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The nationwide estimates don’t necessarily include the growth of hard-to-track but energy-hogging cryptocurrency or cannabis farming, which are estimated to be using up to 2.3% and 1%, respectively, of the nation’s electricity. Energy demand in these industries has shot up with the popularity of cryptocurrency and legalization of marijuana.Data mining is driving demand in Texas, where bitcoin and other crypto miners have requested the equivalent of roughly 41 new nuclear power plants to power their energy-intensive computer processes to generate the cryptocurrency.
Interesting paradigmI am curious to know how much demand is (or will be) created by "legit" datacenters being built to train neural networks. For a company who's mission statement is "To accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy", Tesla sure consumes a lot of juice in datacenters trying to make FSD actually work...
How much electricity does AI consume?
How many watts and joules does it actually take to generate a single Balenciaga pope?www.theverge.com
Yes, but AI, crypto, and data centers threaten to increase CO2Interesting paradigm
Tesla Master Plan envisions sustainability, Robotaxi, higher per vehicle utilization, less vehicles
To get there AI will require increasing numbers of data centers and compute with high energy use
It’s expected, but the offset will be less ICEs, less overall vehicles, more efficiency through increased vehicle use/productivity/utilization
And the AI data centers will be powered by increases of wind, solar and nuclear
Not a horrible future
As long as we reduce CO2
not if we keep up with those renewablesYes, but AI, crypto, and data centers threaten to increase CO2
France is building more nuclear than ever, most open mind countries are having it as one of the three sustainable pillarsIn my opinion, nuclear energy is dead in the United States of NIMBY. All you need to do is skim a few threads on Nextdoor to understand why. Soccer moms come out with pitchforks any time Verizon or T-Mobile proposes a new cell tower anywhere remotely close to a residential neighborhood. Can you imagine their reaction if a nuclear power plant is proposed?
The other problem with nuclear power is waste. The federal government has yet to solve the permanent disposal problem which means any nuclear power plant, no matter the size, will need room for decades' worth of semi-permanent storage for waste. I'm reminded of this every time I drive by San Onofre, a permanently-shut nuclear power plant with over 1,000 tons of the stuff sitting there within a stone's throw of the ocean. There is nowhere for it to go.
Regardless of nuclear, crypto farming/mining operations will always consume any overabundance of cheap electricity. There is no practical way to ban these activities from taking place. If electricity is inexpensive somewhere, mining operations will move in.
AI is a different story. I'm particularly skeptical of Tesla. For a variety of reasons I won't get into in this thread, I'm in the "FSD will never work" camp, so I view any energy spent on training FSD as wasteful. Furthermore, manufacturing humanoid robots (Optimus) whose neural networks require similar levels of energy to train are also a waste. These are counter to Tesla's mission statement.
France is building more nuclear than ever, most open mind countries are having it as one of the three sustainable pillars
Adding AI to the nuclear plant monitoring, could detect the problem before it comes dangerous, Japan did not detect early enough
good info and I agree, new nuclear is vs batteries+solar and batteries+windIt's not a question of safety it's a question of economics. It's physically impossible to build a thermal plant cheap enough that it can operate viably with a CF <80%. Solar and wind have become hilariously cheap. I just bought a pallet of solar panels for $0.23/w. That's nuts. In bulk they're < $0.15/w. And the cost is still falling. With perovskites coming soon we could see power density of PV increase >20% by 2030. 500w residential solar panels. Also nuts.
~4 years ago you needed a special 'high-dollar' inverter to have batteries. Today ~every grid-tie inverter is storage ready and they're cheaper. I just bought a 20kWh LiFe battery bank for $5k that should last 20 years. Should be able to get 40kWh for ~$5k by 2030.
It's hard to see a future for thermal generation unless distributed energy is banned.
it works when there is no wind and at night/cloudy days
think you maybe misinformedThat's my point. Nuclear is the wrong shaped piece to fit in that hole. Nuclear NEEDS to run ~24/7/365. Not 'can'... NEEDS. That's not flexible. Not just when there's no wind and at night/cloudy days.
And it's amusing when people say 'nuclear' in response to ERCOT needing ~4GW of capacity by 2027 due to load growth. Ok... so rolling blackouts 2027 - 2045 until the nuclear is online? Or... ~6GW of gas turbines that take 2 years to build paired with 20GW of renewables to reduce fuel use.
think you maybe misinformed
It's physically impossible to build a thermal plant cheap enough that it can operate viably with a CF <80%.
the govt smooths over the economic issueI understand that they can physically vary their output. I have a degree in nuclear engineering. Economically they cannot vary their output.
the govt smooths over the economic issue
this is how France operates, I have family there
btw, respect your degree, i'm EE
due to the amount of control and regulation, our grid is really nationalismSure. Nationalization is a solution. Probably the only solution. That's where the conversation needs to be. It's not nuclear vs renewables. It's 'free-ish' markets vs central planning. The irony is that most nuclear proponents are trying to use nuclear as a wedge to encourage less government regulation with the misconception this will make nuclear more competitive. In reality the opposite is true.
due to the amount of control and regulation, our grid is really nationalism
France is building more nuclear than ever, most open mind countries are having it as one of the three sustainable pillars
Adding AI to the nuclear plant monitoring, could detect the problem before it comes dangerous, Japan did not detect early enough