Is 100% Renewable Possible By 2050? - Interconnectors

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Writer/Narrator: Brian McManus
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Animator: Mike Ridolfi (www.moboxgraphics.com/)
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References:
[1] www.europarl.europa.eu/news/e...
[2] web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/j...
[3]
• California's Renewable...
[4] www.publicpower.org/periodica...
[5] www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.ph...
[6] Page 6. www.next10.org/publications/r...
[7] www.next10.org/publications/r...
[8] www.entsoe.eu/data/map/
[9] www.electricitymap.org/?page=...
[10] www.un.org/esa/sustdev/public...
[11] www.sciencedirect.com/topics/...
[12] www.rte.ie/news/business/2019...
[13] www.electricitymap.org/?page=...
[14] ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics...
[15] www.ree.es/en/activities/uniq...
[16] ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ene...
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[@beback_]

It's crazy that Germany and Poland can cooperate more effectively than say, California and Texas can.

[@youwouldntclickalinkonyout6236]

arrogant leftist vs arrogant rightist.

[@marekzalipski6904]

Texas has plenty of guns, so California can't do to them what Germany did to the Poland via the Euro and Brussels control. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitteleuropa Whether it is cooperation or colonisation ???

[@saccount-z3]

@@marekzalipski6904 lol, if it weren't for the eu, poland would be slightly better of than ukraine. let's be honest, all slavic countries are s#!th0les. i know it, i am slav myself.

[@sokolo161]

@@truegrit1860 Germany and poland are both respectively much more liberal than those two states. Btw socialism is the biggest buzz word in the US. Both your political parties are extremely neo liberal and capitalist. The republican party is much more right wing than our right wing party in germany. Whats socialist in california other than basic wellfare? Even our Neo-liberal party would support the wellfare in california. You guys have lost track of where your parties are on the political spectrum. 60+years of red scare propaganda have been effective.

[@marekzalipski6904]

@@allgoo1990 I was referring to the effects of Look at the financial capital of German corporations and the disarmament of the Polish nation 1 firearm per 100 citizens despite being a NATO flank . the government has peace of mind when it raises taxes ??? Germans can do with their money what they want with the population "globalism" Russians have guarantees of low cost military intervention in case of problems Can California impose atheism in state offices in any couty in Texas ??? ban on social media ?? congress ??? It's about the model of how the state functions The German economic model is better than the Russian but socio-behaviourally both countries have collapsed ... If Nevada was nile fed and Texas and California wanted to tear it apart would their actions and appeals mean anything in the business world ???? would it end in drought, famine and a monopoly on water supply Is profit and power the only thing that matters? translate what you see in the history of empires or corporations to now I am a Pole. Your constitution, at the meeting point of the superpowers is worth as much as toilet paper if you do not force your geostrategic model ...Chamberlain was already waving the paper . ;)

[@eduddles]

"The Californian government has so far resisted the prospect of joining a wider interconnected grid." That's not an entirely accurate statement. California is already part of a massive regional grid called the Western Interconnection. We buy and sell power with other states all the time. What California has resisted is the idea of joining a Regional Transmission Organization, which as mentioned would be overseen by the federal government, and thus California would lose the ability to regulate some things like the required percent of renewable energy. Source: I'm an electrical engineer working at a major California utility.

[@davidtanaka5357]

@Eric SoCal Edison?... Yeah I smelled bullshit on that comment.

[@CanonFirefly]

@@davidtanaka5357 it's not a bullshit statement, it's just a more nuanced issue that would take more time to go through and was not entirely relevant to the video. There is still truth to the statement, California could reduce curtailments of PV by building more interconnectors and joining a wider energy market.

[@eduddles]

@@davidtanaka5357 LADWP, not Edidson. I'm sorry if you didn't like the comment, I'm just trying to share my knowledge to help clarify a complex issue.

[@Platypus_Warrior]

I understand perfectly why California wants to keep independence over the current presidency ;0)

[@albertjackinson]

@@Platypus_Warrior Me too.

[@friendlytalbot4050]

It's stuff like this that makes me excited for the future rather than dreading it.

[@hillsbills8634]

Friendly Talbot Real engineers understand that the sun and wind is not a reliable or realistic alternative. Its impossible to understand how so many people are bying into this bullshit. I live in Norway. We are 100% self sustained with electricity from hydro plants. But they build cables out to oil rigs, instead of running them on the gas they bring up. The gas is otherwise sold to Germany so they can produce electricity, but it doesnt look good on paper, so we build a new cable so that their CO2 output looks better. In turn we now dont have enough electricity so we have to turn up the prices, buy, and let germans build hundreds of wind plants here destoying the scenery, killing thousands of birds, huge noise pollution, disturbances in radio signals etc, and if you have seen one before you also understand it has its environmental cost to produce and maintain all of them. It just isnt worth it, its not a realistic alternative, the same with solar energy. You have to have reliable and stable source of energy. People need to stop playing around with political correct BS because this is real life, things has consequences.

[@carso1500]

@@hillsbills8634 it's still better than elevating the temperature of the whole planet creating masive extinction events and eventually an unstopable self sustained loop that makes life on the planet very dificult for everyone (all the methane gas trapped in the poles being liberated, a complete colapse of the oceanic ecosystem caused by the rising acidicity, the death of the rain forests worldwide by the massive increase in temperatures, etc) Now of course solar and wind energy are not the only solutions, thats why several alternatives like geo thermal, hydro plants, underwater turbines, posible and hopefuly nuclear plants have been deviced to complement them, between many others, solar and wind are just two of the preexisting alternatives and the more wildly known and used but are far from the only ones we have available, the objective here is to completly curb the carbón conmsuption to zero or as close as zero as we can, we will still need oil for plastic production and other things but we realistically can generate electricity from other sources Also it's funny that you talk about all the "downsides" of wind turbines when the downsides of carbón and oil are much more prevalent and dangerous, like smog, the death of countless animals species caused by the contamination not only birds, etc, skyscrappers kill millions of birds a year, do we need to destroy all skyscrappers because some birds crash against them And yes, this is real life, there are consequences to keep using sources of energy who are running on límited resources that will eventually be depleded and that is quickly making life more dificult to millions of people worldwide, this is not "polítical correctness bs", this is a matter of literal survival of the human race

[@kaydnburns5935]

carso1500 the only probable source of energy in the future is nuclear fusion energy. Everything else is impossible to power the world. It’s just facts. There simply isn’t enough land or flowing rivers to use renewable energy as a power source. The big question no one is asking is how are we going to power transit when oil runs out in 30-40 years? There’s simply not enough lithium in the world to replace all cars with electric ones

[@cooperhawk988]

@Kaydn Burns Fission, not fusion. We haven’t figured out how to get energy from fusion yet. Our nuclear power plants use fission, and have shown that they are by far the best and cleanest energy source.

[@kaydnburns5935]

@@cooperhawk988 No i meant to say fusion. Fusion energy is easily obtainable given you have more than one country actually putting any effort into developing it. Fusion energy is the future.

[@Pvkasz]

This is such an exciting idea! I really hope that for once, it goes well.

[@lutu1408]

The subject being discussed in this video is one of the major reasons to why I've decided to pursue a master in electrical power engineering after I've graduated this spring from my bachelor studies. It's such a cool and exciting topic, while also being a key step in making the transition to a carbon neutral energy system.

