NT 025 - Power

so we're off to see the wizard

anyway so sir is officially 17

kit you are now closer to 18 i

think we already did this one

no no we we talked about you

before you were 17 now you are

17. so so you're you're on your

trek towards official legal

adulthood how uh how do you

feel me of course the same as

he answered before he found 17.

no but we we had some good

times with your birthday we had

some meals uh he actually you

you chose a really

good barbecue place when we

were at my significant others

place of residence moving on

but yeah that was a good

barbecue place me good job this

is episode 25 and i have once

again absolutely no idea what

we're going to discuss what you

want to talk about there's a

social network it's a less

popular one called next

next door and the whole premise

of next door is is it's based

around your local area your

local community and you can

even request that they send you

postcards that then you can

send out to all of your

neighbors and local people to

get them to join

And a lot of it devolves into

people complaining and griping,

of course, because social media

.

But that said, occasionally

interesting conversations

happen.

And one of the interesting

conversations that I saw

recently, and I don't go on

there very often, I just happen

to go on there.

Because I got an email and I

was like, oh, that seems like

an interesting discussion. I'll

go check it out.

And the discussion was around

power.

Power? What type of power?

Electrical power.

Not like political power.

Not muscular power.

Not even horsepower.

But electric power.

And they were talking about how

electricity is expensive.

But how nobody wants any power

plants built in their town.

Hmm.

Because if there's a power

plant in your backyard.

It's going to bring down the

property value.

Exactly.

It affects the resale value.

Nobody wants to see, like, a

giant building with towers and

all sorts of stuff.

And I think one of the issues

we have with power is that,

obviously, we have the older

forms of fossil fuel power

generation.

So there's coal, natural gas,

etc.

And those are kind of the

standard power plants.

And nowadays, you also have

wind power, solar power.

Hydro power.

Hydroelectric power.

Yeah.

And nuclear power.

And nuclear.

We'll come back to nuclear in a

moment.

Now, for those that don't know

how power generation works,

here is how power generation

works.

It's actually quite a simple

concept.

It's really quite simple.

Yes.

What you do is, you take some

kind of mechanical energy and

you use it to spin a big bundle

of wires inside of a magnetic

field.

And that generates electricity.

Goodbye the end.

Yep.

That's it.

So in some cases, and very

commonly, you might say, well,

why is coal necessary for that?

Well, what you do is, you burn

the coal, and then you boil

water with the coal by burning

it.

And then, that in turn, spins.

The steam moves the fan.

Right.

The steam moves the turbine or

the fan, which then generates

the power.

Even with something like wind

power, it's the same concept.

Yeah.

The wind spins the turbine, and

that generates the power.

Now, you also have solar power.

And I think solar power is the

one that's a little bit

different in that solar panels

absorb energy from photons and

convert that into electricity.

The problem is, is that there's

always loss in that mix.

And there's the fact that the

sunlight can be less or more

direct.

There's clouds.

And, oh, by the way, if the

solar panels are angled wrong,

they can catch birds on fire

while they're flying.

And that's not a joke.

Yeah.

Because the solar panels

themselves can act like a magn

ifying glass and reflect the

rays back up into a single

focus point.

And if a bird flies to that

focus point, poof.

Yummy.

Yummy, delicious, wild bird.

You know what?

Maybe to make solar more

powerful, or not powerful,

popular, what they should do is

open up some restaurants.

Yeah.

Near the big solar fields.

Yeah.

And what they'll do is they'll

advertise the birds that get

cooked by the solar panels.

Now, the other you had that you

mentioned was hydroelectric, or

hydro, which usually involves

damming up a large waterway.

And then the water goes through

the turbines and spins them.

Yeah.

So, that's how power works,

ladies and gentlemen.

End of discussion.

Hey, what about the nuclear

power?

Oh, sorry, we'll touch on that.

So, nuclear power has a bunch

of nuclear material that splits

in a process called fission.

Fission is how nuclear bombs

work, except for fusion bombs.

Most nuclear weapons convention

ally operated off of fission,

which means you're splitting

atoms apart.

