What Is The Power Grid?

Summary

This video script explores the human mastery of energy manipulation, tracing its roots from harnessing fire to the Industrial Revolution's steam engines. It highlights the power grid as the largest machine ever built, which powers modern life but is fraught with inefficiencies and environmental impacts. The script delves into energy sources, with fossil fuels predominant, and touches on the need for smarter grids and better energy storage solutions. It concludes with a call for innovative thinking to address the growing global energy demand sustainably.

Takeaways

• 🔥 The harnessing of fire marked the first human manipulation of energy for tasks like cooking and creating light.
• 🚂 The Industrial Revolution was fundamentally about converting thermal energy into kinetic energy, epitomized by the invention of the steam engine.
• 🌟 The power grid is considered the largest machine ever built, providing electricity to homes and businesses through a complex network of power lines and substations.
• 📈 The majority of energy in the United States comes from burning fossil fuels, with about 66% of electricity production relying on these sources.
• ☢️ Nuclear power accounts for 19% of electricity production, while hydropower, solar, wind, and other renewable sources make up the remaining percentage of the energy mix.
• 🌞 All energy sources, including fossil fuels, trace back to the sun, either directly as solar energy or indirectly through the historical process of plants capturing sunlight.
• 🌲 Burning fossil fuels releases carbon that has been stored in the earth for millions of years, contributing to atmospheric CO2 levels and climate change.
• 💡 The largest consumer of electricity is residential and commercial use, powering everyday appliances and devices through the grid.
• 🔌 The electrical grid is not fully efficient, with approximately 60% of generated energy lost during transmission and conversion.
• 🤖 The concept of a smart grid aims to increase efficiency by enabling communication between power plants, the grid, and consumers to optimize energy use.
• 🔋 Energy storage remains a significant challenge, particularly for renewable sources, which cannot be easily saved for use during periods of low production or high demand.

Q & A

What is the primary focus of the 'It's OK to be Smart' video series?

The primary focus of the 'It's OK to be Smart' video series is to explore the concept of energy, including how humans have historically harnessed it, where we currently get our energy from, and potential future sources.

How did the harnessing of fire change human history?

The harnessing of fire marked the first time humans were able to convert thermal energy into useful work, such as cooking meat or creating light in caves for activities like painting.

What was the significance of the steam engine during the Industrial Revolution?

The steam engine was significant because it was the first machine to convert thermal energy into kinetic energy, fundamentally changing the world and setting the stage for the modern industrialized society.

What is the power grid and why is it considered the largest machine ever built?

The power grid is a vast network of power lines, outlets, and power plants that deliver electricity to homes and businesses. It is considered the largest machine ever built due to its extensive reach and the critical role it plays in supporting modern life.

What are the main sources of energy in the United States?

In the United States, the main sources of energy are fossil fuels, which account for about two-thirds of electricity production, followed by nuclear power at 19%, hydropower at 6%, and other renewable sources like biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind making up the remaining 7%.

How does the burning of fossil fuels impact the environment?

Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change and environmental issues. This process returns carbon that was sequestered over millions of years back into the atmosphere in a short period.

What is the role of the smart grid in improving energy efficiency?

The smart grid aims to overhaul the current electrical grid by using computer technology to enable communication between power plants, home appliances, and other components. This can help optimize energy use, reduce waste, and prevent blackouts by managing demand and supply more effectively.

Why is energy storage a significant challenge for renewable energy sources like wind and solar?

Energy storage is a challenge because unlike fossil fuel plants, which can increase production when demand is high, renewable sources like wind and solar are unpredictable and cannot be easily controlled. Currently, there is no efficient way to store energy at a large scale for use when it is not being generated.

How much energy is typically lost during the process of generating and transmitting electricity to consumers?

Approximately 60% of the energy generated is lost during the process of transmission and conversion to usable levels. This loss occurs due to factors such as heat dissipation in wires and inefficiencies in the conversion process.

What are some ways individuals can contribute to more efficient energy use?

Individuals can contribute to more efficient energy use by turning off lights when not in use, using energy-efficient bulbs, and adopting habits that reduce overall energy consumption. Collective efforts to use energy more wisely can have a significant impact on the grid's efficiency.

How does the script suggest we can influence policy regarding energy and the power grid?

