Reply To: Regulation of electric power production

[Brian H]

Phil’s Dad wrote: It will be locally distributed not centrally transmitted for reasons of neither economics nor technology. In the UK right now we are threatened with refinery strikes that could lead to power outages. EU wide we look nervously at Russia with its hand poised over the gas taps. Iranian oil is no certainty – the Supreme Leader isn’t singing our praises right now (this is not a political rant just a statement of fact). Whether you look at it on a national, continental or world wide scale there are solid reasons to want control over your power supply. That applies to individual businesses just as it does to local communities. There will still be outages and disputes but they will be on a tiny scale compared to the potential down side of the current system.

IBM’s founder famously once said the world wide demand for computers would be about six or seven units. He said that because his paradigm was the before picture. We need to think in terms of the after picture.

The title of this thread is “Re-powering the Electric Utility Industry”. I prefer “Rethinking the Electric Utility Industry.”

(…and what do we do with all that Helium? :blank: )

I used the expression “Energy independence for everyone who wants it” once or twice! That’s a big deal.

If you want to try to “grok” the after picture, start by listing or contemplating the programs, projects, developments, and possibilities that are not currently pursued because of energy and other resource input costs. And remember that energy cost affects pricing of every stage, of every good and service. Now cut those input costs by 90%+, and rethink the options.

The most obvious Big Item is desalination. If it becomes cheap and easy, consider the consequences (from California to the ME to the Australian outback). Waste disposal with plasma torches is another. BEVs for all is another.