[@markdoan1472]

I your field please teach others the difference between stationary and transport power ... Stationary power ( grid , homes , factories , stores , office towers ) is quite easy to transition to renewables and if one looked around they would see nearly every developed country on earth has done a fantastic job on implementing renewables ( I live in Arizona and there is solar everywhere and I put my own home off the grid with solar and a giant flooded lead acid battery bank ) . Transport fuel is a totally different story .. You can’t even get a Boeing 777 to altitude on battery power , solar , wind or any renewable .. It takes a fuel that is liquid at room temperature ( kerosene ). nothing else works

[@LucasPereiradaSilva]

We already have carbon-neutral power sources: nuclear and hydro! This $5,000 power walls they're selling are a gimmick because most customers will return to the power grid at nighttime.

[@charlesbourgoigne2130]

I envy you! The question of future power is one of the big problems we face and to be able work on that problem is amazing

[@jsn1252]

If you're at all competent, you'll quickly how foolish the energy cargo cult built around renewables is. Subsynchonrous resonance, limited or non-existent dispatchability, no grid-level storage, etc. It's as viable as powering the world with unicorn farts.

[@jsn1252]

@@markdoan1472 No, it's not. As of 2017, a mere 6% of Arizona's power generation came from solar. Energy collectors with practically non-existent dispatchability and storage are *not* a viable means of supplying the grid.

[@4G12]

If this super interconnected grid takes off, the benefits to the resilience of the entire European electric power grid would be immense. This project should be prioritized since it's critical to European security.

[@danielgstoehl3905]

The European Continental Grid is already the most reliable in the world. Wikipedia has a cool graph showing fluctuations in the grid frequency around the world and for Europe it's almost perfectly flat. The grid is already proving to be so successful, expanding it further is really a no-brainer

[@jeffharmed1616]

And you happily overlook Russian gas to Germany?

[@OCinneide]

@@jeffharmed1616 gas != electricity

[@jeffharmed1616]

Gas= carbon+ hydrogen. Electricity = fossil fuel derived + green energy derived. I personally believe that fossil fuels play an insignificant role in our climate compared to natural forces.

[@davidblair9877]

Jeff Harmed red herring...

[@lindsay2479]

Another advantage of interconnection is that it helps offer "system strength" to areas with high penetrations of renewable (generally asynchronous) generation. This increases the capacity of a system to incorporate renewables, provided a percentage generation remains synchronous (rotating).

[@arinolsensvebak9113]

Europes interconnected grid is such a good example of how cooperation and friendship between different countries and people is good for everyone. In this example, people all over Europe saves money an emissions by cooperating. Take this and use it to define what you think is best for everyone: Friendship and coalition, or dissing and quarrelling?

[@maxifilip123]

7:38 that’s the Temelín nuclear power plant in my country, the Czech Republic, the country actually exports more power than this plant itself makes, so people are unhappy about all the coal plants here, supplying the local grid.

[@jakubdostalek1353]

Čau, konečně někdo z Česka

[@estathecz]

Zdrávas soudruzi

[@nihilisticmonkeydancing9806]

This sounds like you've got a Goverment with an "eat coal, Peasant" Mentality over there...

[@w0ttheh3ll]

do Czech power plant operators have to buy ETS certificates for all emissions or are they still (partially) exempt?

[@Mercurywheeler]

NihilisticMonkey Dancing Why?

[@mikelord93]

"This interconnection will have a capacity of (emphasized) *700 MW* " Me, thinking on the Kardishev scale: Those are rookie numbers, you got to pump those numbers up!

[@peterheynmoller2581]

True, Most coal powerplants are more powerfully than this link

[@Poctyk]

I have a better idea how we improve our Kardashev number. How about we switch from integrated circuits microchips to this revolutionary new technology -- vacuum tubes. They use more power, which means they are more advanced, at least according to Kardashev scale.

[@carlosandleon]

@@Poctyk that's not how it works. It's about power production. We can be extremely efficient in everything and the kardashev scale will still apply. Just means a given amount of energy provides for more things. instead of fewer less efficient stuff.

[@iliyamarinov3444]

It won't happen with propellers and solar panels...

[@josefaschwanden1502]

700 cable cars

[@taylorrestall6717]

Love your channel! So stoked for this series as I love learning about the way we will ramp up renewables, effectively.

[@the3rdid485]

This is so cool. Sappy feelings aside, I love seeing humanity putting their differences aside in the name of a higher technological advancement. I wish things like this happened way more.

[@Zoza15]

Its happening in Europe right now.. So if that succeeds then other countries will likely following our example.

[@Lion7ism]

"Denmark regularly produces excess wind" XD

[@dwalinozzo]

and it has the higest kWh in europe.

[@Astuar]

Plug a turbo-generator in there and you are good to go X)

[@dwalinozzo]

@@Astuar they go with coal plant, not turbogas plant. ^_^

[@JackieWelles]

The more cheese they eat the more excess wind they produce ;)

[@suokkos]

@@dwalinozzo , Denmark doesn't have anything close to most expensive. They are same with all others Nordic countries where prices are lower than in many other places. www.nordpoolgroup.com/Market-data1/#/nordic/table

[@quimiorlando]

Great video, I didn't know this about Europe. As a Costa Rica, I am glad our country is working the same way as then. Now this new Real Engineering series sounds really interesting and super useful for us engineers.

[@ZZ-sb8os]

I've been watching your 'Logistics of D-Day' series on Nebula, it's outstanding! I'm eagerly looking forward to each new episode!

[@RealEngineering]

Just recorded the next one. It’s a good one

[@Noukz37]

I think this just might be my new favorite series on your channel man! :-)

[@paulgoffin8054]

FWIW, as I type this, the UK's electricity grid is currently getting 52% from renewables. (2% from coal, but that's just because that power station closes in 31 days and it's burning off its coal stocks). And 8% of our power is currently via our interconnectors.

[@user-xd4sk4pk7h]

I was wondering why there was coal even on sunny and windy days like today-makes sense now

[@Kirealta]

Yeah but britain's coal is the most expensive because you guys have been burning it for so long.

[@paulgoffin8054]

@@Kirealta Our coal is expensive in comparison to wind & solar - they're free.

[@Drunken_Master]

Coal-based electricity production is expensive due to CO2 emission rights certificates. An excellent way to de-stimulate the sector. BTW UK's share of renewable energy in total consumption is just 12% (2018 data, I doubt that much changed in the last year).

[@paulgoffin8054]

@@Drunken_Master It changed a lot in 2019 with huge offshore wind farms coming on line with renewables exceeding fossil fuels in Q3. Not seen full year figures yet.

[@Slippergypsy]

Europe over there building renewable energy super grids, meanwhile in australia were spending billions on slow trains and knocking down perfectly fine stadiums to rebuild them

[@jaydani1996]

Not to mention the terrible bushfires which also damaged the ecosystem.

[@FlymanMS]

Also you restrict riding bicycles without helmet.

[@legolegs87]

That's because Australia is ahead of Europe on the renewables 😂

[@Slippergypsy]

@@legolegs87 how do you figure that? Our government invest billions in new coal mines to destroy the barrier reef. We have 1 hydro electric plant built 100 years ago as publicity to get migrants here. Our wind farms are meager at best, not nearly enough houses or business have solar on the roof, batteries are not subsidised or supported, EV's are practically non existent and good luck to you if you wanna charge anywhere but at home, spent billions on a tram system we removed 30/40 years ago instead of investing in 0 emmisions busses that go faster, further, and where they want..the list goes on

[@legolegs87]

@@Slippergypsy Australian government forces energy companies to demolish their coal plants, buys electricity from rooftop PV and subsidies large PV and wind installations. Australian energy grid is in bad shape because of that. You need more coal, dude! Otherwise you'll get price increase and blackouts.

