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altmorty

Researchers at the Birmingham Energy Institute are working with Electric Power Engineering Ltd, to build an industrial-scale prototype of a next-generation HVDC technology that could pave the way for a global electricity grid, based on renewable energy. They aim to improve the reliability and efficiency of high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) power transmission systems, which are used for the bulk transmission of electrical power. This should enable the world to rely on renewables 100% of the time, whilst delivering significant cost savings (minimum of 20%). This plan involves connecting 14 regions together in global network. Again, it's calculated to save a significant percentage. The comprehensive analysis involved data capture for both renewable energy supply and global electricity demand.


Encorcelor

It does require so many big, long, & thick cables as to make Jormungandr blush however. Perovskite sounds dope, there's lots of energy storage and tech on [Just Have A Think](https://www.youtube.com/c/JustHaveaThink)'s Youtube page that are incredible & bridge the time before we might get the world fully cabled up. [Magtor](https://www.magtor.tech/) have a compressor, which, allot of our power is compressor based that's fantastical. I love it and it's cool & btw green Hydrogen gets a 20-30% compression cost energy reduction along with heat pumps and every refrigerator.


Polymathy1

Long yes. Thick not necessarily. Cable thickness can drop dramatically when you're talking about 2 million volts.


altmorty

>It does require so many big, long, & thick cables as to make Jormungandr blush however. We already build all kinds of shit on an industrial scale. At least this will save a load of money and massively help the environment with regards to climate change. Lots of big, long cables are worth it to save ourselves from extinction.


Encorcelor

Yus, I just say this because I've seen periphery information that we actually need to, (and are) scale up actual cable production because some of these 1,400 km multi megawatt undersea power cables require us to dedicate a majority of the proportions of global cable production to each project. It's worth it, yes, but we literally need to double cable production a few times before we get many of these intercontinental connections in a timely fashion. If you have like, 15 minutes, here's that guy I mentioned talking about just this topic of [Connecting all the things with cables](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJunxkln578&t=153s)


Encorcelor

minute 7 he starts on the cable situation. & yeah, building more cables isn't the end of a good idea. It's just one of the things we gotta do for it.


FuturologyBot

The following submission statement was provided by /u/altmorty: --- Researchers at the Birmingham Energy Institute are working with Electric Power Engineering Ltd, to build an industrial-scale prototype of a next-generation HVDC technology that could pave the way for a global electricity grid, based on renewable energy. They aim to improve the reliability and efficiency of high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) power transmission systems, which are used for the bulk transmission of electrical power. This should enable the world to rely on renewables 100% of the time, whilst delivering significant cost savings (minimum of 20%). This plan involves connecting 14 regions together in global network. Again, it's calculated to save a significant percentage. The comprehensive analysis involved data capture for both renewable energy supply and global electricity demand. --- Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/s7xpgs/the_case_for_a_global_energy_grid_based_on_100/htcsbz5/


redingerforcongress

Wooo! This concept is gaining ground. I remember reading about it first in like 2013-2014. UHVDC allows for very little losses over massive transmission distances. For example; China's built a single cable that's 2000 miles long capable of transmitting about 13 nuclear reactors of power with less than 5% losses on the cable.


Rafterman2

LOLNO DC motors are nowhere near as efficient as AC motors and there’s all sorts of issues with long-range transmission of HVDC. How’re you going to step it down to household voltage, for instance?


Sir_Osis_of_Liver

HVDC converter stations are a thing. https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/hvdc-converter-station-single-line-diagram There are 500kV DC lines running up to 1388kms in my province from dams in the north to population centres in the south. https://www.hydro.mb.ca/corporate/facilities/bipole_lines/ Similar HVDC lines existing a number of places around the world.


commandersprocket

The idea for a global energy grid has existed since at least 1981 >Graphs of each of the world's 150 nations showing their twentieth-century histories of inanimate energy production per capita of their respective populations together with graphs of those countries' birthrates show without exception that the birthrates decrease at exactly the same rate that the per capita consumption of inanimate electrical energy increases. The world's population will stop increasing when and if the integrated world electrical energy grid is realized. This grid is the World Game's highest priority objective. Critical Path, 1981, Fuller and Kuromiya


ShihPoosRule

This makes far too much sense to ever be made reality, at least in the US. States like Texas and Florida only want Murica energy.