

But, he forgot to mention that solar and wind will absolutely not reduce the occurrence of blackouts in China because they are highly variable. Coal is the only stable energy source that China can quickly ramp up to meet demand (with the exception of hydro in some very specific areas)

[@joaosalgado8393]

Nuclear

[@alexander15551]

@@joaosalgado8393 the keyword here being “quickly”. 5 years to bring on a nuclear plant would be typical

[@MeridianZ1]

Which is why many countries are investing in battery backup technology. In Australia it was able to provide power for an entire outage and nobody noticed except the grid operators. Renewable + Storage = Ideal

[@TVandManga]

Brilliant video.

[@zoeybella234]

Your presentation style is captivating and the team who put Wendover content together are top notch? Although we should point out China is manufacturing the worlds goods and if they don't burn coal to do it then other countries would need to. No countries energy mix has enough eco friendly options such as modern nuclear plants to deliver the products we humans have become accustomed to. Globally we need to consume less and recycle more. I practice what I preach.

[@Millionsofpeas]

You'd need to recycle at all before you can recycle more. Depending on which Western country you live in you likely don't recycle at all, even if you think you do. China does most of the worlds recycling, the US would literally ship them its recycling to do. It is extremely low wage work. Will Americans pick through trash?

[@jackzhou4813]

This is why industrial production needs to be distributed to each country, and each country must bear its own share of carbon emissions if it wants to develop its economy.

[@ThisIsOneHundred]

Consuming less is orders of magnitude above recycling more. It’s incredibly more efficient to not use plastic in the first place than to recycle it.

[@oohhboy-funhouse]

Chinese policy of pushing down the cost of inputs like labour, energy and complete disregard for the environment caused it to be the manufacturing powerhouse, not because other countries were looking to export their pollution. Companies don't care what generated the power as long as it is cheap. China chose this path of growth at any cost.

[@deathgun3110]

@@Millionsofpeas Not anymore, after China enacted the national sword policy they can't dump it in China anymore so advanced recycling is picking up in America too.

[@roanwestraat9604]

Nice vid as usual! Could you do the same for South Africas power problem?

[@1224chrisng]

the water crisis as well, I'd be interested to see how they can mitigate the droughts

[@caliperstorm8343]

5:26 that problem of renewables having most of their costs upfront also applies to nuclear power, but much worse. Nuclear plants are immensely expensive, and take years to build. In the US, most utilities take on millions in debt to construct them. Once they are constructed, though, they are very cheap to operate because of low fuel costs and the reliability of the technology. Over the 60+ year life span of a reactor, the cost averages to be better than gas and coal, and comparable to renewables, but the upfront costs makes it difficult to get funding for. In the past they mostly got built by using government-industry cooperation, since states can offer low-interest loans and longer-term budgeting than corporations can, but it still ends up being a hard sell because our economies are expected to always keep growing.

[@pedrohaonade531]

I am not sure if China grid hold up or not but one thing for sure is california grid do not hold up. Every summer times, or there is a high wind, wild fire, Santa ana wind... some city will have no power. And how bout north Carolina, when a power station down, half of state out of power for 3days.

[@Emperor-Inker]

Not once have you mentioned how big China's population plays in how quickly China rose, but also in relation to how much they need compared to the USA & many other countries besides India.

[@diegosanchez894]

Nuclear is key. China is building reactors at a faster pace than anywhere else but they need to do it even more, as only nuclear energy can provide the constant high energy output required by industrial applications.

[@TheLucidDreamer12]

Nuclear has the major issue of NIMBY. It's quite bad in the even today very sparsely populated US. In China, where any populated province has a population density comparable to western Europe, the kinds of distances efficient for nuclear just can't work

[@Dkrpan59]

Didn’t you see the blizzard that left thousands of stranded in massive snowstorms

[@_NekOz]

19:22 It is not a waste of time. Grocery shopping and making food is a good way of having the brain rest and work on stuff in the background, as well as letting your thoughts run wild.

[@AlanTheBeast100]

That's a lot of HVDC ! (Most of the "stock" footage in this video is AC, not HVDC, however)

[@connormccloy9399]

Another reason why renewable energy sources are not being adopted is because they are substantially less reliable than fuel based energies. Another consideration is the substantial land-use of solar power, plus the near impossibility of recycling the components of solar panels. Both wind and solar power also have a negative affect on certain types of wildlife that isn't often talked about.