[@engineerseanyoutube1900]

This is funny to watch in a time (during the summer no less) where California is suffering from rolling blackouts due to insufficient power supplies. Adding interconnections could help some, but the costs and losses would be higher than adding several grid scale (10 Gwh or more) molten salt energy storage or a few gen 3 or gen 4 nuclear power plants.

[@RustyOrange71]

I've been hearing 'cheap' electricity for years and still my bill goes up every year without fail.

[@mitchellmiller1990]

Because everyone sells the idea of renewables as cheap, but you can't build enough wind turbines and solar arrays in a city to power it, so you have to construct tons of transmission to get power from a new point in a rural area with no people to where the people are. Utilities rate base capital upgrades like this, so the cost of these lines is born on the backs of the rate payers. Especially as state governments make utilities dump non-renewable sources that may already be up and running, to make and buy new facilities that only run 20% of the time (wind).

[@JamilKhan-hk1wl]

Cheaper = less subsidy = same or higher bill

[@rrs_13]

Capitalism, baby. If you're used to paying a certain ammount for a certain good, even if some company produces it way cheaper, they wouldn't sell you that much cheaper due to existing big player pressure, and the tastiness of profit. But I have to stress that the power demand nowadays, as well as the increased complexity of power grids, factor in heavily in making the Watt be less expensive to be produced but more expensive to be delivered, hence the cost staying relatively the same/having small increases.

[@JamilKhan-hk1wl]

@@rrs_13 Example: You make a toy that costs 8$ and sell it for 10$ Next day, you found a new way to make the exact same toy for 6$. Would you sell it at a cheaper price or still at 10$??

[@rrs_13]

@@JamilKhan-hk1wl Yes. First of all, you want to maximize profit, the way you do that is by increasing profit margin. Then, why would you spend all that R&D time to find a cheaper way to make the toy if you're intending on maintaining your profit? How do you pay for the R&D? Also, if everyone else is selling the equivalent toy for arround 10$, they're gonna be pissed at you and try and coherce you not to. And you'll end up selling it at 9.99$. Which is what happens with renewables. Companies just need to sell it a tad cheaper, will get bullied on by existing big players, will want to pay their investments, and the consumer is already used to paying the same prices, so everyone goes about their lives, grumpying about how electricity COULD be cheaper. Do I like it? Do I agree with it? Neither. But does the world work like this? Definitely. PS: Plus, fossil fuel power plants still have the advantage of being able to produce when needed, and when not needed their fuels don't "disapear". With wind and solar, you may disconnect from the grid when not needed, but the potential of favourable energy generating conditions is a time window that may not be present when you need energy generation again. This can in part be compensated by interconnected grids - which are IMO hugely overated in this video, and their negative aspects neglected - and also with alternative ways of storing engergy, such as hydrogen generation, backpumping in dams, or even battery "farms" for small to medium grid stabilization.

[@stuffmorestuff6647]

Its always a good day when you upload a video!

[@TheBombson]

conclusion: bring back the water wheels

[@righteousviking]

Oddly enough, hydro electric power is still generated by water wheels.

[@MrRAz-ut7bh]

They never left. They just got more complex

[@hornetIIkite3]

@@duncanhw there are still hydro powered dams all across the world used as energy buffers. But to do it at a large scale requires height difference in lands. Something some countries don't have.

[@xXDrocenXx]

@@hornetIIkite3 Stonk Austria 😉

[@Maulstrum97]

@@duncanhw you could burn trash to kill two birds with one stone

[@somanayr]

Oh, cool, I love that the captions include citations!

[@Samcanplaymusic]

I just realized that too

[@Kevin_Street]

Thanks for another fascinating video! I hope this does become a series.

[@TomYourmombadil]

Would you consider doing a video on superconductors? We’re talking about capacitance and resistance in physics right now and it briefly came up and I think it’s pretty interesting

[@dwalinozzo]

you have to syncronize all generators. superconductors is concerning joule dispersions, not syncronizing generators. european gris is the biggest we can accive

[@op8288]

I'd say that developing close to ambient temperature superconductors will be the new transistor, and bring in a massive new wave of tech. But for the power grid, it means that any bit of electricity produced in the EU could be exported, paving the way for a truly renewable power grid. The major problem in any grid is variability. We need to be able to store power. Unfortunately, as of now, there are only two viable methods: batteries and hydropower. We have a limited supply of Lithium in the world: at current consumption, only 120 years left. This leaves out the more efficient battery types: Li-ion, Li-Po, and experimental Li-S. Commercial grade batteries are about 80-90% charge efficient for these batteries (ie: you need 110 Ah to charge a 100 Ah battery). We could use Ni-Cd, or Mixed Metal batteries, as the materials won't be running out shortly for these, but they are more toxic when disposed of, and have fewer recharge/discharge cycles than Li. So, this is where hydropower comes in. Geography dictates if a country can be renewable. Dams and tidal lagoons are the most common of hydropower batteries. Fluctuations in the power grid can be immense, on the magnitude of hundreds of kWh on cold days. The higher the water relative to the generator, the more it can trade its potential energy for kinetic energy, and the more power the plant can produce. Aka: mountain dams are the most effective. If we can implement superconductors into our power grids, our power storage would be no longer tied to geography. There is another battery that I haven't talked about, but that's because I know very little about it: thermal inertia batteries. For example, molten salt cores that have massive amounts of thermal cladding that can output power in a matter of minutes. I don't know the effectiveness of these, but it might be an interesting prospect, especially for producing power during the day with solar panels, then outputting it for the evening surge in demand.

[@TomYourmombadil]

Goosleg I believe California has molten salt generators that produce energy all day? Also, within systems themselves so much energy is lost simply due to resistance in the grid. Stack that on top of every place with sunlight being able to export energy to the rest of the world, and yeah, ambient temp superconductors would be revolutionary

[@dwalinozzo]

@@op8288 ambient superconductor change nothing. We use AC, not DC. All generators have to be syncronized. Superconductors does not help

[@Jcewazhere]

Silly me, I assumed the state grids were already all connected :X

[@davidtanaka5357]

They are. He's conflating some facts (I work for a US power company).

[@Jcewazhere]

@@davidtanaka5357/videos From the EIA "At the highest level, the U.S. power system in the Lower 48 states is made up of three main interconnections, which operate largely independently from each other with limited transfers of electricity between them." So it seems rather more nuanced than what he presented. Of course Texas had to be different with its ERCOT. But then even with that interconnectivity there are still "Retail Electricity Markets " with Cali being one.

[@brian2440]

There are 3 interconnections in the US that they themselves are connected, and in fact the 3 interconnections also extend into Canada with the Quebec Interconnection and Alaska interconnection to form the North American Electrical Grid which is managed and controlled by FERC and NERC. But this can get very complicated very quickly, so if your focus is on a single states and the questions of curtailed energy with respect to lost production and low energy storage rates it may be just easier to say we need more transmission for this particular state.

