There's a lot more to our hyper-concentrated electrical mini-portfolio than just data centers.
From the Associated Press via ABC (US) News, November 8:
Outdated power grids around the world are a major hurdle in the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy
Outdated power grids are a major hurdle in the transition to renewable energy, since older systems often can't absorb all the electricity from new, cleaner sources.
This threatens global efforts to curb climate change by reducing fossil fuels and switching to renewable energy such as solar and wind. At U.N. climate talks kicking off this week, co-hosts Turkey and Australia want more ambitious goals to slash fossil fuels, install renewables and upgrade grids.
Grid concerns are gaining urgency this year as nations race to improve their energy security following the Iran war. The U.N. recently launched a new initiative to rally funding for grid upgrades in Africa and Southeast Asia.
“There needs to be a massive, massive, massive scaling up of investments into grids if we are going to get close to meeting our climate, energy and development goals,” Selwin Hart, special adviser to the U.N. secretary-general on climate action, said.
At the U.N. climate talks, hosted in the Turkish resort city of Antalya, organizers describe modern and reliable electric grids as “the backbone of the clean energy system.”
But billions of dollars are needed to upgrade out-of-date grids. These steep costs could hinder further renewable energy installations.
During the U.N. General Assembly in September, the global body launched a Global Grids Accelerator to speed up international funding for electricity infrastructure in Africa and Southeast Asia.
“We’re very confident that the long-term trend is an acceleration of the pace of the energy transition, but we need the infrastructure, grids and storage, to really keep pace,” Hart said.
Annual investment in electricity generation, such as building new power plants, has risen by almost 70% since 2015, reaching $1 trillion a year, according to the International Energy Agency. Yet the agency noted annual grid spending has risen at less than half that pace.
To meet electricity demand through 2030, the IEA calculates annual grid investment must increase by about 50% from today’s $400 billion per year. Any delays will substantially increase global emissions by prolonging reliance on fossil fuels, the IEA warns.
“Power grids have not been readied enough for the scaleup of renewable electricity generation,” said Jan Rosenow, a professor of energy and climate policy at Oxford University. “We have been complacent in the past and now the grid has become a real bottleneck.”
Power grids deliver electricity from power plants to homes through a network of transmission and distribution lines, substations and transformers....
....MUCH MORE
Part of the outro from November 5's "Wind Finally Turned Profitable For GE Vernova And Now It's Being Branded As A Data Center Play (GEV)":
It's green, green like Gumby dammit. Jeff Immelt, Al Gore, Ocasio-Cortez, Green New Deal, etc....