Well, splitting atoms apart

generates a lot of energy,

which then boils water, which

then turns into steam, which

then turns the turbines.

So, those are the main

electrical systems that we use

for electric generation.

There are a few other ones out

there.

I mean, couldn't you also use,

like, a geyser or something to

boil the water?

I mean, I'm sure you could.

I mean, technically you could

use somebody pedaling on a bike

.

All right?

Like, power generation, as we

understand it at this point,

until we discover some kind of

zero-point energy or free

energy, involves spinning a

turbine using mechanical means,

which then generates

electricity.

The issue with power lately is,

first of all, we need a lot

more of it.

Especially around data centers.

With AI.

With AI.

With AI.

Because data centers need to be

air-conditioned.

They need to be water-cooled,

which takes up water, too.

And they need to have multiple

redundant backup systems,

because the last thing you want

to do is to have your major

website go down because the

data center became unavailable

or experienced a catastrophic

power failure.

So, these data centers are

massive and take a lot of

electricity, but we also have

just an increasing demand for

electricity in general.

We rely more and more on

devices that require

electricity, such as, you know,

you go to the store.

There's not mechanical cash

registers anymore.

It's all electrical.

There's electric cars.

There's electric cars that need

charging.

At home, you have how many

different devices, like

including the one in your

pocket that you're listening to

this on, or including the

computer screen that you're

listening to this through.

All of these things require

electricity.

And that's just an evolution of

society.

But what we've figured out,

also as a society, is certain

methods of generating

electricity are cleaner than

other methods of generating

electricity.

So, right now, coal and natural

gas are not viewed positively

as people treat that as, well,

it's burning carbon into the

atmosphere.

And by carbon, they mean carbon

dioxide, which then increases

the greenhouse effect and

increases the global

temperature changes that are

going on, in theory.

But, they're also the cheapest

and most effective ways of

producing electricity, aside

from nuclear.

And nobody wants nuclear,

because they know nuclear will

bloom.

And that's all they know.

There we go.

So, sir, can you think of any

one or two nuclear disasters in

, I don't know, the past hundred

years that come to mind?

Hmm.

No, seriously.

Name one.

Like nuclear bomb, or just...

No, no, no.

Nuclear power related disasters

.

I don't know.

Well, the big ones.

There's really three that come

to mind.

I'm not saying that there aren

't other ones.

But there are three that come

to mind.

Chernobyl.

Chernobyl.

That's what I was thinking.

I wasn't sure, though.

Chernobyl was the biggest one.

The Chernobyl nuclear facility

melted down, and they had put a

giant concrete bunker over the

entire thing.

And it affected plants.

It affected animals.

Like, it made the area unl

ivable.

And even now, scientists go

back into the zone around that

nuclear disaster site and find

ways that the nuclear radiation

has mutated or changed life

there.

Do we have rabbits walking on

two legs and talking yet?

Nope.

Uh-oh.

The second one was Three Mile

Island.

And that took place in the

United States, and that was

much smaller and contained.

I don't know if it actually

fully melted down or not.

And the last one in recent

memory was Fukushima in Japan.

And that was in part due to a

massive earthquake off the

shore of Japan that then made a

giant tidal wave come in that

smacked the power plant.

But on top of that, it also was

because they had regulatory

issues that they kind of swept

under the rug.

Yeah.

They kind of, you know, swept

the, oh, this could potentially

be an issue.

Yeah, don't worry about it.

That will never happen.

That type of thing.

Well, you know, if we ever had

a major ocean disaster, this

would be a major risk.

No, that would never happen.

No, we're never going to have a

major ocean disaster.

What are you talking about?

Japan's definitely not known

for earthquakes, typhoons, and

giant kaiju that occasionally

wander up out of the ocean and

destroy entire cities.

I'm just saying, this is a

known phenomenon.

So the problem with nuclear is

that everybody's afraid of a

meltdown.

The reality is that, first of

all, even with the older 1960s

era nuclear power plant designs

, there have been very few melt

downs.

But the risk of the meltdown is

huge because if nuclear

explosion happens, it kills

lots of people.