[@digitalfootballer9032]

Yes, these are the things nobody likes to talk about. The media has people believing it is as simple as flipping a switch and making the change from fuel based to renewable energy and it just isn't that simple. One example recently was the mass failure of wind turbines in Texas. As it stands currently, these sources are fine for supplemental and standby energy, but are not anywhere near ready to be the main supply.

[@MissionaryForMexico]

Notice they use split systems. By far the most energy efficient system on the market! Mitsubishi has models with seer rating as high as 29. Unheard of here in States!

[@AaronShenghao]

The thing is, rolling blackouts were common and nothing new for factories in China. However many cities in China are built in era of centralized air conditioners aren’t a thing and so as good insulation (2000’s) leading to plenty of energy waste. That said, many people in China are energy conscious where every penny is saved, in many work space and home, the air con is set at 24-26 C instead of 22 (typical US/European air con setting). It’s not easy to support 1.44billion people compare to US’s 400M, the power generation and demand is equivalent. On coal side of thing. Last time I checked they stopped approving new coal power plants after 2019. Coal power is really the only thing you can do when trying to meet the explosive power demand China had, in the 90’s and 2000’s. Both hydroelectricity plants and Nuclear takes years to build to reach full power while coal can probably do it in half of the time, and China isn’t shy about using Nuclear or hydroelectricity or any renewables, guess who bought the largest wind turbines from Netherland? China.

[@jkjkjk100]

A definite masterpiece of overview of the problem. Anyone working on power electronics knows that demand for Chinese State Grid and EV companies are insanely high. I appreciate the mention of UHVDC transmission, an infrastructure that the US can only imagine being built. And if you work with automotive you should know that the amount of push to go from no reg to a euro 6 equivalent and potentially leading the way soon with NS7 is quite impressive. I think the world needs to thank Chinese people for their sacrifice. I’m not chinese but lived in China and from the way people get to work to how people set their AC is much more sustainable then the west. For example: I ride the metro to work. It’s electric and one might say, oh it comes from coal. Sure. But emissions of mass transportation is much lower per head per km travelled. My didi/gaode/uber ride is electric and i ride my ebikes for nearby shopping where as I used my F150 back home to go get a six pack to Walmart driving at least 10 miles round trip vs buying in one of the convenience store walking. My Chinese office set their AC temperature at 26C/78-80F on a 40C/104F weather outside meanwhile i set my personal office at 20C. Chinese colleagues then use their tumbler to fill in hot water meanwhile I drink a refrigerated plastic bottle of water. One thing china can learn is usage of plastics though.

[@udishomer5852]

If you are comparing to the US, then yes, China is much better. But the US has the highest electricity consumption per capita and the highest CO2 emissions per capita, not an example for anything really. Compared to France, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and other developed countries, China doesn't look so great.

[@jkjkjk100]

@@udishomer5852 oh please. These nordics country buy stuff made in China. Norway uses renewable but pump tons and sells oil.

[@mattjohnson9753]

“You vill own nosing, und you vill be happy” bwahahahahahahahaha

[@clementdato6328]

But from what I can see from the pie chart in the video, electricity seems 3 times dirtier in China? This seems to be a hard sell…

[@jkjkjk100]

@@clementdato6328 no. How so? China has the largest renewable output.

[@G-u-z-i-o]

I swear to God, I was sure that I was watching an Economics Explained video, until he said Wendover at the end.

[@zomfgeclipse]

Lmao a few of these channels do blend together

[@loosemouthcowboy4790]

Canada can't keep up either when big manufacturers in the south tell manufacturers in the north to turn off blast furnaces and other power hungry machines on hot days because toronto needs more power for air conditioning etc isn't moving forward.

[@jallen1227]

Also coal employees a lot of people in the mining and plant continually, once solar / wind power generators are commissioned the number of employees is very small.

[@Crash103179]

In the 1970s, the US started mandating things like sulfur scrubbers on power plant smoke stacks. Does anyone know what China does to mitigate pollutants?

[@vrealzhou]

New power plants already installed those things. The more important reason cause pollution are the centralised heating stations which burn coals built decades ago. Every cities in north China have couple of them and they are old and not profitable (it’s more like public facilities). That’s why most of the haze happened in the winter and north China.

[@samandrielgarrison7015]

The climate in Brazil is generally mild along the coast and the southern part, people up North deal with the heat with AC or a fan. Energy consumption is growing everywhere. I live in a highland city, it gets cold at night even in summer and there are cold fronts all the time dropping the temperature. A lot of people use AC though cuz in summer it reaches 34° C or so.