Month: February 2024

Reconductoring

Steven Guccione

It seems lack of transmission lines is holding back growth of the electrical grid in the US.  Adding new transmission lines is a very expensive prospect.  It looks like a good alternative would be to just replace the old, inefficient wires with newer technology.  This could quickly double the grid capacity at a relatively low cost.  It’s being called “reconductoring”.  From Oil Price:

Last year, a study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory called “Queued Up” revealed that at the end of 2022, more than 10,000 power plant and energy storage projects (95% were zero-carbon resources) were waiting for permits to connect to the grid. That’s enough additional capacity to double the country’s electricity output, mostly from clean energy.

This Might Be The Fastest Way to Double U.S. Grid Capacity

Texas Republican Primaries

Steven Guccione

Been seeing some unusual political ads on TV.  Mostly just collections of far-right talking points on guns, immigration and school vouchers.  I joked that one looked like it was made by AI (perhaps it was).  This is during a primary, not a general election, though.

It seems that Wilkes and Dunn, the far right wing frackers (autocorrect wants to call them “crackers”) who more or less own the Texas Legislature are behind these ads.  It’s all about getting their pet project, school vouchers, approved.  This plan would give about $10,000 per student to private (read: religious) schools, at the expense of Texas public schools.  Massively unpopular, but the Christian Nationalists are not giving up on this one.  From Texas Tribune.

Greg Abbott, Tim Dunn spend millions in Texas GOP primary fights over vouchers, impeachment

Social Media Dopamine Junkies

Steven Guccione

From The Honest Broker.  I’m mostly off social media, and try not to do much on my mobile device.  I worry most these days about the huge wave of “phone betting” on sports, and I assume anything you might want.  Unlike previous gambling enterprises people are now betting against AI and algorithms.  This will be a disaster for many people, and maybe in some way, for all of us.

The State of the Culture, 2024