And by the way, so a nuclear

meltdown is when the nuclear

reaction gets out of control.

It's when the temperature

becomes too great for the

cooling systems to deal with.

And when that happens, the

cooling system, basically the

core, all the fuel rods start

to go critical, meltdown.

And it can eventually get to

the point where so much energy

is taking place that it blows

up.

And so that's a big issue.

And so basically, inside a

nuclear reactor, there are

these things called control

rods.

And what they're designed to do

is slow down the nuclear

reaction and control it so that

it's more or less energetic.

Yeah.

If there's not enough control

rods or the control rods fail,

the nuclear reaction runs out

of control and can blow up.

And the giant concrete building

can no longer hold it.

Now, that's what scares people

about nuclear.

But despite that, we've really

only had three major nuclear

power plant disasters in

history.

There's probably been one or

two smaller ones.

But nuclear is actually one of

the safest and most energy

efficient ways to generate

energy.

Yeah.

And people make the presumption

that, oh, well, any new nuclear

plant is going to be subject to

the risk of meltdown like the

old ones.

Well, guess what?

They're not.

Unless they're intentionally

sabotaged.

Right.

Right.

Because modern nuclear designs

use less nuclear fuel.

So if the reaction ever got out

of control, the fuel would eat

itself before a nuclear

reaction could ever happen.

I mean.

Not only that, but they also

eat their own waste.

1960s, 70s nuclear plants

generate nuclear waste products

.

And the problem with that is

there's only one thing you

could do with nuclear waste.

Dump it in New Jersey.

No, really, the one thing you

could do with nuclear waste is

store it in concrete bunkers

until it's gotten through

enough half-lives that it's no

longer dangerous.

Well, the problem is, is that

if that's not done properly, or

somebody stumbles across one of

those bunkers inadvertently,

or if one of those bunkers get

a crack in the side of their

housings, the radiation gets

out.

But modern nuke designs for

power plants would actually eat

that waste.

Yeah.

So it burns the waste.

It burns itself out if there's

any risk of, you know, issues.

But the problem is, is that

nuclear is not popular.

Yeah.

For example, Germany recently

took all of their nuclear power

plants offline.

Why?

Because nuclear is not safe.

Because we need greener options

.

Gee, I thought, I thought, I

thought radioactive stuff is

usually represented as green.

That's a greener option.

Yeah.

But I responded in that post.

I said, because they were

asking, you know, like, if,

would you want a power plant

built, like, right next to

where you live?

And I said, if it was a nuclear

power plant using newer melt

down-proof designs, I would be

fine with that.

And even with other options, I

think that we may have to

eventually reach a point where

we find ways to be more self-s

ufficient with energy.

And there are people that are

already doing this.

There are people that put solar

panels on their houses.

Now, the problem with solar,

again, is that it's not always

consistent.

And a lot of times, the way the

solar system's working out is

you're actually renting the

panels.

You don't own them.

So, you hire, you know, a solar

company.

They come in.

They evaluate your roof.

They put the right solar panels

on.

And they say, we're going to

charge you this amount for your

electricity.

And they lock you in a specific

rate.

Because that's how you're

paying them back for putting

the solar panels on your house.

Forever and ever and ever.

It's usually like a 10-year

agreement or a 5-year agreement

, whatever.

That's when your solar panels

inconveniently break.

And then you've got to upgrade

them.

At which point, then, they'll

be like, hey, we'll upgrade it.

You just have to re-sign the

contract.

So, that's one way to do it.

The other way is to actually

pay to have the solar done

yourself.

And then the cool thing about

it is you can either take that

solar energy, store it in a lot

of batteries.

And then when you lose power,

you'll actually be able to run

power off the batteries.

Or you can work in parallel

with the electric company.

Where, as you're producing

electricity, if you produce

more than you use, the electric

company buys it from you.

Those are some ways to start to

think about energy.

Also, if you have a house that

's on a windier plane of

existence, so if you live in an

area where there's a lot of

wind, you can set up a small

electrical windmill.

