“”t’s interesting how inefficient electrical generation and transportation are”
That’s what jumped out at me. Our local mayor is building small power plant’s for local business. they can sign on and and use state utility or the local in whatever mix/% they want at cost.
The savings must be mostly the transportation losses
‘lost energy’, is misleading.
a typical nuclear power station puts
60 percent of the reactors-heat-output
into the air/water.
unavoidable.
so what
Actually, diesel engines are very significantly more efficient than spark engines, mostly due to much higher compression ratios. Building hybrid vehicles with plug-in capability and diesel generator sets would greatly improve our transport efficiency.
Every locomotive (except for a few antiques) is either electrically powered or a diesel-electric hybrid. If we electrified our long-haul tracks we could reduce fuel consumption significantly.
Finally, France get about 80% of their electricity from nuclear plants, and Japan is not far behind with about 60%. This is the number that we REALLY need to increase. We have a tremendous reserve of the raw materials, and one of the most advanced research facilities in the world.
Unfortunately, we also have the most whiny, obnoxious, luddite know-nothings standing in the way of progress in this field, reinforced by a cadre of judges willing to listen to their claptrap and actually afford it credibility. It’s time to put an end to their hegemony.
Our coal resource ought to be re-directed away from power generation and toward producing both liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, for industrial use, home heating, and transportation fuels.
If I had my ‘druthers, the next thing I would buy from the Middle East would be a bag of sand for my future grandchild’s sandbox.
And, to that point, consider how dependent we are on that huge beyond description horde of semi trailers, hauling everything imaginable. Surely we could make greater use of railroads for bulk transport of non-perishables. Occasionally, in a contemplative moment, I marvel at the fact that there is hardly any corner of the U.S.A., however remote, that one cannot find iceberg lettuce in a little backwoods grocery store or lunch counter. Just a tiny illustration of the free market at work, a marvel of organization accomplished without being designed by government bureaucrats. But I digress. Sorry. However, it does illustrate our dependence on trucks, and diesel motors, for the widespread availability of consumables, including items far more essential to our health and well being than lettuce. If only the process were much more energy efficient.
The centralization of electricity production makes these losses virtually inevitable, because of Ohm’s law.
Unless we can come up with super-high-temp inexpensive superconductors and rewire the nation, or distribute electrical generation closer to where it is used, we’ll be stuck with it.
The majority of this loss is in the transmission of the power from the plant, to the converter stations & substations, and out to the pole / box by your property.