The Electric GRID Is Under ATTACK (But It’s Not From EVs)
This video is sponsored by energy Sage visit the link in the description to find local verified solar and heat pump experts in your area as well as local community solar projects you can become a part of well it happened article after article tried to warn us but we just wouldn’t
Listen they tried to tell us that the grid wouldn’t be able to cope that mass adoption of the new shiny technology would bring entire communities to their knees leading to increased carbon emissions as retired Coal Fired power plants were brought back online to help manage demand they said we need to be
Prepared for Rolling blackouts as Big Industry and big businesses hospitals and government buildings were given priority from whatever power was available we were told that utility companies would try and preserve as much power as possible by applying to local Regulators for permission to turn off electric car charging stations during
Peak demand periods that e owners would be left stranded with no way to charge up as the grid crumbled Breakers popped and Decades of underinvestment cashed in its convertible notes to the universe and just last week new reporting from multiple Outlets including the Washington Post brought our biggest Fears Alive the grid is
Already starting to buckle As It prepares for another record-breaking summer and it’s all our fault sorry wait it’s it’s not EVS it it’s AI for at least the last decade we’ve heard often with urgent exaggerated tones that electric vehicles will be responsible for the downfall of the electrical grid around the world we’ve heard many a Naya come out and state that the electrical grid simply won’t cope with all of that extra demand of
All of those extra electric cars charging at once and that will result in a less clean more sustained grid that’s more prone to brownouts and at this channel we’ve done our best to dispel those myths highlighting Studio after a study that shows electric vehicles can actually help stabilize the grid rather
Than bring it to its knees and a new study from earlier this month from MIT even laid out how careful planning could help cities around the world roll out public charging infrastructure in just such a way that demands on the electrical grid would be reduced overall lessening or perhaps even eliminating
The need for brand new power generation plants but today we’re going to focus on the thing that is gobbling up massive amounts of grid capacity like it’s going out of style AI we’re going to examine where this sudden demand has come from how it’s impacting the grid and how we
As individuals can help protect ourselves from the worst of any potential grid problems in the near future while simultaneously transitioning our transportation away from fossil fuels to renewable ones before I do though I just want to reiterate something so meet me at camera too I used to assume that everyone
Understood what AI was short for artificial intelligence until I was speaking with my mother a few weeks ago and I want to note here my mother has lived on a farm for the majority of her life and she gave me a quizzical look and said but Nikki what’s artificial
Insemination got to do with computers so there was a conversation had and we laughed and in the context of this video I most certainly mean artificial intelligence not anything else that may make use of the same initialism that little confusion cleared up to the reporting as the Washington
Post reported earlier this month the US electrical grid is under increased demand in some parts of the Union particularly in areas where there’s something of a boom in new factories for clean technology and where large data centers have been built for the seemingly Unstoppable March of artificial intelligence in its reporting
From March 7th the post claims that Georgia’s predicted energy use for the coming year is 17 times larger than predictions made of it a few years ago while States from Arizona to Texas and the Commonwealth of Virginia are all starting to see their grid capacity straining under increased electrical
Demand if things continue we’re warned we could see grids at capacity in Arizona by the end of this decade and without substantial investment from both public and private sources our electrical grid future could look very Bleak indeed given that EVS are often portrayed in large parts of the media as
Being the biggest potential drain on the grid we at the channel felt this news required some deconstruction so first to the AI element and its need for large amounts of power AI has become a very much buzzword in recent years with its influence felt in a wide range of
Industries you probably know it best from chat GPT and other large language model systems designed to interact with us humans we probably encounter some form of AI based system now when you ring up a large call center at least at first and AI is now found in pretty much
Every major social media platform in some way or another except maybe masteron which to my knowledge because it’s open source and non-commercial is free from such things unless someone nefarious decides to allow a bot onto their Master on server and because of chat GPT and how terrible it is at giving answers that
Are anywhere near correct because of the plagiarization of original artistic works by programs like Dy and because large language AI tends to pick up on every single bad thing about us humans and turn it up to 11 I’m talking about things like racism homophobia and much
More it is pretty common today to think of AI in a very negative light but AI being a blanket term for any technology that uses machine learning to carry out complex mathematical processes also covers some truly impressive things being made possible by the sheer immense amount of computing power that Ai and
Modern server Tech makes possible AI is helping develop new Medical Treatments and drugs it’s cutting down on the time to detect and identify new viruses diagnose cancer early in patients and develop treatments that would previously only dreamt of AI is helping improve the speed at which new prototyping can take
