Unpopular opinion: we need to ration electricity consumption as well as fuel today, even in capitalists countries. Because that stuff actually has incredible impact on the planet, and will (must) drive consumption down, so that companies / individuals start integrating “efficiency” into their thinking
I don’t see any other solution to the “exponentially growing power consumption” problem.
Unpopular opinion: we need to ration electricity consumption as well as fuel today, even in capitalists countries. Because that stuff actually has incredible impact on the planet, and will (must) drive consumption down, so that companies / individuals start integrating “efficiency” into their thinking
I don’t see any other solution to the “exponentially growing power consumption” problem.
Pigouvian taxes are a traditional solution to negative externalities, and they are often better received by the public than rationing.
It’s expensive to be poor - the lights turning off a few days before the end of the month will incur even more costs than a higher electricity bill.
Taxes raise money for other programs, instead of costing money to enforce rationing.
Higher taxes in general will also help reduce inflation.
Tax revenue can be spent on stimulus checks to offset the cost for people who use less energy than average.
In the U.S., at least, power generation has been roughly flat for the last 20 years, not growing exponentially:
That’s excluding our hard on for AI the last few years. Would love to see this updated.
I’m surprised by how much natural gas makes up the mix.
electricity is only a tiny fraction of energy use.
Power usage levels in the US, though, are insane compared to mother countries.
c/selfhosted has entered the chat
Power for the power god
time to self-host a powerplant?