[@brian2440]

Honestly if you want a real in depth discussion about how the grids are laid out and the challenges and solutions for the US Electrical Grid there is a very good seminar put on by Argonne National Lab that I have linked below: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHuQZmqep7WirMU

[@VriendRick]

Correct but the kabels are not heavy enough. They wil melt.

[@mialhecan]

Great video as always and very happy to see the great work done in the EU on developing the energy system of the future is being shared with a wider audience!

[@Cormin]

As an American, I'm really jealous of the European interconnectors

[@RoScFan]

Why do american states trust eachother and trust the federal government less than european countries trust each other? Even though european countries used to literally butcher each other over cneturies?

[@ninjafruitchilled]

@@RoScFan Because America is a deeply paranoid country

[@savedemperor8024]

There's nothing to be jealous about Europe it's slowly becoming an communist thing

[@axelnils]

@@sn0wdon Because they have healthcare and education.

[@kefsound]

@@savedemperor8024 I wish

[@szepadam5]

is that one star the UK at 6:21?

[@Deadshot-it5rf]

xD

[@WalrusWinking]

Lmao

[@Koellenburg]

made my day xD

[@CityWhisperer]

Vladimir Bodurov it has been in the euro zone, hasn’t adapted the euro but it has been part of the EU.

[@ilfedarkfairy]

@@CityWhisperer Nej. The Euro-Zone are Countries witch use the Euro as their currency. Therefor "Euro"zone

[@cheeseninja1115]

Real Engi.: renewable power! the comment section: N U C L E A R P O W E R !

[@RazorSkinned86]

for two years there has been a heavy astroturf campaign by the nuclear industry. it kinda puts such campaigns waged by Bayer/Monsanto and companies like Exxon to shame.

[@rexmann1984]

Thorium is our future for energy.

[@tobiasbudde5852]

Same in any reddit thread

[@downstream0114]

@@RazorSkinned86 I wonder why: imgs.xkcd.com/comics/log_scale.png

[@rexmann1984]

@@downstream0114 lmfao

[@sebastianjanson3134]

Could you do a video on the worlds largest nuclear fusion reactor currently being built in france? Would be an interesting subject to hear about.

[@lesschorlemer5151]

ITER is just an experiment. It's not going to result in energy production. It's an experiment to prove the concept, it's not the end result. Once they prove that, they've still got lots of work to do towards making a fusion reactor that can work. It is billions of dollars over budget and the final tally is estimated to be around 40 billion spent.

[@darkorbitpro1]

@@lesschorlemer5151 ITER is just expensive and slow prototype for fusion power, but it has done the job to scare the fossil fuel energy companies to start funding their private fusion energy projects which have allready passed ITER on probability to work. Look into private fusion power research thats estimated to be commercially viable and cheaper than nuclear in 15 years.

[@lesschorlemer5151]

@@darkorbitpro1 Where'd you hear this? I've not heard of any oil companies investing in such...

[@darkorbitpro1]

@@lesschorlemer5151 "At the same time, fusion research at the university level is advancing rapidly thanks to partnerships with private sector companies around the world. MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, for example, has received tens of millions in funding over the last several months from Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Italian oil and gas giant Eni." www.forbes.com/sites/ellistalton/2019/01/14/energy-leaders-need-to-pay-more-attention-to-fusion-in-2019/

[@lesschorlemer5151]

Superman when I hear you say oil companies are getting in on the action I’m thinking past college research. Oil companies endow colleges and universities all over the planet to help teach. Where are the startup fusion companies that are funded by the Exxon’s and BP’s of the world?

[@lorismartinoperfetto6908]

Proud to be European, and as an Italian, happy to lead our countries and the world in the quest for renewable energy

[@adirice4636]

lol… that didnt age well

[@Zoza15]

@@adirice4636 Why not?, renewable energy transition is a fact right now in Europe. It takes a while but its infrastructure is now being build as we know it.

[@ValMartinIreland]

You will not be so proud next January when you are freezing

[@knightswhosayni]

The world fought a war to stop nazi like you spouting “Proud to be European” nonsense.

[@brianbosch3628]

​@@ValMartinIreland Never happened that freezing of yours. Instead, we're building more renewable energies than ever... 😅

[@kairon156]

While this is amazing, Knowing Iriland has so much wind energy this makes me feel disappointment in Newfoundland leaders. We also live on the edge of the Atlantic but on the other side. We have loads of wind but the Newfoundland hydro company would rather use oil or river damns than wind. And last I checked a guy was fined for setting up solar power, but that could have been a tabloid. A true story is a PEI man is paying HST (Tax) on electricty he generates himself. So dumb.

[@cormac6423]

kairon156 as an Irish person, I can tell u that we are nowhere near as adept at harnessing wind power as we seem. The government are trying hard to promote wind power, but so far they’ve been met with staunch opposition from residents who don’t want wind power near their house. One wind farm close to where I live started construction in 2016 and only recently began operation!! We really are a country of hypocrites sometimes - we complain when the carbon tax and price of oil goes up, yet protest the development of renewable energy sources

[@jeffharmed1616]

The reason for that is your leaders have common sense and are not swept away by schoolgirl rants. Solar gives you an unacceptable 10 payback period and wind power is worse. So fossil fuels are not only cheaper but they are burnt to carbon dioxide which is plant food, which in turn ends up on our plates. World temperatures are dominated by the variable output from our sun, our variable orbit around the sun and numerous other natural forces that make the effects of carbon dioxide more like a fart (pardon my French) in a thunderstorm.

[@jeffharmed1616]

Energy from fossil fuels is far cheaper than renewables. So cough up more cash or feed the plant world. Your choice

[@jackryan1648]

Ireland?

[@lukesutton4135]

Good bye birds! Hello burning coal for steel and maintaining something that will never be worth the energy it produces. Let's trick more people into our "clean" energy scams :D

[@donharrold1375]

To replace the electricity generation capacity of the UK with windmills you’d need to cover an area equivalent to 10-20,000 square miles with 25,000 wind turbines. In addition, without some form of base load generation a form of storage would be required. That could be massive batteries, hydrogen generation or pump storage hydro power. It’s possible. Do you want it though?

[@darthracer777]

....you state the obvious that this video avoids. Everything sounds great in principle. 'Clean' green energy is not as 'clean' as they claim. But, that's another story.

[@catalintimofti1117]

@@darthracer777 'clean' as in does not burn shit to create power

[@queeng508]

you seem to forget the no one ever said that any country should have only one way or source of energy or change its whole actual system for a single other one. and also, it does not need to be all in one moment, the change. therefore yes it would take a shit ton of space and money to 100% convert the uk to windmills, but luckily for everyone that is not at all the plan nor the right thing to do. what should be done asap is not to produce energy by fossil fuels and such, but using any other source of energy available while buying the rest via the eu grid and selling what is not storable to other eu countries who need that kind of energy in that moment, which is the point made by this video

[@viggoholmsen7203]

As is stated, the vision of the "SuperGrid" sounds great, but there are also some concerns. 1. If you build the wind-farms but lack base load generation, you're supposed to trade this from another country, thereby also creating and perpetuating interdependence. 2. The energy market matches supply and demand, immediate and day-forward, 3. The energy prices, although fluctuating wildly every hour, tends to, on average, approach the prices of the markets with the highest demand (especially Germany, but also UK, France). 4. For a country such as mine (Norway) who essentially are self-sufficient in cheap hydro-power, this leads to electricity prices 5X higher than we used to pay previously.