The script suggests that public engagement, such as commenting on social media and expressing opinions, can influence policy. It humorously implies that these comments might be taken directly to government officials, emphasizing the importance of public opinion in shaping energy policy.

Outlines

00:00

🔥 The Evolution of Energy Use

The video script introduces the theme of human history's progression through the lens of energy utilization. It starts with the harnessing of fire, the first energy conversion, and moves to the Industrial Revolution's steam engine, which converted thermal energy into kinetic energy. The script highlights the uniqueness of human energy manipulation, contrasting it with other animals, and sets the stage for a discussion on energy sources, their history, and future prospects.

05:01

🌐 The Power Grid: The Largest Machine We Take for Granted

This section delves into the power grid, described as potentially the most complex machine ever built and an essential part of daily life that we seldom acknowledge. The script explains the grid's function, from energy generation at power plants to its distribution through high voltage lines and transformers, ultimately reaching homes and businesses. It also touches on the grid's inefficiencies, with approximately 60% energy loss during transmission, and the environmental impact of fossil fuel reliance, particularly coal, which is a significant contributor to CO2 emissions.

10:01

🚀 Advancing Energy Efficiency and Storage

The script discusses the need for smarter energy use and the development of a 'smart grid' that allows for better communication between power plants, homes, and appliances to increase efficiency and prevent blackouts. It also addresses the challenge of energy storage, especially for renewable sources like wind and solar, which are unpredictable and cannot be easily stored at a large scale. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of finding solutions to these issues to reduce energy loss and overall consumption as the global population grows and energy demands increase.

🌿 Energy Transitions and the Role of Innovation

The final paragraph reflects on historical energy transitions, such as the shift from wood to coal, and how societies have been driven to change their energy sources out of necessity rather than environmental concerns. It underscores the importance of innovation and the role of young engineers in developing new technologies to make the grid smarter and more efficient. The script concludes with a call to action for viewers to engage with the content, support the show, and stay curious about science and energy topics.

Keywords

💡Energy

Energy is the capacity to do work or the ability to cause change. In the context of the video, it is presented as a fundamental aspect of human progress and civilization, with the harnessing of fire marking the beginning of human energy manipulation. The script discusses various forms of energy, such as thermal, kinetic, and electrical, and how they have been historically converted and utilized, particularly highlighting the role of energy in the Industrial Revolution and modern life.

💡Steam Engine

The steam engine is a historical machine that converted thermal energy into kinetic energy, which was a pivotal innovation during the Industrial Revolution. The script uses the steam engine as an example to illustrate the human ability to transform energy from one form to another, fundamentally changing the world and setting the stage for modern industrialization and societal structures.

💡Fossil Fuels

Fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, and oil, are energy sources formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals. The video script explains that a significant portion of the United States' electricity comes from burning fossil fuels, which is a major contributor to CO2 emissions and climate change. The script also points out the historical reliance on these fuels and the environmental challenges associated with their use.

💡Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy is a form of energy harnessed from the nucleus of an atom, typically through nuclear fission. The script mentions that 19% of electricity in the United States is produced through nuclear power. While it is a low-carbon energy source, it also raises concerns about safety, waste disposal, and the potential for nuclear proliferation.

💡Hydropower

Hydropower is energy derived from the movement of water. The video script states that 6% of U.S. electricity comes from hydropower, emphasizing its role as a renewable energy source. Hydropower is highlighted as a significant but underutilized method of generating electricity, which is part of the broader conversation about renewable energy and sustainability.

💡Renewable Energy

Renewable energy refers to energy sources that are naturally replenished and sustainable over time, such as solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass. The script points out that these sources currently make up only 7% of total energy production in the United States, with solar energy contributing a mere 0.4%. The video underscores the need for increased focus on renewable energy to combat climate change and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

💡Power Grid

The power grid is the interconnected network for electricity delivery, facilitating the transfer of electricity from power plants to consumers. The script describes the power grid as the largest machine ever built, highlighting its complexity and ubiquity in daily life. The power grid is central to the video's theme, as it represents the infrastructure that enables the use and distribution of energy in modern society.

💡Efficiency

Efficiency, in the context of the video, refers to the effectiveness with which energy is used or produced. The script reveals that about 60% of generated energy is lost in the process of transmission and conversion, emphasizing the need for improvements in energy efficiency to reduce waste and environmental impact.