That will not power everything

all the time because if the

wind dies, you'll not have

power.

Unless you've been storing that

power in a battery, again.

And those batteries are very

big.

And they cost money.

Money.

I don't know.

I think the whole situation

with power, though, is that

because everybody wants to

think about the green options

of solar and of wind power.

They don't think about hydro

electric power.

Not as much.

And the reason for that is that

you have to dam up a waterway

to do that.

And if you have to dam up a

waterway, that can impact the

environment around that water

way.

That can impact, you know,

wildlife.

And there's also only so many

waterways where the cost-to-

benefit ratio is high enough.

You need a lot of water that is

consistently flowing in order

to ensure that you're going to

get the type of energy that

makes building and maintaining

a giant dam worthwhile.

How about Niagara Falls?

Well, there's a story behind

Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls is not actually a

natural fall anymore.

They can turn it off.

You think I'm lying.

Go online and Google it.

There are times when Niagara

Falls gets turned off.

So, actually, I think that

might be because it's using it

for power.

I'm not 100% sure they can turn

Niagara Falls on and off, which

is kind of sad.

There was this once beautiful

natural waterfall, and they dam

med it up, and they could turn

it on and off.

Magical.

The magic of nature.

Wow.

The biggest issue is not going

to be addressed by the method

we use to generate electricity.

Don't get me wrong.

Coal and natural gas are easier

, and they can pollute more than

the other methods.

But the other methods, except

for nuclear, are not always the

most sustainable and even in

their power generation.

In my personal opinion, the

best option for generating more

power is newer nuclear plant

designs.

But that's my personal unin

formed opinion.

However, that doesn't solve the

problem.

The problem is not energy

generation.

The problem is energy usage.

What we need to do is start

unplugging.

We need to figure out ways to

use less energy.

Which might mean, dare I say it

, not being connected to your

phone all day and needing to

charge it on a regular basis.

No, but you need the phone.

That's small.

But it's a small amount.

But if you imagine like

everybody doing it, it adds up.

But we need the phone.

Remembering to turn off lights

when you leave the house.

Which I only occasionally have

issues with.

Hmm, hmm, hmm.

I try to be good with it.

Sometimes I forget.

Sometimes I intentionally leave

the lights on because I know I

'm going to be back in 10

minutes.

Those 10 minutes are precious.

How could you waste them?

But until we figure out better

energy sources that are less

harmful overall to the

environment and have less risk.

And also that won't nuke birds

as they're flying overhead.

We're in a situation where we

really need to figure out

better ways of generating

electricity.

Or if the alien technology is

real.

We need to release that to the

masses.

Which of course would

immediately disrupt all of the

energy industries.

And any companies associated

with those energy industries.

So oil companies.

But also the companies they sub

contract to to make equipment.

The companies that they subcont

ract to to find the oil.

You see, people don't think

about that.

So even if there is an energy

source that is infinite.

Which, I mean, who knows.

Chances are, it would

absolutely destroy the economy.

Meh.

Because the oil and gas

companies would be out of

business within 5 to 10 years.

And then things pop up our

economy something fierce.

Meh.

Meh.

So yeah, this was a mostly me

talking episode.

Meh.

About energy.

Because we initially had

started talking about

government.

And that discussion was not

going well.

So I don't know.

What do you think about energy

stuff, sir?

Do you have any additional

thoughts?

No.

Okay.

Thank you for listening.

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Because, as you know, it takes

time and energy and effort to

produce a show like this.

I think that about wraps it up

for this episode, episode 25.

Our next episode, sir, is

exciting.

Oh, boy.

What?

Oh, boy.

Yeah.

Our next episode is episode 26.

And given that we only release

episodes once every other week,

you know what that means.

That's our one-year episode.

Our one-year anniversary.

So I'm looking forward to that.

I'm thinking that we might do a

little bit of a retrospective

as to how this all started and

where it's been going and what

it may or may not be in the

future.

We don't know.

I don't know.

So you'll have to find that

next time.

So until then, next time, thank

you for listening.

And we'll catch you then.

Bye.