Which is fine as long as not too many private households sell electricity back to the grid. Not only are there the issues @feld mentions, the more general problem ist that (at least in Europe where I live) the various grid systems are top-down and in need of constant balancing:
• Transmission grids (high voltage 220kV or 380 kV) large distance transportation of electricity
• Distribution grids: transports electricity at high (60 kV to 220 kV), medium (6 kV to 60 kV) and low voltages (230 V or 400 V).
In this top-down structure voltage has to be transformed down from higher voltages to lower voltages.
Usually, homeowners with their solar-to-grid installation feed their electricity at the lowest voltage back into the grid. In order to counter fluctuations in the number of feeding sources as well as their quantities of electricity, the net stability has to be guaranteed by re-dispatch: shutting on and off of various feeders and consumers under the primacy of keeping the net frequency constant (otherwise there will be brown-outs with large sections of the grid shutting down). Every re-dispatch costs a lot of money (which has to be paid by all consumers) and endangers the net stability. And the more households feed back their electricity into the grid, the more instable the net and the more expensive its balancing becomes.
Current grid and net structures can accomodate for up to 30% electricity from renewables. Otherwise, due to fluctuation, net balancing becomes so difficult and expensive that brown-outs become frequent. Adding household-to-grid (e.g., via private solar) or vehicle-to-grid (via car batteries) endangers the overall supply with electricity and increases the electricity prices for industries.
Also not to be ignored: The cost for the re-dispatches to keep the net frequency stable is paid by all consumers. That is: Those who sell their electricity back to the grid can only do so because others pay more for the costs that arise from keeping the net stable than what the feeders pay.
I thus would be very careful to cheer any "down-towards-upwards" feed of electricity. The #infrastructure is not there for such "localized" electricity "production".
As if people paying taxes in any way creates a "collaborative effort" by which the top-down relationship between state and people ceases to exist.
As long as the people have no stake in the formulation *and* enforcement of industrial regulations and #infrastructure standards, they are not part of some fancy "invisible revolution" but of the vast cohort of unpaid employees of the state and its industrial embodiment.
As the electrification of the Leeds-Manchester rail line is again put under review to see if 'savings can be released', what successive authorities seem to miss is that each time they delay to review (to find costs savings), they're increasing the cost, making the extent of actual savings needed to make their target cost reduction that much harder, until eventually, the delays themselves raise costs so much the project (perhaps by design) becomes uneconomic.
A big driver in the development of small nuclear reactors may less be the civilian demand but state-side demand to supply military bases and forward tactical units with energy and electricity. That may become an immense factor in innovation. Remember how it was the Vietnam War that led to the standardisation of cargo containers by the U.S. military that subsequently made globalized trade possible. It's thus probably the military, again, that is the driver of profound technological changes.
#Musk toured a kibbutz that #Hamas had attacked, dressed in a suit instead of his trademark occupy mars T-shirt, & offered #Starlink’s services to the Israeli govt. #Israel has imposed #internet blackouts & destroyed #telecommunications#infrastructure in #Gaza…. This summer, after lengthy negotiations, Israeli authorities allowed #SpaceX to activate #Starlink in one hospital in Gaza, w/more service on the way.
Though there is no evidence that the new inroads are aimed at anything other than gathering #intelligence, some of the techniques & resources employed are associated w/those used in the past year by a #China-backed group known as #VoltTyphoon…. #US intelligence ofcls said that group sought access to equipment at Pacific #ports & other #infrastructure to enable China to sow #panic & #disrupt America’s ability to move #troops, #weaponry & supplies to #Taiwan if armed conflict breaks out. #security
“serving for 24yrs. He used his #Gl Bill benefits to go to college,& become a #teacher. He served as both the #FootballCoach & the advisor of the #GayStraightAlliance. “I share this background both because it's impressive in its own right,& because you see in no uncertain terms how it informs his record. He worked w/ #Republicans to pass #infrastructure investments.He cut #taxes for working #families. He passed a #law to provide #PaidFamily & #medical leave to Minnesota families. #HarrisWalz2024
“Significant reforms to #immigration & #border policies that would have addressed the crisis at our southern border were blocked by #Trump because he didn’t want the problem solved. He wanted to exploit it for personal political gain.
“Since 2014, I have had the honor of being mayor of #Mesa, the nation’s 36th-largest city & one of the most #conservative. Under Trump, American #cities didn’t get the support they deserved. #Infrastructure week was made into a joke.
"...govt aims to launch [an automated freight network] in select areas by 2034 before introducing it on the busy Tokyo-Osaka route, PM Kishida announced on July 25" "...estimated construction cost per 10 km is 25.4B yen ($165M) for above-ground infrastructure and 7B to 80B yen for the underground tunnels" https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15363084 🔸Ignoring existing freight trains allows excuse to spend billions of taxpayers' money?🤔 #Japan#infrastructure#WhiteElephant
"[Japan's] Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry has proposed [transporting] goods on median strips or through underground tunnels along expressways" "According to a survey of construction companies...a system linking Tokyo and Osaka would cost up to ¥3.7 trillion" https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/business/economy/20240623-193996/