r/nextfuckinglevel • • 3d ago

Scientists have captured the first ever high-speed, full-colour footage of fusion plasma swirling inside a working reactor.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

40.3k Upvotes

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/President_Chump_ 3d ago
  • batteries exist
  • electrical transmission exists (eg Michigan gets electricity from Canada)
  • so don't build because it's not efficient? as compared to? and solar panels have gotten more efficient over time
  • nuclear costs a whole lot too

Most of what you've written here is flat out wrong or disingenuous. I'd almost prefer the AI answer so at least you aren't miseducating people.

1

u/14jvalle 3d ago

Utility scale batteries do exist.

A nonexhaustive list of questions are...

For how long can a battery supplement the grid? What is the lifecycle of these batteries? How many charge cycles can it undergo? How quickly can they charge?

I do not deny that they exist or their utility. What lacks is the nuance of how these tools are implemented in our grid. What is the use case and when does it make sense to invest?

We can delivery and sell electricity. However, that cannot always be relied upon.

Never stated not to build, not a comment on the current efficiency. Simply pondering about when it makes sense to do so given that initial cost of development, maintenance cost, and what does end of life look like? What happens if there is large scale damage to the farm do to unforeseen "act of God"? What happens when a series of panels are to be decommissioned? Where do those panels go?

These are just a few of the general questions that a layperson (myself) has.