[@JakobPapirov]

This video was really interesting! Would love videos about each individual project! You rock!

[@Aymenator]

Hi Real Engineering, what softwares do you use to make your videos. Keep up the good work

[@ilyazzar]

I really appreciate this kind of videos. About energy stuff Great!

[@woutervanr]

"Uploaded 14 seconds ago" and I don't have the notifications on, ha.

[@aneesh2115]

Who are you, so wise in the ways of Real engineering

[@panzerofthelake4460]

nobody cares

[@Arigatowo]

@@panzerofthelake4460 Nobody cares that nobody cares

[@dontbotherreading]

@@Arigatowo no matter how many times that's said, everyone that said no one cares, cares very deeply about your personal health and well being

[@marianandnorbert]

still nobody cares about the fact that nobody cares about the fact that nobody cares

[@dmelfa1]

Thanks for the video, very informative and well produced!

[@SClerckx]

I'm so happy to see that something like this is coming along!

[@ArcHelios117]

Stop dreaming. Remember the bills to ban single-use plastics BY 2040 ? A joke. Nothing will ever happen if the ruling elite don't benefit from it. They already are benifitting GREATLY by the way we're living today, so why change ?

[@gunarsmiezis9321]

The ruling cast do benefit form form this project the reliance on unstable sources of energy will result in the need for interconectivity, making rebeling impossible as your country will literally grind to a halt on a cloudy windless day without relying on those you are trying to rebel agaisnt. I do believe they are going to realize such a project if the people do not stop them, tho it will not be for the benefit of us europians.

[@CarlosAM1]

@@ArcHelios117 the european union already wants to make circular economy a thing. People can still profit and its better for everyone!

[@ArcHelios117]

Carlos_A_M Yeah because one the real people ruling the EU want that, and two people already profit today and as you can see, it's already better for everyone right? Don't be so naive... The ruling cast wants obedient worker plebs in a fully owned and controlled environment, not the greater good of all.

[@CarlosAM1]

@@ArcHelios117 Its still a consideration, the EU really wants to implement this as they have stated many times. They actually do want this to happen.

[@visantibanez]

Thank you for making this video. I’ll take a look at the references

[@RealEngineering]

I'll get around to nuclear eventually. There are a lot of reasons nuclear power is dropping worldwide. Primarily because it's more expensive than renewable power. The market dictates all. It should be continued to be researched and developed, but right now it has fallen behind.

[@theheadone]

It's also because of fear mongering and lack of education about nuclear power, what it is and what it isn't.

[@LiftOffLife]

Strontium.

[@legolegs87]

Capital investments into nuclear power are higher because nuclear power is safer.

[@uwu_senpai]

Nuclear is quite cheap. France still has one of the cheapest electricty in the EU. Without politicians getting involved in the regulations for the EPR after Fukushima it would be even cheaper.

[@sariusausereboslol3511]

Further reasons are, that nuclear Power Lacks CO2 neutrality due to very long Transportation ways, its relying on rescources most states dont have. Also it has massive Dangers like the Fukushima and chernobyl incidents. But most of all nuclear waste is a huge problem nobody can solve. Also the nuclear ressources in this planet will run short very soon, if we would try to exchange large portions of Energy generated by fossile fuels wirt nuclear Power. Yet it needs developement, because it could be one of the most interesting Energy sources for space travel

[@willofone2120]

i love this content. thanks real engineering. this is is the stuff that makes me hopeful for the future.

[@balazsgyurak4551]

Really looking forward to the next episode in these series!

[@oswald7597]

I mean, if Nuclear is used alongside, it would be quite plausible

[@zolikoff]

Or just use nuclear mostly. The offshore wind in the north sea is really good and could be coupled with hydrogen generation. Other things are just surplus, environmental littering.

[@isaks7042]

Current nuclear energy would run out of Uranium very quickly if we used it more. If the world used only nuclear we would run out of it in less than 6 years.

[@zolikoff]

@@isaks7042 That's definitely far from true. Uranium is an abundant element, it's only current prospected uranium mines that would run out (and not in 6 years either). There's also thorium, or uranium in seawater (essentially unlimited), and breeder reactors, and combining the latter two would provide the world with energy for basically the lifespan of the solar system.

[@isaks7042]

@@zolikoff I wasn't talking about other radioactive elements. I was talking about Uranium that is used in current reactors. We use 60 thousands tons of Uranium every year. And there is 7641 thousands tons of Uranium reserves. And 4% of the worlds energy comes from Uranium. Just do the maths and you will see that it would take 5 years if we only used nuclear to replace oil gas and coal energy.

[@oswald7597]

@@isaks7042 At earth's current usage rate, there is enough Uranium for 230 years. Even assuming that new power plants has the same efficiency as current ones, and that technologies such as uranium reuse aren't implemented at their fullest (they currently aren't used due to the low relative price of uranium), doubling world nuclear power usage instantly would mean 115 years worth of Uranium left (as Europe currently uses 26% nuclear, in this scenario it would be 52%), seeing that would allow us to shutdown countless coal, oil and gas power plants that's a great trade off, now obviously brand new nuclear power will be more efficient than old plants, and uranium reuse is becoming more common meaning that uranium based nuclear fission plants could supply us for much longer. Bear in mind that 115 years ago, there was a grand total of 0 nuclear reactors, and there are current plans to build both hydrogen fusion and thorium fission power plants, with the benefits that hydrogen is literally the most abundant element in the universe, and thorium is very common aswell (plus can't be turned into nuclear weapons). It's possible that 115 years in the future there won't be any uranium fission plants.

[@borysb1748]

I'm hyped :D Cooperation pays off ;-)

[@DomyTheMad420]

9:40 i have never been this tempted by nebula before. WELL PLAYED.

[@redstonegenius2609]

I like the 3D designs for the papers. Good work!

[@santigonza0852]

2:26 they have a few options on WATT to do with this

[@albertjackinson]

Nice pun!

[@Sal3600]

Yes, there's high POTENTIAL to be utilised.

[@albertjackinson]

@@Sal3600 Are you referring to potential energy there (but this has nothing to do with motion, so...)?

[@jellyman1735]

@@albertjackinson Electric potential / electromotive force are synonyms for voltage.

[@GRBtutorials]

Albert Jackinson Well, pumped hydroelectric power certainly has a great potential.

[@timonmuller7428]

Amazing video! But I think you forgot to mention Switzerland, which despite not being in the EU is a part of the european grid and has a lot of pumped Hydro storage.

[@Eli20021_]

🇨🇭

[@carholic-sz3qv]

same with Austria they have alot of hydroelectricity

[@harrywood6502]

He didn't forget to mention Switzerland. There was just no need to mention Switzerland.

[@dwalinozzo]

and how much GWh does switzerland stores in their dams? italy has 25 GW of dams and can store only 100 GWh of energy. italy will need at least 45 TWh of storage for only renewables energy.

[@Piromanofeliz]

Ah yes, the energy bankers. Very swiss 😜

[@TomTom-cm2oq]

Awesome video!! Thanks for the info!

[@joaomonteiro1562]

Really proud about our cooperation! 🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺

[@brinkshows2720]

The sun is always shining somewhere. The wind is always blowing somewhere.

[@legolegs87]

The energy is always wasted in the long wires somewhere.

