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German digital signage ban prompts confusion

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Re: German digital signage ban prompts confusion

#351

Post by polycaster »

SuperQue wrote: post #337
jhoechtl wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they are power-hungry and everyone knows that. More generally because the climate in central Europe is not like Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, California but hospitable during the summer season without AC. AC makes it more comfortable during hot days but it is still doable without. This is only true for private households. Since 10 years ACs are widely used in a business environment.

Except, modern AC is pretty efficient. I have a decent monoblock cooler in our apartment in Berlin. I also have a 1-second sampling power meter. The AC unit uses about 700 watts when active cooling, but of course it cycles so that's not all the time. We also only run it when it's 30+ during the daytime. Overall, it's only added about 15-20kWh to our monthly usage. (2-person household, about 200kWh/month average)

Which brings us back to the original question:

> What on earth are people spending electricity on?

It's exactly that. An AC, probably one additional appliance among others, adds another 10% to the total and somehow we manage to frame this as efficient and thus the right thing to do.

Re: German digital signage ban prompts confusion

#352

Post by dontlaugh »

mschuster91 wrote: post #203
tjansen wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The amount of electricity generated over the course of a year is irrelevant without storage. We could generate 1000% of our energy needs and still not have enough, if we generate 2000% in summer and 0% in winter. We need to generate 100% of our energy needs every single hour. Renewables are practically incapable of doing this on their own. They can reduce the use of fossil fuelds (or nuclear power), but not replace t…

> We need to generate 100% of our energy needs every single hour. Renewables are practically incapable of doing this on their own. They can reduce the use of fossil fuelds (or nuclear power), but not replace them. Install enough windmills across the entire coastal areas of Europe, add thousands of kilometers long cross-continental UHVDC links like China does [1] and even winter won't be a problem. Besides: using biom…

China's energy policy is indeed one of the few rational ones. But besides vast improvements in renewables, transmission and storage, China has also invested in new better nuclear designs.

Re: German digital signage ban prompts confusion

#353

Post by malermeister »

fzfaa wrote: post #94
malermeister wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have to save energy to soften the blow of the climate catastrophe. The Russian imperialist aggression is just an additional selling point.

Saving energy means stopping growth. The West stopping growth while China, India, etc. grow uncontrollably because they don't give a crap about the stupid climate plight will be our downfall.

Who cares about India or China or whatever. They're all gonna die if they don't change their ways.

The climate plight will be our downfall, but not because of silly squabbles like you describe, but because the mindset you have is inherently extinctionist.

Uncontrollable growth is a characteristic of cancer, not something to aspire to.

Re: German digital signage ban prompts confusion

#354

Post by someguydave »

fyvhbhn wrote: post #348
someguydave wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an insane take, there is plenty of uranium globally. Whoever says otherwise is lying.

There may be plenty of uranium. However there isn't plenty available for easy extraction. "Is nuclear energy green" Sabine Hossenfelder

I respect Sabine but I am skeptical about the paper she puts forth about limited uranium supplies.

See the late Prof. MacKay’s work on the subject, considering fast breeder reactors to reuse the fuel and ocean extraction of uranium: https://www.withouthotair.com/c24/page_164.shtml

Re: German digital signage ban prompts confusion

#355

Post by ceeplusplus »

emn13 wrote: post #315
morsch wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Average power usage for a 1 person household in Germany is 1300 kwh/year (roughly, numbers vary, but not to a degree that it matters). That's about 150W sustained. So 1500W for a large sign, that's like 150 high power LED light bulbs, I guess that checks out. Anything that reduces ads in the public sphere is fine by me.

1500W of LEDs is... rather bright; on the order of 150000 lumen. I guess there will be significant losses perhaps, but I sure hope most signage is using a lot less than that.

For context, this is what 100W of LED looks like [1]. Those signs don't come anywhere close to this.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsrAV1Qh4fs

Re: German digital signage ban prompts confusion

#356

Post by swah »

Here in Brazil, as everywhere, there are some ultra bright signs now - even gas prices - that are as annoying to me as hearing loud music in a otherwise calm place. Yet no one gives a f* about this.

I wonder if most people don't even notice this?

Re: German digital signage ban prompts confusion

#357

Post by dontlaugh »

kikokikokiko wrote: post #324

The ads angle, in my opinion, is the least important piece of this news. What shocks me really is how Germany, one of the (if not THE) most advanced societies on Earth, came to a point where it can not produce enough energy to sustain it's needs. Western civilization has a masochistic saviour complex, and will freeze to death in winter in the name of "saving the world". I, living in a 3rd world country, can only look…

Germany (and not only) is only wealthy by extracting vast amounts of wealth from other countries. This is done through unequal exchange, like poorly paid immigrants in Germany, ownership of factories in other countries with low wages, extracting resources at tiny prices from other countries, giving out loans at usury rates to countries who have been made to have no other choice, etc.

Germany is failing to generate enough energy because the system of exploitation it is based on is beginning to fail under its own internal contradictions.

Re: German digital signage ban prompts confusion

#358

Post by radicality »

rr808 wrote: post #298
morsch wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Average power usage for a 1 person household in Germany is 1300 kwh/year (roughly, numbers vary, but not to a degree that it matters). That's about 150W sustained. So 1500W for a large sign, that's like 150 high power LED light bulbs, I guess that checks out. Anything that reduces ads in the public sphere is fine by me.

> 1300 kwh/year Wow that is low. In most states in the South average household consumes that per month. https://www.chooseenergy.com/news/article/the-states-that-us...

Yeah that really surprised me. I live in a 1-bedroom in NYC and am almost at 1000 kWh/month, especially because of the recent heat waves.

Re: German digital signage ban prompts confusion

#359

Post by neolithicum »

yrro wrote: post #99
neolithicum wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? You think protecting wildlife is more important than human life? Also, less light might increase the frequency of road kills.

Yes, yes I do. We're doing incalculable damage to animal life (e.g., disrupting birds and insects which are essential pollinators for plants). This is but one facet of the crisis that our species has inflicted upon the planet.

But why is that a problem? I do not disagree with you about the crisis (at all!), but the only reason we care is because we're human beings - because we defined this to immoral and also because it endangers human (and other) beings lives. IMO, I find it makes very little logical (and frankly also moral) sense to say as a human being that wildlife conservation is more important than the lives of other human beings.

I know you're not saying quite the same, but this reminds me a bit of an "unpopular opinion" I came across once, which stated that people must die because there are too many people living on earth...

(edit: formatting)

Re: German digital signage ban prompts confusion

#360

Post by dontlaugh »

immibis wrote: post #321
fzfaa wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's done in the name of energy savings and the only reason that we all have to save energy is so the political elites of the West can play Risk against Russia.

... you believe it is the west's fault that Putin felt like genociding a bunch of people?

It is definitely the West's fault for engineering the 2014 Euromaidan coup, which began a campaign of terror and death against trade unionists and the people of the Donbas region, which continues to this day.

It is also Putin's fault for invading further, instead of merely protecting the Donbas republics as they asked.

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