Why are people so obsessed with efficiency as if that matters? Fossil fuels are incredibly inefficient. We use them because they are cheap and abundant, not because they’re efficient.
Because capitalism. In our world, the switch to renewables happens as they become more profitable than subsidised fossil fuels. This is why efficiency matters, because more Joules out per Dollar in.
@@Juttutinjoules out per dollar in is not necessarily a measure of efficiency, it’s also a measure of abundance and is why petrol reigns supreme. If/when we tap deep geothermal, the same rules/law of abundance may apply. To your point, capitalism doesn’t care about efficiency. Destroying the planet, burning and profiting from oil is incredibly inefficient and a horrible long term investment.
@@flutieflambert I'm not sure if you're being deliberately obtuse or just dumb. Capitalism cares about profit. And only short term profit if you can sell your shares on to some other mug at the right time. In a market as fungible as electricity, joules-out per dollar-in IS the profit equation.
Thank you so much for the time and effort you all put into this content, it's genuinely given me so much hope that we can turn things around and create a better world! I can't believe I hadn't found this channel sooner but I'll be sharing your content with anyone I can!
Long time viewer, just wanted to comment and say I love ALL Freethink videos but I really enjoy these thoughtful podcasts. I hope they keep coming cuz I'll keep watching!!
Hey Freethink team, I thoroughly enjoy your videos; first one I ever saw was the farming megasode. For the podcast, I would highly recommend having someone with more knowledge about the topic(s) you want to cover present with you. Much of this podcast had great questions, but lacked good answers since you only had a limited time with Heliogen and it would not be reasonable to expect you to be experts afterwards (I also appreciate the attitude of "and not or" and recognizing nuclear as a green source of energy). All the best!
I think concentrated solar power and heliogen specifically have 0% chance to eradicate or even decrease fossil fuel consumption. Complexity may increase efficiency but that will be overshadowed by maintenance and technology costs.
I’ve lived in the urban desert for over six decades. I live in a city where it’s common to see solar panels on buildings and covered parking lots. All of the municipal operations will be 100% powered by renewable energy by 2030. I believe every building should generate and store the energy it uses instead of relying on huge solar farms in the middle of nowhere. I do see the potential use of this technology for industrial processes on site but I think there are better technologies for energy generation for residential and commercial electrical needs. The energy losses related to transmission is greatly reduced when the generation and utilization is in the same location. Decentralizing energy production/use provides more protections in grid down situations due to natural disasters or attacks on power stations. I think the geopolitical implications raised are important to consider as well. Additionally, we need to reduce our energy consumption overall through increased efficiency.
Yes hello. First time viewer and I really enjoyed your podcast. Good job you guys! I wonder if this technology can be scaled down for residential use. I don't think it would be great in every application, but I'm curious if there's a niche market for hobbiests.
Hey! Thank you so much for watching! For something like this, which is really focused on generating super hot industrial temperatures -there's not a lot of residential applications, However, there are LOTS of smaller applications for concentrated solar collection that can be used at the residential scale - things like cooking and heating water come immediately to mind!
You know what is even more capable than corporations of spending vast amounts of money on energy infrastructure? The institutions that create money. Governments. Governments aren’t spending this money because corporations have successfully lobbied governments not to. But if government provided solar energy rather than individuals buying privatized goods from corporations, then energy would be much cheaper and private industry wouldnt make any profits. Why doesn’t anyone talk about how corporations are preventing climate justice and why do we blame sluggish governments rather than the corporations who lobby to make governments ineffective?
Mirrors, pipes, and a place to store salt waste after removing valuable metals lasts for many decades with minimal maintenance costs. The output of a system with these three components is energy, drinking water, everything we mine from the ground.
I'm voting for small nuclear\thorium molten salt for grid & hydrogen for vehicles. Just saw a new car or truck coming out that has 5 or 6 hydrogen tanks you just switch out easily instead of filling up your tank like gas. Looked very interesting & convenient.
The grid is incredibly expensive $/klm, and huge length. Most grids are equal to the national GDP. Grids have been built over 100years. More electricity means more grid capacity. Nuclear is cost constrained by the grid construction costs. All concentrated grid supplied electricity has this extreme grid construction cost limitation. The grid is fragile and was never overbuilt because it is expensive. This is an important matter if nuclear electricity is going to work. 5 times more electricity if no fossil fuels in the future.
