Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A pretty visualisation of the European power grid (2022)

121gigawatts.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 205 posts

Re: A pretty visualisation of the European power grid (2022)

#61

Post by qayxc »

masklinn wrote: post #50
anton96 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no clew how come the difference on what's usually said on this forum and the situation in Europe.My only understanding is that the US as whole is more sunny that gives a better ratio solar panel and produced electricity. Maybe also it's a provider thing ? From country to country, you can always have things that seem randomly more expensive. Germany is more renewable but more expensive than France, is it becaus…

> Germany is more renewable but more expensive than France No, germany is more renewable but it's also more coal, any time there's no wind the coal plants start up. And they burn lignite (because that's what in germany e.g. that's what the Baggers strip mine). As a consequence, Germany's electricity emissions are absolute garbage: https://app.electricitymaps.com/zone/DE/12mo It's not as bad as Poland which basically…

> No, germany is more renewable but it's also more coal, any time there's no wind the coal plants start up.

Hm. The actual facts say otherwise, though: https://www.destatis.de/EN/Themes/Economic-Sectors-Enterpris...

So number go DOWN, not up, is what I'm seeing.

Re: A pretty visualisation of the European power grid (2022)

#62

Post by seszett »

kubanczyk wrote: post #53
throw0101a wrote: post #13

Meta: for those unfamiliar, 1.21 GW is a reference to the 1985 movie Back to the Future . Clip of the scene in question: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDuZqYeNiOA * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_to_the_Future If you haven't seen it, the entire trilogy is worth checking out: very fun and quite family friendly.

I thought they mean "jiggawatts" in the movie, i.e. more than bazzillion watts. Where do people pronounce gigawatts like that?

The French dub is famous (in France of course) for saying gigowatts.

Giga just wasn't as commonly used an SI prefix as it is now I guess.

Re: A pretty visualisation of the European power grid (2022)

#63

Post by qayxc »

thrance wrote: post #47
anton96 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no clew how come the difference on what's usually said on this forum and the situation in Europe.My only understanding is that the US as whole is more sunny that gives a better ratio solar panel and produced electricity. Maybe also it's a provider thing ? From country to country, you can always have things that seem randomly more expensive. Germany is more renewable but more expensive than France, is it becaus…

Germany may use more renewables in volume, but it is absolutely dirtier than in France. Their electrical mix makes use of lots of natural gas and lignite coal, the worst kind, both expensive and very dirty.

Compare to the PAST, not the present! As you can see, the trend is downwards and steadily at that: https://www.destatis.de/EN/Themes/Economic-Sectors-Enterpris...

Rome wasn't built in a day and I find it hilarious to advocate for nuclear power instead, if the average construction time (not even taking into account the prior mountain of bureaucracy) is over a decade. Not a single nuclear power plant built in past 15 years in Europe has been on time or on budget. Not even close.

Re: A pretty visualisation of the European power grid (2022)

#64

Post by barbazoo »

aziaziazi wrote: post #44
barbazoo wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if that still holds true nowadays with renewable energy and storage having got cheaper and cheaper.

What storage are you referring too? I see residential ones in houses but absolutely nothing of state-scale, which is necessary to keep industries and services running. Materials used for current storage technologies are expected to see demand skyrocket. We’re still to see the renewables going further than the residential proof of concept on a society scale. God bless plutonium.

> Materials used for current storage technologies are expected to see demand skyrocket.

We haven't even specified what kind of storage technology we're talking about yet you already state that "materials used for current storage technologies are expected to see demand skyrocket". Are you referring to batteries? There are countless other technologies to "store" energy.

Re: A pretty visualisation of the European power grid (2022)

#65

Post by rightbyte »

dismalaf wrote: post #56
Gud wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely false. Current flow is metered using current transformers. full disclosure: I install high voltage switchgear for a living.

Seeing current flow through switches isn't the same as seeing specifically where your power is coming from. Like, if power from several different sources flows into a single substation before it goes to your home, you know exactly which source created the electricity you're using? And if I purchase power from a 100% renewable company, is it always only electricity from their generators, never ever mixed in with power…

Kirchoff's laws applies though. It should be possible to calculate where the power in your outlet comes from for the power line operators.

Re: A pretty visualisation of the European power grid (2022)

#66

Post by CalRobert »

throw0101a wrote: post #13

Meta: for those unfamiliar, 1.21 GW is a reference to the 1985 movie Back to the Future . Clip of the scene in question: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDuZqYeNiOA * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_to_the_Future If you haven't seen it, the entire trilogy is worth checking out: very fun and quite family friendly.

I’d love to normalise pronouncing gigabyte as jigabyte

Re: A pretty visualisation of the European power grid (2022)

#67

Post by CalRobert »

aziaziazi wrote: post #44
barbazoo wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if that still holds true nowadays with renewable energy and storage having got cheaper and cheaper.

What storage are you referring too? I see residential ones in houses but absolutely nothing of state-scale, which is necessary to keep industries and services running. Materials used for current storage technologies are expected to see demand skyrocket. We’re still to see the renewables going further than the residential proof of concept on a society scale. God bless plutonium.

Eh… plutonium? I think uranium is the usual choice.

Home batteries can be part of a grid level response but this is nascent.

Re: A pretty visualisation of the European power grid (2022)

#68

Post by KennyBlanken »

Impressive - Norway and Sweden are exporting ~6GW right now with Finland throwing in for another GW.

Probably contributing to the high percentage of EV sales. In Finland 90% of new vehicle sales are EVs. Sweden and Norway are at ~%60, and have a greater share of PHEVs.

"EVs, they're gonna be a bloodbath" and "they don't work in the cold", indeed /s

Never seems to occur to people that "I don't ever have to stand outside in the cold pumping gas into my car" and "I can have my car warmed up by the time I get in to go somewhere" are really popular features.

Also, they didn't build out their EV charging infrastructure via legal settlement, leading to having chargers owned and operated by a company ambivalent about maintenance and repair.

Europe as a whole is 24%, rising at a good clip. Also surprising is Romania - ahead of everyone except the Scandinavian countries and way, way ahead of all the former soviet states.

Re: A pretty visualisation of the European power grid (2022)

#69

Post by insane_dreamer »

fsh wrote: post #18
insane_dreamer wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if it wasn't for France having primarily used nuclear power decades ago, Europe as a whole would be in a much much worse state when it comes to CO2 emissions. That makes it abundantly clear that nuclear needs to be a part of the mix when it comes to non-emission generating energy production.

France has 12% of Europe's population, and its primary energy is 45% from fossil fuels and 40% from nuclear power. The effect on Europe as a whole is therefore pretty small.

You're not counting the energy outflows from France to neighboring countries.

Also, France gets 70% of its energy from nuclear, not 40%.

Re: A pretty visualisation of the European power grid (2022)

#70

Post by insane_dreamer »

briandear wrote: post #15
insane_dreamer wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if it wasn't for France having primarily used nuclear power decades ago, Europe as a whole would be in a much much worse state when it comes to CO2 emissions. That makes it abundantly clear that nuclear needs to be a part of the mix when it comes to non-emission generating energy production.

Any data on how much France has slowed the decrease of global temperatures? Is there a “nuclear power to degrees saved” converter?

someone could calculate the savings in CO2 emissions over all the power generated by nuclear energy each year in France, since the power stations were built, vs coal plants (which would have been the alternative at the time)
Post reply on HN