Place for all manner of different Industries making and designing products that are better cheaper faster longer lasting and in the case of energy consumption more efficient in the EV World we’re seeing AI facilitate the rapid designing of and testing of brand new battery cell chemistries and companies like forcu owned wae
Technologies the company we visited in the UK last year are also using AI to help model battery degradation develop new charging strategies and thanks to digital twins help predict how a battery will age Over time however good the benefits of AI are though outside of chat GPT and ai’s more
Nefarious uses like generating photographs for political campaigns that imply a candidate is doing something they’re not AI uses a lot of power how much well in an article by The Verge earlier this year James Vincent interviewed expert Sasha luchon a researcher at French American AI firm hugging face and the estimates given for
Power consumption for a modern AI system is truly mindblowing to train a large language model like chat gpt3 you need about 1. 3 gwatt hours of electricity that by my calculations is enough to drive an entry-level Hyundai ionic 6 seal rear wheeel drive long range with 18in wheels in optimal conditions more than
5.46 million miles or enough to travel between the Earth and the Moon in 11 and a bit times and as luchon noted one of the things that she and her colleagues have been working hard do is to estimate more accurately the power consumption of an AI system after it has been trained
And is in general use by the public that sadly is a lot harder to figure out but suffice to say multiple AI systems running multiple training models for one company eats a lot of power and that’s before we even look at things like in Industry AI being used for training
Things like semi-autonomous driver assistance features even Tesla which has made phenomenal gains in Energy Efficiency versus computational Power by designing and building its own computer hardware inhouse specifically for autopilot still consumes power at a mindblowing rate in September 2022 Tesla noted that its project Dojo Drew more than 2.3 megawatt of instantaneous
Power before it tripped a local power substation and look I’m not trying to hate on Tesla either Tesla’s approach making chipsets designed to be as efficient as possible is a phenomenal and Noble goal and Tesla has deployed a massive amount of solar generation in order to help offset the massive power
Consumption of project dojo and its data centers in general many companies are doing the same thing but why established proven companies like Tesla Google Microsoft and Apple are more than capable of and regularly do deploy grid generation to supplement or entirely offset their energy use many startups
Don’t because they don’t have that much money AI then is consuming a lot of power there are currently an estimated 67,000 AI startups around the world with one quarter of them located in the US us now granted not all of them are pulling major amounts of power but if we add up
All of those companies and their respective power drains even for companies with modest power drains we have issues and it’s no wonder we’re starting to see the grid suffer in parts of the US where local governments are operating with statutes that are more Pro business and less Pro
Worker again not trying to hate on any state in particular but it’s worth noting in that states with strong worker protections rules that require livable working wages and tougher rules concerning health and safety are usually the states that companies are less likely to establish large data centers
And factories in because at the end of the day if those companies can establish a facility somewhere where it’s cheaper to operate and there are fewer protections for workers and restrictions on what’s okay and what’s not okay those very same companies get to lower their costs and increase their profits workers be
Damned that same kind of business environment is also why we’re starting to see the very same areas that AI is flocking to becoming home to new factories for clean technology and this is where EVs do play a more substantial part in that massive grid demand areas where new factories are
Being built for refining raw materials for battery packs building battery packs and building EVS themselves all face potential future power problems many of those new facilities are being built to take advantage of federal tax credits for domestic EV production many are doing it to take advantage of similar
Benefits for clean energy jobs and new microprocessor manufacturing and all of these companies are all flocking to similar areas of the country as I said previously some are investing in their local grid and looking for on-site energy generation potential especially in the automotive sector and clean energy sector where the carbon footprint
And Cradle to grave carbon emissions are very very much scrutinized as a whole but it doesn’t matter what’s going on with generation if the grid itself is struggling to transmit the power which brings me back to the infrastructure problem sure the US federal government under its current Administration is
Setting out a massive tranch of spending designed to improve the us electrical grid a grid which I might note has suffered under Decades of neglect from both Republican and Democratic presidents those upgrades to the grid are already taking place but they have many many more years of upgrades to go
Through existing funding before the grid is stable although the continual back and forth on Capitol Hill between two very bitterly opposed political parties does very little to help ease the roll out of new grid UPG grades and of course all of those new facilities also require
People to work at them meaning the towns and cities adjacent to however those new facilities are being built will also need expansion and grid capabilities for new homes and that leaves us where as electric vehicle enthusiasts owners and clean energy Advocates I’m guessing that like me you want to know that your
Electric car can continue to function and can be charged using clean zero emission Electric electricity there’s certainly some fear too that we may face a point in the near future where legislators try to control EV charging in order to ease the strain on the grid because no matter what the actual reason