💡Smart Grid

A smart grid is an electrical grid that uses computer technology to improve its efficiency, reliability, economics, and sustainability. The script discusses the smart grid as a potential solution to make the current power grid more efficient by allowing for better communication between power plants, appliances, and the grid itself, thereby optimizing energy use and reducing waste.

💡Energy Storage

Energy storage involves the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time. The video script identifies the lack of efficient large-scale energy storage as a significant challenge, especially for renewable energy sources like wind and solar, which are intermittent. The script suggests that advancements in energy storage technology are crucial for a more sustainable and reliable energy system.

💡Entropy

In the context of the video, entropy refers to the natural tendency of energy systems to degrade, leading to the loss of usable energy as heat or other forms of dissipation. The script uses the concept of entropy to explain the inherent inefficiencies in energy transmission and the losses that occur as energy travels from power plants to end users.

Highlights

Human history is about turning energy into other things, starting with the harnessing of fire for thermal energy.

The Industrial Revolution was marked by the conversion of thermal energy into kinetic energy through the steam engine.

No other animal has been able to convert thermal energy into kinetic energy like humans have with the steam engine.

Our current way of life is dependent on the harnessing of energy, yet it is often taken for granted.

The power grid is the largest machine ever built, connecting every home and business.

The power grid is so ubiquitous that we often don't even realize its presence.

In the United States, about 2/3 of electricity comes from burning fossil fuels.

Only 0.4% of total energy production in the U.S. comes from solar energy.

All energy sources, including fossil fuels, ultimately originate from the sun.

Burning fossil fuels releases carbon that took millions of years to be sequestered.

Electricity production is the largest source of CO2 emissions, primarily from coal.

The power grid is the most massive machine humans have built, yet it is not perfect.

Approximately 60% of generated energy is lost due to inefficiencies in the grid.

The concept of a smart grid aims to make the power grid more efficient through technology.

Energy storage is a significant challenge, especially with renewable energy sources.

Societies are defined by how they use energy, with transitions often driven by scarcity or crisis.

As Earth's population grows, we need to find ways to use energy more efficiently.

The grid, as a human achievement, is not perfect, and we must take control to use energy more smartly.

Transcripts

There's not a lot that there's, like,

purely a human thing when we look at the world,

but this is one of them.

This is Joe Hanson, host of "It's OK to be Smart."

He's OK, he's smart, and he's made a bunch of videos

about energy, so we decided to ask him about it.

Human history has kind of been about turning energy

into other things.

The harnessing of fire was the first time we did this.

We took the ability to take thermal energy

and do things with it, like cook meat

or make light inside the cave so we could make the fun cave

paintings or something like that.

Everybody talks about this Industrial Revolution,

this big thing that happened in history.

But if you boil that down-- pun intended,

I guess-- it's the ability to take

the thermal energy for the first time

and convert it into kinetic energy.

That's what the steam engine was,

and that is what has changed our world

into an unrecognizable place in a few hundred years.

And no other animal has been able to do that.

The manipulation of energy is what makes us human.

Our current way of life wouldn't even

be possible without the harnessing of energy.

Yet we often take it for granted, Craig.

That's right, Matt.

In this playlist, we're going to learn about energy--

how we get it, where we get it, and where

we'll get it in the future.

But first, let's take a look at the largest machine ever built

and how we use it every day without even really thinking

about it.

What is it?

Is it my car?

No, not even close.

It's way bigger.

Whoa.

Yeah, it's pretty amazing.

That's huge.

Something bigger than your car, your Toyota Corolla.

You see it every day.

It's everywhere, lining every street and alley,

filling huge areas of land in our cities,

and connecting every single home and business.

We see it so much we don't even think about it.

It's the power grid, potentially the most complicated kind

of machine ever built, but also one of the easiest ones to use.

All you got to do is plug something in

or flip on a switch.

But all that power has to come from somewhere.

So if we want to understand how the power grid works,

we're going to have to start from the beginning, which

is a few million years ago, give or take.

Where does the bulk of our energy come from?

Well, here in the United States,

we use something like five or six times more

energy per person than anywhere else in the world.

And a lot of that comes from burning fossil fuels.

We're changing where we get energy today,

but the fact is a lot of it comes

from burning things like coal, natural gas, even

oil and things like that.