Anything and everything to eliminate the dirtiest energy producers out of the system as soon as possible. Who knows what revolutionary energy producers are going to win.
There are no good grade offs with nuclear. Everything there is a melt down it is crazy tragic. There is just never coming back from it, the clean up is heinous, and there is no company or government that does or would take the necessary precautions or maintain the funding it takes to keep a facility safe
Hi, and thanks for watching! There are a few ways - but because Heliogen's technology generates steam, it's well suited to work with solid oxide electrolysis. Here's some more info on how that works: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_oxide_electrolyzer_cell
Please consider or reconsider the name of your podcast as hard reset.. It is currently being used as a term that is trying to Usher in socialist and Communist ideas into governments, not a good thing. Unless you inspire to be or are a communist.
'fossil fuels' Are stored solar energy in chemical form. Not going to happen, since it will always make sense to use that already stored solar energy in some fashion.
Toby.... Your a smart guy. Your talking out of the back of your throat does set you apart. In a negative way. I never heard a word you said. Talk normal so I can listen to what you have to say. Sorry to be the one.
Put gardens under those mirrors. It helps cool the planet
Ideally something like Hemp which needs minimal care
@@DanReiki HELLS YEEEEAH HOT BOX THE FUTURE BABYYYYYYY
Ideally not monoculture, but a variety of native species that don’t need any care at all
Why are people so obsessed with efficiency as if that matters? Fossil fuels are incredibly inefficient. We use them because they are cheap and abundant, not because they’re efficient.
They are cheap because we can pull them out of the ground in a financially efficient manner. Different kind of efficient, but still important.
Because capitalism. In our world, the switch to renewables happens as they become more profitable than subsidised fossil fuels. This is why efficiency matters, because more Joules out per Dollar in.
@@Juttutinjoules out per dollar in is not necessarily a measure of efficiency, it’s also a measure of abundance and is why petrol reigns supreme. If/when we tap deep geothermal, the same rules/law of abundance may apply. To your point, capitalism doesn’t care about efficiency. Destroying the planet, burning and profiting from oil is incredibly inefficient and a horrible long term investment.
@@flutieflambert I'm not sure if you're being deliberately obtuse or just dumb. Capitalism cares about profit. And only short term profit if you can sell your shares on to some other mug at the right time. In a market as fungible as electricity, joules-out per dollar-in IS the profit equation.
Yes ! Deserts are ecosystems too. Please locate these facilities on old mine sites, which are already ruined for most other purposes.
Excellent point!
Thank you so much for the time and effort you all put into this content, it's genuinely given me so much hope that we can turn things around and create a better world! I can't believe I hadn't found this channel sooner but I'll be sharing your content with anyone I can!
Thanks so much! So glad to hear you're enjoying it!
Thank you watching!
Long time viewer, just wanted to comment and say I love ALL Freethink videos but I really enjoy these thoughtful podcasts. I hope they keep coming cuz I'll keep watching!!
Thank you for watching! We love making these and it’s great to hear that folks are enjoying them!
Hey Freethink team, I thoroughly enjoy your videos; first one I ever saw was the farming megasode. For the podcast, I would highly recommend having someone with more knowledge about the topic(s) you want to cover present with you. Much of this podcast had great questions, but lacked good answers since you only had a limited time with Heliogen and it would not be reasonable to expect you to be experts afterwards (I also appreciate the attitude of "and not or" and recognizing nuclear as a green source of energy). All the best!
I think concentrated solar power and heliogen specifically have 0% chance to eradicate or even decrease fossil fuel consumption. Complexity may increase efficiency but that will be overshadowed by maintenance and technology costs.
I’ve lived in the urban desert for over six decades. I live in a city where it’s common to see solar panels on buildings and covered parking lots. All of the municipal operations will be 100% powered by renewable energy by 2030. I believe every building should generate and store the energy it uses instead of relying on huge solar farms in the middle of nowhere. I do see the potential use of this technology for industrial processes on site but I think there are better technologies for energy generation for residential and commercial electrical needs. The energy losses related to transmission is greatly reduced when the generation and utilization is in the same location. Decentralizing energy production/use provides more protections in grid down situations due to natural disasters or attacks on power stations.
I think the geopolitical implications raised are important to consider as well. Additionally, we need to reduce our energy consumption overall through increased efficiency.