[@carminedauria-gupta2561]

legolegs yes, but that’s what would wouldn’t transport energy from California to New York. Instead, you’d transport energy from California to let’s say Colorado, then Colorado would send it to the next state. And eventually New York would get the excess power

[@Unb3arablePain]

Yes, but that somewhere may not be a place where you can take advantage of that wind and solar power that well.

[@lutu1408]

@@legolegs87 most power losses are due to reactive production and consumption in AC grids. If DC would be used instead, said losses would be drastically reduced. Provided that there were a economical incentive, there isn't really anything saying that a connection between the west coast and for an example France, Norway or United Kingdom are unrealistic scenarios for the future. This is of course under the assumption that HVDC technology is used to realise these projects.

[@naberville3305]

Is that an assumption your really willing to risk everything on?

[@jonathanpalmer228]

Been watching his D-Day series, definitely suggest it.

[@dansandoval9330]

This is going to be one of your best series

[@meibing4912]

One answer: sector coupling. Integrate energy production and usage such as renewable electricity coupled to central heating or cooling systems as well as hydro sources. Lots of options.

[@massimookissed1023]

8:10 I have a mental image of Andorra suddenly drilling for electricity.

[@gridcoregilry666]

Love to all my fellow Europeans! Great video with a positive message!

[@gunarsmiezis9321]

Long live europians, death to the EU.

[@rosoro4657]

@@gunarsmiezis9321 now that's stupid

[@gunarsmiezis9321]

@@rosoro4657 not at all. The eu is an antieuropian organization.

[@ValMartinIreland]

Article 3(2) of the SEA Directive is being ignored by the European Investment Bank.

[@davidkayanan8976]

Well put together! Thank you very much

[@raahimirfan5996]

Which video editing software is used to make this video? Thanks!

[@azmc4940]

Main problem in Germany ia that there is intense local opposition to building new powerlines. So they have to be buried underground, which is massively expensive.

[@ottonormalverbraucher7835]

Germany have to many uneducated people and conspiracy theorits. Its terrible

[@rolletroll2338]

Germany is doing a lot of things wrong concerning electrical energy...

[@jirislavicek9954]

Germany is home to some of the world's best engineers, great universities and highly skilled efficient workers. But the problem is that their voice is not heard. Instead the country is governed by my left wingers who's main objective is to protest against everything and create problems instead of solving them. Politicians listen to philosophers and street mob instead of engineers and experts when deciding the future of your energy generation and that's a recipe for troubles...

[@gyuzen]

The curtailment issue is extremely overstated, just check Lazard 2019 average costs for Energy sources. Current solar and Wind costs are so low that even a 20% curtailment is a complete non-issue, they're still half as cheap as everything else, and solar can still get much cheaper, wind less so, but that has room for improvements. Not only that, but your Power then become so incredibly cheap during spring and Summer that some energy-intensive processes would become economically viable, like p2g or desalinization. The real challenge today is the decarbonization of industry, steelmaking, cement etc... not power generation.

[@flolow6804]

Bullshit Getting near to 100% renuable is a huge problem (or even impossible atm) Everyone who has even the smallest thing to do with our grid and energie supply knows that

[@Sheridantank]

Giuseppe Bavaro Excess and waste are another problem to solve in industry. I’ve worked a lot of manufacturing jobs and some of them to me it’s sickening the amount of waste that goes in to making a product. Many companies use standards that to me are absurd and will throw away “damaged” products that are more than useable. For example a box being a bit scratched by a lift. I saw huge issue with the box manufacturing company I worked for. Another example is the thousands of cardboard caskets for cremation we made regularly. Sure let’s cut down trees just to put a dead body in the box made and burn it. If they had a small hole they were no good. We should bury the dead under freshly planted trees. Anything else is excess and waste. Not to mention all the waste packaging and bags for single items at a store and everything else. If we could save the energy wasted here we would need less overall and renewable would be easier. Plus we should be making basically everything out of hemp, fabrics, plastics, and even some building materials can be made.

[@austrianerish]

I don't really see how some of these industries are supposed to become carbon neutral as a lot of it is not really avoidable due to chemical reactions. If someone could shed some more light on this it would be appreciated.

[@flolow6804]

@@austrianerish its not that difficult. Chemical reactions can always be changed by getting energy into the system. CO2 + Water + plus alot of energy will lead to synthetic fuel

[@rodrigotena7372]

Can you please do a video on problems with renewable energies? Like the wind turbine dumpster problem

[@silentdeath7847]

We only had 1 coal power plant in Norway (in svalbard), it was shut down like 1-2 years years ago i believe, the deconstruction and removal started this year. We only have 3 gas power plants, 1 was decomissioned in 2016, 1 not in use (assume it is for emergency) and 1 gas power plant that was supossed to be decomissioned in 2018 but was still in use in 2021. 97%+ we get from hydroelectric alone, the rest we needvwe get thru wind, solar, buying from Sweden and Denmark in particular as our power grids are already well connected

[@WriteInAaronBushnell]

up next: green hydrogen to optimise offshore wind, help oil majors buy into the energy transition, and leveraging existing infrastructure

[@petergoestohollywood382]

Lawrence Wood perfect, could not have said it better!

[@freethinker440]

0:13 The Iraq war costed nearly double that, this world sucks...

[@gouasmiamouad7983]

Stfu

[@SilverGamingFI]

@@gouasmiamouad7983?

[@IberianCraftsman]

1:42 thats super easy to solve actually, put an hydrolisis plant that uses that electricity to generate oxygen and hydrogen from water and thats it, the hydrogen can be stored and shipped to anywhere where its needed, here in spain we use the excess electricity to pump water up the dam, the water can be released then at any time to move turbines and generate electricity.

[@nikolaisafronov3452]

Can you make a video on the new thorium reactor wave? Want your opinion on it

[@Warzone151097]

I hope ITER is a extrem success... it would be a large problem solver for the time, when solar or wind is not producing enough

[@tomkelly8827]

No not at all, it does no vary its production the way a natural gas plant or a hydro dam can. It can do baseload like fission plants but it does not do variable loads well

[@brian2440]

ITER is a research facility and will not be hooked up to the grid anytime soon. In fact after ITER, there is still an additional research program for testing grid viability in DEMO-1 scheduled for deployment in 2055-2060. For actual nuclear fusion grid deployments it is likely more viable to look at stellarator progressions in European countries.

[@dangernoodle_2242]

Can you do Fusion Reactors

[@donwald3436]

How much harder will it be to keep voltage and frequency consistent with so much more fluctuating demand?

[@AskLindal]

Not that much pumped hydro in Norway though. The mechanism is more that production from dams are halted or reduced whenever that makes sence (and here there are many factors taken into account when planning the production, not only excess energy from neighbouring countries).

[@harryflashman8996]

“Oil pipelines and coal shipments are being replaced by grid inter-connectors ” *cough* Nord-Stream 2 *cough*

[@SuperAerie]

A damn abomination that should never happend

[@hpenvy1106]

Nord Stream is for natural gas. Western Europe is already dependant on Russian gas deliverys, but in the moment most passes through Belarus or Ukraine. Nord Stream is primarily a problem for them, because Russia would'nt need them anymore. Gas embargos happend before, it's a political lever for the Russion Gov.

