Quote from: DannyHamilton on December 30, 2014, 08:04:34 PM

Quote from: cbeast on December 30, 2014, 04:27:04 PM

Quote from: DannyHamilton on December 30, 2014, 03:51:26 PM

Quote from: jyakulis on December 30, 2014, 03:31:27 PM

Quote from: cbeast on December 30, 2014, 01:25:30 PM

Battery storage suck. We don't even have decent electric cars. Why should power companies buy expensive wasteful batteries?

batteries lol....you know what a transformer is right?

Yes, it converts (transforms) alternating current to either higher voltage with lower current or lower voltage with higher current. It does this through electrical induction between two coils with differing numbers of windings. What does that have to do with the discussion at hand?

I think he's right. They use transformer stations to change amperage for long distance transmission on the grid. Still it's not very efficient compared to batteries and bitcoin would be more efficient still.

No. He's wrong.

He's claiming that they use transformers to "store" electricity in magnetic fields:

Quote from: jyakulis on December 30, 2014, 07:46:04 PM

- snip -
A transformer transforms voltage yes but is also a storage of potential energy via a magnetic field.

He's also claiming that you can't power a transformer with wind or solar energy:

Quote from: jyakulis on December 30, 2014, 07:46:04 PM

So, yes you need a battery for wind energy or solar energy because it does not produce a steady state energy. Thus you can't power a transformer because you do not have a constant potential difference.

He doesn't seem to understand how the electric power supply companies operate at all. He doesn't realize that they waste energy generating electricity that goes unused during off-peak times, that wind, solar, or any other form of alternating current can power a transformer, or that transformers do not "store" electricity.

It doesn't necessarily work that way. The harder a generator works (bigger electrical load) the more it uses fossil fuel. The difference between running at full load and half load wouldn't be the amount of electricity wasted it would be the consumption rate of fossil fuels.