Yes hello. First time viewer and I really enjoyed your podcast. Good job you guys! I wonder if this technology can be scaled down for residential use. I don't think it would be great in every application, but I'm curious if there's a niche market for hobbiests.
Hey! Thank you so much for watching! For something like this, which is really focused on generating super hot industrial temperatures -there's not a lot of residential applications, However, there are LOTS of smaller applications for concentrated solar collection that can be used at the residential scale - things like cooking and heating water come immediately to mind!
9:26 That’s incredibly poetic, I wish y’all talked abt it more
Freethink videos really stand out, important topics and initiatives that are being missed by others.
The software side of this is the easiest part of this whole thing.
Painstaking work? that is exactly what software is good for!
You know what is even more capable than corporations of spending vast amounts of money on energy infrastructure? The institutions that create money. Governments. Governments aren’t spending this money because corporations have successfully lobbied governments not to. But if government provided solar energy rather than individuals buying privatized goods from corporations, then energy would be much cheaper and private industry wouldnt make any profits. Why doesn’t anyone talk about how corporations are preventing climate justice and why do we blame sluggish governments rather than the corporations who lobby to make governments ineffective?
All of these renewable technologies are awesome and create hope for the future
The tech already exists and has existed for a long time, it’s called renewable energy!
Mirrors, pipes, and a place to store salt waste after removing valuable metals lasts for many decades with minimal maintenance costs. The output of a system with these three components is energy, drinking water, everything we mine from the ground.
If we're talking about resources. The Only Option Is A Resource Based Economy, The Venus Project.
I'm voting for small nuclear\thorium molten salt for grid & hydrogen for vehicles. Just saw a new car or truck coming out that has 5 or 6 hydrogen tanks you just switch out easily instead of filling up your tank like gas. Looked very interesting & convenient.
Just switch out batteries with electric like they do in Asia. Nuclear is the way to go.
Could you provide a link to the vehicle with interchangeable hydrogen tanks? Sounds like an interesting proposal I haven't heard of yet.
I now want to invest in my uncles desert real estate scheme 🥴
The grid is incredibly expensive $/klm, and huge length.
Most grids are equal to the national GDP.
Grids have been built over 100years.
More electricity means more grid capacity.
Nuclear is cost constrained by the grid construction costs.
All concentrated grid supplied electricity has this extreme grid construction cost limitation.
The grid is fragile and was never overbuilt because it is expensive.
This is an important matter if nuclear electricity is going to work.
5 times more electricity if no fossil fuels in the future.
why not find a system that small enough and efficient enough to be at the location where it is needed. There is very high cost of transportation.
Things Going To Get Us Off Fossil Fuels
#1 Thorium Molten Salts!
Is this that place in Morocco that concentrates the Suns' rays onto a sodium pillar?
Anything and everything to eliminate the dirtiest energy producers out of the system as soon as possible. Who knows what revolutionary energy producers are going to win.
I feel like this video was just a long advertisement for Heliogen, not a fair assessment of the technology.
Sorry you feel that way! It's definitely not a commercial, Heliogen didn't pay us anything or have any input into this video.
Brilliant. Great dad jokes too. More more more please.
Shot glasses that your wife could buy? Does she run a chain of bars or is this a stripper joke?
There are no good grade offs with nuclear. Everything there is a melt down it is crazy tragic. There is just never coming back from it, the clean up is heinous, and there is no company or government that does or would take the necessary precautions or maintain the funding it takes to keep a facility safe
So how are they generating hydrogen?
Hi, and thanks for watching! There are a few ways - but because Heliogen's technology generates steam, it's well suited to work with solid oxide electrolysis. Here's some more info on how that works: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_oxide_electrolyzer_cell
you guys should host andrew mollison
Please consider or reconsider the name of your podcast as hard reset.. It is currently being used as a term that is trying to Usher in socialist and Communist ideas into governments, not a good thing. Unless you inspire to be or are a communist.
Is your knowledge about technologies you promote the same level as with your understanding what is cement 😂
'fossil fuels' Are stored solar energy in chemical form. Not going to happen, since it will always make sense to use that already stored solar energy in some fashion.
Toby.... Your a smart guy. Your talking out of the back of your throat does set you apart. In a negative way. I never heard a word you said. Talk normal so I can listen to what you have to say. Sorry to be the one.