Behind something is there will always be a political sacrificial lamb at the top of the list is of course working to become more energy Independent by investing in your own energy generation and off-grid or grid tied energy storage and that’s where today video sponsors energy Sage come in energy Sage helps
Homeowners connect with local verified solar installers across the US and now heat pump specialists in select markets who really know their stuff and can help you navigate the process of installing photo volic solar panels help you pick a grid tied energy storage system help you join a community solar program or in
Fact get a heat pump installed I used energy Sage when we were looking for installers willing to help us put solar panels on the roof of our house home and our energy Sage verified installers were professional knowledgeable and even put us in touch with a truly amazing Credit
Union that allowed us to finance our solar panels for as low monthly payment as possible and because energy Sage offers the ability to join Community solar programs you can even invest in renewable energy generation if your home isn’t suitable for on roof generation or you’re not a homeowner follow the links
Below to sign up for either of energy sages free no obligation services and get the ball rolling today if you do choose to use an energy Sage installer for your project we will get a small referral fee so you’ll also be helping the channel too of course having grid tied energy
Storage generation and on-site backup is a great way to go if you’re an EV owner and the wonderful thing about renewable energy is that it allows for the democratization of energy and the decentralization of energy both of these things not only give you the individual more power and control over your energy
And where you use it but they also help alleviate Peaks and troughs in Grid demand while simultaneously Greening up the local Grid in your area the next way to help and to be prepared is to take part in time of use charging while it’s fair to note that AI data centers and
Large factories operate Around the Clock it’s well known that most power grids have a much lower demand at nighttime charging at nighttime will help your grid to reduce peak time energy use and most likely save you money too at least if you have enrolled in a time of use
Tariff after that being much more energy conscious about your day-to-day energy use will also help the standard things turning off computer equipment when you’re not using them planning to use heavy load items when you’re generating your own power or through nighttime tariffs all helps and of course if
You’re looking to buy a new EV why not consider getting one with some form of a v to L or V tog capability being able to get through a brown out with your own EV is frankly a boss level feature that in my humble opinion all EVS should now
Come a standard with finally you need to get active talk to friends and family and encourage them to take steps to generate their own renewable energy or have grid tide or off-grid energy storage talk to your local politicians your local Energy company and find out what the plans are for upgrading the
Grid and installing more renewable energy capacity where you live and if there are new projects planned for your neighborhood or region attend those planning meetings ask the tough questions about grid capacity upgrades and what those businesses are planning on doing to ensure their shiny new AI facility or production plant isn’t going
To cause headaches for the local grid oh and register to vote register to to vote do your research on the candidates and become politically active some political candidates want to do whatever the fossil fuel industry wants them to in exchange for money it might not solve the big issue which is that the
Electrical grid needs upgrading and those upgrades need to come with Diversified decentralized power generation that’s owned and operated by communities not corporations and when I say get active I really mean it ask candidates tough questions and don’t assume that the guy gal or non-binary individual that represents your party is always going to
Have your best interests at heart sometimes they need a metaphorical push too thanks for joining me today and if you’ve got thoughts make sure you leave them Below in our Discord chat room or you can reach out to us on masteron thanks to to the amazing list
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For what feels like an age, much doom and gloom has been cast concerning the impact of electric vehicles on the electrical grid. And on this channel, we’ve done our best to bust those myths.
…But now it’s happening. The grid is under more immediate threat. Not from EV drivers, but from AI and new clean energy production facilities.
We explain all!
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00:00 – Sponsor Message
00:13 – Introduction
01:55 – They’ve traditionally blamed EVs…
03:10 – AI is partly to blame
03:36 – No, not THAT AI…
04:21 – AI’s Big part in energy consumption
06:56 – The positives of AI
08:53 – The energy consumption of AI
09:52 – AI for EVs also uses a lot of energy
11:16 – AI uses a lot…but so do factories
12:36 – Growth of factories, driven by political incentives
13:50 – The grid has historically been unerinvested in
14:44 – Where does this leave us?
15:27 – Sponsor message: Energy Sage
16:38 – Other things you can do
18:56 – Register to VOTE!
19:47 – Thanks, and Goodbye!
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Links:
MIT: Minimizing electric vehicles’ impact on the grid; https://news.mit.edu/2023/minimizing-electric-vehicles-impact-grid-0315
Washington Post: America is Running Out Of Power: https://wapo.st/3x69suY
McKinsey – Investing in the Rising Data Centre Economy: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/investing-in-the-rising-data-center-economy
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Presenter, Script, Audio: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield.
Camera, Editor, Colorist: M. Horton
Art and Animation: Erin Carlie
Producer: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
© Transport Evolved LLC, 2024
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