About 2/3 of our electricity in the United States

is produced through the burning of fossil fuels.

19% is nuclear.

6% is hydropower.

And the last 7% is all the other renewable sources

combined, including biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind.

Solar energy itself only accounts for 0.4%

of our total energy production.

Got to step up your game, solar.

Come on, now.

Let's do this.

But the funny thing about all those sources

is they really do start at the sun.

Solar energy-- duh.

It comes from the sun.

But fossil fuels used to be things like plants

that came from the sun.

Even if there used to be things like animals,

well, animals eat plants that came from the sun.

Even wind energy is powered by the sun

heating the earth in different ways

and spinning it around and creating all those air

currents.

So when we burn fossil fuels like coal,

we're tapping into the energy all those plants soaked up

from the sun over millions of years.

That's why they're such a great energy source

and why they're so problematic.

All life on earth is carbon-based.

Plants are full of carbon they get from the carbon dioxide

they breathe out of the air.

So that carbon that's been put there

from dead plants for millions and millions of years,

we're burning it and putting back

into the atmosphere in a matter of hundreds of years.

And the earth just can't respond in a couple hundred years

to these major changes.

The production of electricity pumps more CO2

into our atmosphere than any other method.

And most of that CO2 comes from the burning of coal.

Because not only is coal the most widely used fossil fuel,

it packs the most carbon emissions.

The biggest consumer of that electricity

is us, or rather our lights and our appliances.

Hundreds of millions of light bulbs

and toasters and TVs and doodads and computers

all tap into that electricity through the grid.

It's the biggest machine that's ever been built.

I mean, like that large Hadron collider

thing puts that thing to shame.

The electrical grid is the most massive machine

humans have ever built. It's what

connects-- it's the reason everything works.

We take that for granted.

You've seen parts of the grid-- power lines, outlets,

and the occasional power plant, but you'll never

be able to see it in its entirety.

There over 700,000 kilometers of high voltage power lines

and over 250,000 kilometers of overhead transmission lines

in the United States alone.

That's enough to wrap around the entire Earth 24 times-- 24.

When you flip a switch on the wall

and you want to turn on your lights,

that's completing a circuit that begins very far away when

somebody burns fossil fuel or nuclear energy

or collects solar power at a power plant.

And that power plant produces electricity

at a very high voltage, which is then

sent out long distances over high power transmission lines.

Then, the closer it gets to your house,

it starts stepping that down to a less deadly level,

although it's still pretty deadly.

And that's done by transformers and substations

in a series of little tiny-- it's

like funnels that get closer and closer to your house,

so that by the time you plug that plug in in the wall,

you get down to, like, here in the US 120 volts or something

like that.

The grid makes basically every part of our modern lives

possible, but this massive machine isn't perfect.

Far from it.

Besides using tons of fossil fuels

and spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere,

there's another problem with the grid.

Our energy grid is not very efficient.

We actually lose about 60% of the energy that we generate,

which would probably come to a shock.

That means is it's never used.

It never comes out the plug in your house.

It never gets applied to a light bulb or a battery or whatever.

All along the path, from the power plant to your house,

there's loss and converting it from higher to lower voltage.

There's heat that escapes out of the wires

in the process of creating that energy, burning the fuels.

There's even unused energy.

If wind turbines are spinning and there's

nobody there to use that electricity,

we can't always store it to use it later.

I mean, one of the biggest parts of this is just physics itself.

Is just entropy.

When you try to make energy travel a long distance,

you're just going to lose part of it.

It's like death by 1,000 paper cuts.

It's, you lose a little bit of energy

here, a little bit there.

But by the time it gets to your house, more than half of it

has been lost along the way.

[BLEEP] entropy.

I know.

It's going to be the end of the universe, too.

It's a real bummer.

Can you think of possibly someday

we'll be able to capture that heat that we lose and use it?

Is there some way we can do that?

Because we'd be millionaires if we could figure that out.

This is one of the biggest parts--

one of the areas of focus in energy research

is not just coming with new sources

of energy, but changing how we use it

and trying to find these places where we lose it,

where we lose these things that are unusable.

One of the ways to make the grid more efficient

is to make it smarter.

