Re: power shortages

On a sunny day (Fri, 08 Mar 2024 08:13:42 -0800) it happened John Larkin
<jl@997PotHill.com> wrote in <n2emui9ms7puul8i5k829l4batsd0bb08r@4ax.com>:

On Fri, 08 Mar 2024 16:01:56 GMT, Jan Panteltje <alien@comet.invalid>
wrote:
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On a sunny day (Fri, 08 Mar 2024 07:09:39 -0800) it happened John Larkin
<jl@997PotHill.com> wrote in <ebamui94of6duifghmb6jnen11060l4dlv@4ax.com>:
>

On Fri, 08 Mar 2024 13:15:34 GMT, Jan Panteltje <alien@comet.invalid>
wrote:
>

On a sunny day (Fri, 8 Mar 2024 10:22:29 +0100) it happened Jeroen Belleman
<jeroen@nospam.please> wrote in <usela5$1jtre$1@dont-email.me>:
>

On 3/8/24 07:40, Jan Panteltje wrote:

On a sunny day (Thu, 07 Mar 2024 07:13:56 -0800) it happened John Larkin
<jl@997PotHill.com> wrote in <h8mjui5kf50de3tkplpf1e12k12r8dgl58@4ax.com>:
 

>
 https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/amid-explosive-demand-america-is-running-out-of-power/ar-BB1jtM69
>
Increasing demand and declining reliable supply could put people in
the dark.

 Yesterday I was reading Netherlands gov has decided to build 4 new nuclear power plants.
They still have to find locations for 3, what if next doors?? ??

>
These are planned to be the --now old-fashioned-- Westinghouse
design? Big installations that need ten years to build?
>
I wonder if it wouldn't be better to start an industry of
small modular reactors. Tens of megawatts rather than hundreds,
Something that could fit on a barge, or a train, transported
where it's needed, and up and running in months rather than
years.

>
Yes, Russia has a ship with a nuclear power plant that powers some city somewhere,
no risk of flooding then :-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_floating_nuclear_power_station OTOH ever more power is needed, so a big nuclear power plant makes sense.

>
Why not lots of smaller ones? They could be phased in incrementally,
quickly, where and when needed.
>
The politics are good. Do you want electricity? Find us a few acres
for an SMR.

>
The more the harder security is.
Some idiots a few days ago did set fire to a HV mast in Germany to prevent Tesla from expanding there.
It also cut power to some other large company and caused shortages.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/05/business/tesla-germany-factory-fire.html
 It would be cool if they got small fusion reactors working.
One for in each car?

>
So far, fusion doesn't look like it will work in anything smaller than
a star.

I am not sure, I have written here many times:
 "If you cannot do it with those tiny particles on the desktop,
  then you cannot do it with a machine the size of the universe"
Example, look up Farnsworth fusor:
 https://www.tue.nl/faculteit-technische-natuurkunde/onderzoek/onderzoeksgroepen/science-and-technology-of-nuclear-fusion-fusion/fusion-facilities/fusor
build one yourself:
 https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Build-a-Fusion-Reactor-and-Become-Part-of-t/
Highschool kids have done it too.
Fusion is not the problem, it is the break-even that needs to be improved
factor 10^6 too low for that Farnsworth fusor IIRC.
But who knows, I do see opportunities here to increase it
many have worked on that, I wanted to build one but its low efficiency, radiation, lack of space I have, kept me.

Cars work fine on gasoline, or almost even on batteries. It doesn't
make sense for a 100lb person to move 3 tons of steel with them to the
drugstore, but market forces will fix that.

Yes..