The Electric Grid, Explained

Рет қаралды 6,766

Күн бұрын

Everyone talks about the grid, but how many people actually understand how it works?
In this explainer, a16z Partner Ryan McEntush breaks down this increasingly complex system, including its often outdated infrastructure, surging demands due to exponential technologies, and the roles that each part of the energy mix can play now and into the future - from nuclear to renewables to natural gas, and storage mechanisms like hydro and batteries.
Topics Covered:
00:00 - Decentralizing the Electric Grid
02:18 - The Need for Modernization
04:21 - Understanding the Grid's Operation
06:33 - The Complexity of Grid Management
08:24 - Increasing Outages and Volatility
11:43 - The Role of New Technologies
15:29 - ERCOT's Incentives and Infrastructure Challenges
17:49 - The Pros and Cons of Renewable Energy
19:25 - Energy Storage in Grid Sustainability
21:53 - Batteries Storage
25:19 - The Future of Natural Gas and Nuclear Power
30:27 - The Impact of Policy on the Grid
Resources:
Find Ryan on Twitter: / rmcentush
Read Ryan’s latest articles: a16z.com/author/ryan-mcentush
Find a16z on Twitter: / a16z
Find a16z on LinkedIn: / a16z
Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: a16z.simplecast.com/
Follow our host: / stephsmithio
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Пікірлер: 19

@a16z 3 ай бұрын

Topics Covered: 00:00 - Decentralizing the Electric Grid 02:18 - The Need for Modernization 04:21 - Understanding the Grid's Operation 06:33 - The Complexity of Grid Management 08:24 - Increasing Outages and Volatility 11:43 - The Role of New Technologies 15:29 - ERCOT's Incentives and Infrastructure Challenges 17:49 - The Pros and Cons of Renewable Energy 19:25 - Energy Storage in Grid Sustainability 21:53 - Batteries Storage 25:19 - The Future of Natural Gas and Nuclear Power 30:27 - The Impact of Policy on the Grid

@tubopedia Ай бұрын

So insanely informative. Going to listen to this 6 times over.

@afhernandez1 3 ай бұрын

Great video! Would love to see more on micro-grids, hydrogen, and wave energy.

@trentonasbury16 3 ай бұрын

Getting Projects approved is Challenging There's Grid Projects planned in '06 that broke Ground 9 months ago

@JasonWhittle1 3 ай бұрын

There is a factual error in this video from @10:45 to 11:05 where he talked about why it's very important that all the power doesn't come from wind, solar, natural gas or nuclear. He explains because the sun doesn't shine, the wind isn't always blowing and LNG can freeze in pipes. The mistake is lumping Nuclear in with the other weather dependant sources. You can have a grid run on all nuclear regardless of the weather or temperature. That is a huge difference.

@RyanMcEntush 3 ай бұрын

Huge fan of nuclear! That said, it's probably not that cost-effective to operate a plant in a load-following capacity in a competitive market with variable load. Texas and France have both also had issues with their nuclear plants during critical periods, whether winter storms affecting safety systems or mechanical issues detected across a fleet. There are solutions to all of these issues, but it's probably just easier and more efficient to not rely 100% on any single source. Nuclear should absolutely make up a massive chunk of baseload, but it doesn't need to be all of it :)

@sebastiankolarsky728 3 ай бұрын

Wow this was very well produced! It reminded me of videos from Vox or Vice! Nice job, keep up the great work!

@Kfcbiscuit 3 ай бұрын

Thank you

@AbdallahBotan 3 ай бұрын

I’m from Somalia. The sun is available all day whole the year. If some of this companies are interested in, I welcome them here. You can make much money here. For 1KW it costs almost a dollar. There’s a huge demand and you can do a lean startup.

@beforethebigbang1329 3 ай бұрын

The problem is storage

@AbdallahBotan 3 ай бұрын

@@beforethebigbang1329 shortage of what?

@bg5760 3 ай бұрын

Storing the energy from the sun by using batteries. Huge, expensive batteries

@AbdallahBotan 3 ай бұрын

@@bg5760 can you explain more?

@k34561 3 ай бұрын

I give this video a C. It is missing two major technology. Dispatchable renewable energy. And long distance transmission lines. 1) Dispatchable renewable energy. There is the Myth of the 24/7/365 Power Plant. Nuclear, natural gas, coal power plants are not always available when you need power. They breakdown and fail. To solve this problem power companies build more power plants then they need. The same can be done with renewable power sources. Build excess wind and solar. Dispatch the solar and wind when needed. 2) Transmission lines. Adding transmission lines, can move electricity to areas suffering from low wind or cloudy skies. Studies using computer models of the US grid/solar/wind have shown that the US can go 100% renewable with the right combination of dispatchable solar, wind, storage, and transmission lines. They study actually showed the 100% would be cheaper. I actually think cutting the electric cord will happen in the future. Balancing enough dispatchable solar with enough battery storage, with electric car backup will lead to affordable reliable off grid power.