[@cyrilchui2811]

@@hpenvy1106 That's why Trump wants you to buy from USA, (as if) USA never issue any threats or raising price

[@Ruhrpottpatriot]

@@cyrilchui2811 The funny thing is: Neither Russia, nor the Soviet Union before, have ever used Gas as a political weapon against western Europe, even at the height of the cold war the gas was delivered as ordered. The Russian government knows, that killing off the supply to western Europe harms them more than just delivering it.

[@cyrilchui2811]

@@Ruhrpottpatriot Russia used gas/oil to threaten smaller neighbours like Ukraine. Because they have been enjoying huge pass-by fee in the form of discount for their own usage. If more gas/oil go through another route, Ukraine etc got less cut of the pie.

[@Niclas-ui1fh]

This is awesome. Co-operation is what the world needs. It's exactly like this we should run our economy at large. One nation producing meat. Another energy. A third mines and everyone trades amongst themselves. Naturally one nation can do more than one thing at the same time. A resource based economy

[@ryko9975]

You should follow the Eland solar power plant in Southern California. It recently got approved (6ish months ago) & hasnt been built yet, but not many people know about it & you could be the first to talk about it

[@diane5140]

Very well done video! Cheers!

[@chrispearaon1728]

Anyone know what that laser point is doing a 3:55

[@evolt7553]

Measuring the temperature? Or the speed?

[@cob571]

I assume it's a laser thermometer

[@rrs_13]

If it was some sort of thermometer, I don't think it would wobble and follow a specific lump of coal (or whatever), but stay fixed at a certain spot. Maybe its the aliens, or the deep state. Or a guy giving a tour of the factory saying "and this is the conveyor belt where the coal thingy drops to the burning thingy"

[@w0ttheh3ll]

@@rrs_13 or simply a guy with a manual thermometer

[@cob571]

@@w0ttheh3ll it's aliens.

[@KingHeadbang]

Meanwhile in the heart of Europe we can't even properly connect regional grids within Germany.

[@perceptoshmegington3371]

There was talk of a direct DC cable from Iceland to Scotland years ago, was deemed perfectly feasible if I remember correctly but can't recall the reason it didn't go ahead.

[@pinkelephants1421]

Loved the video. Can't remember all the details as it was some months ago that I read an article about development of a new kind of hub to collect excess offshore UK and [I think] Norwegian wind energy for export to Europe. I can't quite remember the exact details but it was something about a floating hub anchored to the seabed not far offshore from the UK coastline with undersea cables supplying electricity to the hub ready for export to Europe. Whether or not it goes ahead wasn't certain - details were still being ironed out. It was in a trade publication online that I came across. Sorry I can't be more precise.

[@loveforthegame3]

man all my favorite channels uploading today 👍 we just need one by Wendover productions to top it off. Thanks for breakfast entertainment 👍 Also that is amazing innovation by the EU. Love from across the pond 🤟

[@leehughes3685]

1: Build human size hamster wheels 2: Connect a way to produce electricity 3: Hire people to run on wheels This will do a couple of things, you'll have a clean source of energy and youll put a dent in the unemployment numbers. It's going to take a lot of people to produce that energy.

[@hackerman7835]

Hahahahaha XD XD hamster wheels XD XD fucking comedy genius XD so funny I forgot to laugh

[@leehughes3685]

@@hackerman7835 well that's good wasnt meant to be a joke.

[@YurkerYT]

Why pay for people to run, put it in gyms and make people pay to use it.

[@hkr667]

@@YurkerYT Unfortunately I have to exercise so hard to use my computer that I don't even have breath left to enjoy what I am doing. Exercising really doesn't produce much.

[@leehughes3685]

@@hkr667 gear it in such a way where one person is doing the work of a thousand people....

[@HappyfoxBiz]

having interconnectors can also save states from complete powerloss because of overloads, if the load is too high then the switch will trip and will try to reset, but you can't instantly ramp up however you can instantly buy more from other members of the interconnected, saving the member states millions each time there's a blackout or when the need to schedule rolling blackouts because reliability is what people pay for with the grid and most accept the higher costs for the reliability but when you make it cheaper for the transmission, you yourself not only get to line your pockets more but you get to pass on the savings to your customers so that they can stay in your member state... in California you can move to another state, in Europe you can move to another country in European Union... mo money is mo money.

[@Viperzka]

How big, theoretically, could this grow? For instance, could it be global so that we buy solar power from Australia in the northern winter and Canada in the southern winter?

[@fraznofire2508]

Why not do what France did and run off mostly nuclear energy? They have cheaper power and less emissions than Germany whose emissions increase with renewables share of their energy grid

[@cloverhal2284]

Because 75% of people think nuclear power plants release CO2...yeah.... oh and because Greta yelled at France not Germany so it must mean they are good boys now

[@CAHSR2020]

Largest minimum project size, greatest cost cradle-to-grave, impractical waste storage needs, lost specialization, months of downtime during major maintenance periods, highest liability threat, most stringent planning approvals, near total lack of available funding from the commercial credit market.

[@PistonAvatarGuy]

@@CAHSR2020 Nuclear is the safest and most reliable form of energy on Earth.

[@viermidebutura]

Yea Germany who's now reopening coal power plants...

[@fraznofire2508]

viermidebutura I know, that’s my point, they need baseload power that is causing their emissions to increase contrary to what many people would believe given they are increasing their renewables grid

[@bartoszjankowiak3157]

Good luck with this in Poland... Wind's and solar's output won't be enough to replace coal plants in this country and it will have even bigger demand for energy since its economy is still growing fast. Nuclear is the only solution there, I think. Polish government said many times they don't want to be too dependent on foreign energy suppliers.

[@suokkos]

There is a micro nuclear power project going on in Finland. They have published study about replacing heat coal plants with heat only micro nuclear reactors. They compared Finland and Poland. Finding was that Finland is likely Financially easier target because heat demand variability is lower (which can be surprising as Poland has warmer winters). But still it looked like Financially possible to replace coal with nuclear heat if reactor technology can be made as safe and cheap they theoretically hope. Too bad actual commercial products aren't yet available and first mover will likely have to pay higher costs for new technology than later "mass produced" reactors.

[@katm9877]

You beat me to it. Poland doesn't have enough mountains for wind and is too far north for solar to be effective. There are a couple of reservoirs that could be used for hydro, but again, it won't be enough to shake coal's hold as far as power generation is concerned.

[@asutoshpatro8428]

You should see the interconnectivity of Indian Grid. they do energy trading everyday and have a central control hub(NLDC) and 5 Zonal Load Dispatch Centres The National grid has the TagLine, One Grid, One Frequency. It is a good example how interconnectivity should be done.!

