Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

But the efficiency of a gas power plant is only 20-60%. I'm all for electrification but unless my sums are wonky, a percentage of gas that was used to create electricity for heat pumps would have been better off burnt in a boiler. Over half the UKs power came from gas this last week.

We need to turn back to nuclear until we've figured out grid level storage.



Why not just stay with nuclear, realistically?

Don’t need to reengineer the entire grid then…


Our existing grid won't handle the 150A homes we'll need when everyone has heat pumps and a pair of EVs charging on the driveway.

Storage allows demand-shifting to localities, lessens the burden directly on central stations and stabilises costs. Getting people to buy their own storage also helps but it's hecking costly and much more economical at scale.


DNOs in the UK decline lots of supply fuse upgrades and higher-rate domestic solar installations because local infrastructure capacity issues.

This stuff all needs a bit of an upgrade anyway, but we can defer that if design houses/developments to smooth their own load spikes.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: