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orangezeroalpha t1_j0akirk wrote

Reply to comment by KronaSamu in Fusion energy breakthrough and national security implications explained by TheScienceAdvocate

Most of us have replaced all the 60w-100w bulbs in our homes with brighter 5-8w led bulbs.

All kinds of consumer goods now operate on much less energy and do more work for us. Look at computer chips. Look at almost anything that requires electronic circuits.

The air conditioner I just bought has a newer type of motor that uses around 1/3rd of the power of my old air conditioner and cools better.

A lot of consumer spending is build around the idea of things being more efficient. HVAC units, water heaters, fridges, etc.

I could go on. Electricity per kw/h is going to keep going up in price over time for quite a long time... I don't get your attitude on this, unless you own a power plant and set the prices :)

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KronaSamu t1_j0aoze6 wrote

I'm not talking about it on a personal scale. I'm taking on a civilization scale. Human kind as a whole should look to only increase our power production (as long as we do it sustainably).

Also efficiency is always good as it helps increase the available energy.

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orangezeroalpha t1_j0b2fnx wrote

All of those things are society wide effects. Everyone needs lighting.

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russrobo t1_j0b1gdm wrote

This is a good point. The cost of (grid) electricity isn’t a function of “what it costs to produce”; it’s instead “what the customers will bear”.

Remember that fossil fuels themselves are, effectively, a kind of “fiat commodity”. They’re worth exactly what people will pay for them.

For decades we’ve been in a cycle of increasing efficiency and prices. We spend our own money to drastically cut our use of some resource (based upon some technological improvement), and as soon as we do so the seller cranks up prices so we’re spending more for less.

For electricity, there is a kind of endgame. At some point prices are simply so high, and our use of resources so efficient, that utility cord-cutting becomes viable. Suddenly, you don’t need a huge national grid any more. You can trade power with your neighbors, have community-based wind generation, and so on.

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