[@scatttyyyr2032]

Ok so to really get into understanding and addressing the issue of exports and curtailment, you also have to Think about how Electricity Markets work. See, when we talk about all of this, the cheap renewables etc, we often don't think about the market. We think that because wind is free and the sun is free, buying their electricity should be low cost right? Well yes, if they set the market price. But they tend not to, even when they are being curtailed. In California, like in most liberalized Electricity markets, they run a double auction. Suppliers offer quantity-price pairs which are organized in ascending order of price, while consumers do the opposite (although regular people like us have our bids made by the ISO). The price where they meet is what sets the market clearing price of electricity and is determined by a Dispatch Computer. For that time interval (typically 1-hour). At each pricing node (of which there can be between 1 and thousands, depending on the market setup). The scenario we imagine, which is that renewables are producing too much electricity domestically, so it is sold at almost $0/MWh to neighbouring jurisdictions, would only occur if: 1) The highest price offer in the california price node was a renewable producer (if renewable supply offers are 1000 MW/h, demand bids are 1001 MW/h, the supplier of that last MW/h sets the price) 2) Congestion or line losses calculated by California do not raise the market price in that node. (Even if a supply offer is cheap, once you factor in those two, its cost may cause it to be replaced by an offer from a higher bid price. This also raises the market clearing price.) 3) The nodal market price in the importing state is less than the nodal price in California. This nodal price is also subject to the same Congestion and Line Loss issues. 4)There may also be an export transmission tariff, which can raise the price exporters from California pay. Also, you have to consider that, in order to give wind and solar priority access to the grid, which is stipulated in their Feed-In-Tariff contracts, they have their forcasted production automatically bid in at the market clearing floor, making them the least likely to be the price setters in the market. Even during times when they are being curtailed, it is probably not the case that they are actually setting the market price. It is vastly more complicated, but I think you can't really solve, or even have a great conversation about these kinds of issues, without taking into account the operation of the electricity market. I think that would make a good series.

[@asdsdjfasdjxajiosdqw8791]

It's amazing what we can do together in Europe.

[@Codysdab]

Yup, cripple it's competitiveness with the rest of the world.

[@asdsdjfasdjxajiosdqw8791]

@Cody's Dab How would you suggest we compete with the world's superpowers then, other than becoming one ourselves?

[@Codysdab]

@@asdsdjfasdjxajiosdqw8791 so, the EU will become a state then? Otherwise its trading bloc with heavy regulatory oversight. The UK was a superpower, France was a superpower, Rome was a superpower. Superpowers change, the importance is in ensuring citizens live good, happy and productive lives and increases in cost, anti-competitive practises will do nothing to help that.

[@nunciosidereo4070]

@@Codysdab how the european union would stop by his own competing against china usa etc ? USA will make a commision to become a monopole like China and the EU

[@Codysdab]

@@nunciosidereo4070 I'm not sure what you mean there? The EU would make itself less competitive on the world stage by increasing the costs to its own people and businesses

[@fl00fydragon]

The EU should put solar installations in the region where olive trees can naturally survive. Olive trees require an average of 300 days of clear sunlight. As a result, Greece, southern Italy, and Spain could become solar producing facilities.

[@flexairz]

Solar has a flaw.. the earth rotates.

[@giogio6974]

italy is the largest solar producer after Germany in the eu i believe

[@fl00fydragon]

@@flexairz Because energy cannot be stored. It's not as if excess solar can produce hydrogen. You know, a rocket fuel with an absolutely massive energy density that has no carbon emissions that can also be used in aeroplanes ranging from conventional turbojets to hypersonic ramjets.

[@rakasiwi3178]

The problem of solar is at night it will stop producing. And battery is expensive to manufacture or maintence

[@fl00fydragon]

@@rakasiwi3178 If you took the time to like your own comment you'd have the time to read the answer to the exact same comment posted by another member of the conservative hive mind.

[@HotHeadCJ]

Please do a video on the Dam The North Sea Project

[@75IFFY]

I was discussing this with someone a few days ago with regard to Australia and the SE Asia region. It’s a brilliant idea, especially if it reduces the demand for Russian energy/gas in Europe.

[@ValMartinIreland]

If this worked why is German in an energy crisis with 61,000 megawatts if installed wind capacity?

[@soufianekharroubi8835]

I'm sorry to say that this won't work for one simple reason. When the sun shines, it shines over the whole of Europe at the same time. And there are no uncorrelated wind regimes in Europe (see this example between France and UK: jancovici.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/eolien_graph20.png). So on first approximation, there's wind everywhere at the same time in Europe. So even we have interconnected all Europe, to whom should we sell the overproduced electricity in a July afternoon?

[@sirelkir]

To Norway, Sweden, Italy, Spain and Scotland and other mountainous regions which can build pumped hydropower, with up to 80 TWh of storage. (publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC81226/ldna25940enn_assessment_european_phs_potential_online.pdf)

[@sirelkir]

Also, that graph you sent is not telling that much, yes there is an upward linear trend, but it's the spread that matters. I found this figure (hopefully not behind a paywall: ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1364032115017013-gr9.jpg) which shows some high wind correlation in central Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Czechia, Hungary), but once you go to the edges (Balkans, Scandinavia, Iberian p., Ireland and Greece) the correlation drops to almost zero.

[@Tim_Small]

For a real-time global view, see the "Electricity Map" website.

[@blanco7726]

Tim Small hardly global it includes like 10 countries

[@Tim_Small]

@@blanco7726 just checked, and there are 17 there at the moment. There are usually double that. They use publicly available info, so if your country is unavailable, complain to your grid operator.

[@Tim_Small]

@@blanco7726 looking a bit better now (although Ireland, Switzerland, Poland and Luxembourg have gone AWOL)

[@blanco7726]

Tim Small just wanna see Luxembourg tbh

[@nikolaytomov4919]

Besides do you have any idea how much water we should pump in pump acumulating hydro plants to be able to keep up with the demand when there is no sun and posibly wind? And what are the losses in transmiting power long distance? And how is the underwater elecricity eficiency? What we will do with the bateries that require changing every once in a while? The only chance we have is to find a way to recycle the energy we have use, so we reduce it's use.

[@Davete]

thank you for this great content

[@lefr33man]

"Wasted energy is wasted money, what if I told you..." Me: bit early in the vid for a Skillshare ad, but okay.

[@SuperLusername]

While all of this sounds fantastic, it is worth remembering that EU (including UK) represents less than 12% of world energy consumption. In comparison to 16% USA and 23% China. Unless everyone else has the amount of money as EU (and no one except USA does) or political will to throw at the problem of global warming, I would not be that optimistic.

[@flx4305]

Evilsamar Well 12% is not insignificant, China is first and the US second, the eu comes third so it's not a small player. Plus there is a similar and more important super grid project like that in China which will obviously be easier to make as it is one centralized country.

[@SuperLusername]

@@flx4305 problem is that, as of yet, EU is the only one reducing its energy consumption (due to increasing energy efficiency) and fossil fuel consumption (by investing heavily into alternative sources). While China is doing what it can and wants, it's economic stability is questionable due to the composition of it's GDP growth, and if it starts failing renewable energy is the first out the window. Furthermore, I dont really see India, majority of South America or Africa (the continent set to double its population in 30 years) doing anything even remotely comparable to the scale of European effort. Sadly, anything not up to par of European effort is likely too little, too late. We might as well accept the fact and start building dams and other neccessary infrastructure to keep out the sea.

[@useodyseeorbitchute9450]

I'm mostly optimistic about this part. According to IPCC models central and northern Europe is supposed to be more or less fine (~+2C in summer, ~+3 in winter and no clear change in rain pattern) "We might as well accept the fact and start building dams and other necessary infrastructure to keep out the sea." We're talking about half meter or meter after a century. Does not sound unmanageable. If you really want to worry, then think where those extra ~2 billion people would like to emigrate, while bringing their own problems with them.

[@puregero]

Sun Cable is laying a 4500km transmission line between Singapore and the middle of Australia, it's amazing how far electricity can travel these days. I wonder if we'll one day see a global interconnector grid network

[@Schlumpfelch]

this was mesmerizing