This is called the smart grid, which is basically

an overhaul of our current grid, utilizing computer technology

to allow power plants and home appliances and everything

in between to communicate with each other

and work out problems in the system

to make it more efficient.

For example, imagine that your air conditioner

could turn itself off when the electrical grid was overloaded.

We could avoid blackouts and undue stress to the system

and save money in the process by using less power when

electricity rates are high.

The other major problem with the grid is energy storage.

Right now, there is no way to store energy

at a large scale, which is a big problem, particularly

with renewable energy.

With fossil fuel plants, if energy demand is high,

we just burn more fossil fuels.

Unfortunately, we have far less control

over renewable sources like wind and solar.

Nature is unpredictable and generally

doesn't produce more sun and wind

just because everyone's microwaving

a Hot Pocket at the same time.

And when demand is low, we could potentially

be missing out on a lot of extra free wind and solar power

because we have no way to store it.

Now, there is some energy storage in use,

and new technologies are being developed.

But we still have a ways to go.

If we can get the storage issue figured out

and get the various parts of our massive grid

communicating with each other and working together

like a giant brain, the hope is we can reduce our energy loss

and use less energy overall.

How societies use energy has always

been a defining quality of who they are.

Like, the Dutch are famous because they love windmills.

And now we're famous because we like gasoline.

Most of our history has been about these energy transitions.

So think about the change from wood to coal.

Coal was a way to save the world from deforestation back then.

Seeing that trend over time, it's not necessarily

that we always want to be cleaner

or that we always want something cheaper.

It's that were motivated when something starts running out

and we almost have to get into this crisis mode

before we agree to take a step.

And unfortunately, I don't think we have time to do that today.

We're going to come up with a different reason,

and I'm crossing my fingers that we

can do it for the first time.

As Earth's population grows and more people around the world

want to live the way that we've been lucky enough

to live and have the stuff we've been lucky enough to have,

it's going to require more and more energy.

We've got to come up with ways to do things more efficiently.

Because there's going to be more and more people

wanting to plug in and get energy in the future.

And we've got to solve both problems.

Well, how do we do it?

How do I that?

I don't know.

That's why we need young, smart engineers to come in

and figure that out.

It's new inventions and new technologies.

The grid is a giant, complicated machine.

It's one of the most uniquely human achievements

we've accomplished.

And just like us, it isn't perfect.

We might take the grid for granted.

We might not even realize it's there half the time.

But we do have to realize that we are the ones in control

of this massive machine.

Turning off lights, using energy-efficient bulbs,

and working together to use energy more efficiently

will go a long way.

Just as the grid can be smarter with the way it uses energy,

so can we.

And we don't need to be upgraded.

We should already be smart enough.

Thanks to Joe Hanson for lending his expertise

about energy.

He did a whole series of three videos about energy.

I'll link it right there.

Go check it out.

Subscribe to his channel.

It's really good.

What do you guys think?

What do you think of this energy grid?

Are we going to make it better or what?

Are we headed for disaster, or is

there are things just fine the way they are?

Let us know in the comments.

And we will take your suggestions to government.

We'll write our congressman and see what they do about it.

Yeah, your comments are going to go directly into policy.

Whatever you say, so be careful.

Be careful.

Don't screw up.

Because we know people in high places.

We don't.

That was a lie.

If you want more about cool science topics,

like all this energy business, climate change,

or maybe some happier topics like why dinosaurs are cool

or why space is awesome, then come check out my channel

at YouTube.com/itsoktobesmart.

I happen to think it's the best science channel out there.

All right.

Stay curious.

Ours is pretty good though, too.

Oh, yeah.

Good Stuff is pretty awesome too.

If you enjoyed-- oh, stomach is growling quite a bit.

Ooh, I need more energy from food.

If you like what you just saw, consider

clicking Like and subscribing.

And if you'd like to support our show,

you go to our Patreon page.

There's some awesome perks over there,

like we do a monthly live show and stuff.

Great.

Yeah, you could help us generate monetary power

through you.

You'd be like the power plant.

What we really want is power.

Well, you'd be the power, the person people--

it's like people power.

It'd be like using people for energy, to keep the show going.

Like in "The Matrix"?

Yeah, basically.

You'd be human batteries, which surprisingly enough, we're

going to do a video about.

Not human batteries, regular batteries.

New batteries, though, futuristic batteries.

This isn't going well.

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