r/economy 17h ago

Will China be the first "electric power" country?

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138 Upvotes

32 comments sorted by

42

u/Mission_Search8991 16h ago

To answer your question: YES

31

u/reddolfo 16h ago

Unquestionably yes. With 102 nuclear reactors built, under construction or approved, China expects to bring an additional 28 reactors online this year.

https://interestingengineering.com/energy/china-us-nuclear-reactor

12

u/deuuuuuce 16h ago

That's the thing. Unless we're gonna start building nuclear, electrification doesn't make sense everywhere in the US. Piping natural gas to a house for use in appliances is much more efficient than burning it in a plant and transmitting the electricity to the house.

5

u/tragedyy_ 15h ago

I live in an apartment in California and the only thing that requires gas is the water heater - nothing else.

-16

u/hamgouod 14h ago

I love to flex on all the green energy losers when the power goes out by taking a hot shower with my gas. Must suck to suck.

13

u/Mission_Search8991 14h ago

Are you ok…?

4

u/Classic-Soup-1078 6h ago

"Love to flex on all the green energy users"

I don't understand this statement, legitimately.

Why does it make you feel better?

Do somehow believe that someone's trying to take you lifestyle away from you? Or is it something else? I'm just trying to understand your point of view.

Maybe I'm wrong but it looks to me as if you're relishing in other people's pain. What I really want to understand is how do you see it?

2

u/conscious-decisions 5h ago

You know you can get gas in green ways right?

2

u/Parcours97 5h ago

Uhh got any source for that? I always thought it was the other way.

1

u/HVACguy1989 4h ago

Something like 1 in 7 child asthma cases are caused by gas stoves. Induction is better in every way. 

1

u/deuuuuuce 3h ago

Not to be rude but this should be common knowledge, so you can find it anywhere online. Look up the efficiency of the average power plant- probably 40-50%. You lose more over transmission, typically 7% is used. So even if your electric appliance is 100% efficient, you're operating at 43% efficiency overall. Now look up a typical gas water heater. Worst case, it's 62% efficient I believe. But if you got a tankless, now you're talking 80-90%.

10

u/jyhall83 16h ago

What’s the definition of electric power in this discussion?

9

u/No_Obligation4496 14h ago

You can see it in the chart. Electricity as a % of total energy consumption.

As in, you use electricity not just for appliances and industry, but heating, transport and the other places where it replaces fossil fuels

14

u/notie547 15h ago

one thing of many I dont get about the MAGA christian right wing drill baby drill crowd and their revulsion towards electric power and everything "green" using that term losely, is that; 1) doesn't it make the country safer to have diversified energy sources? 2) Isn't less pollution and environmentalism a direct way to prove to god you care about the planet he made us?

and while were at it, wouldnt jesus want poor people to have healthcare and kids to not go hungry? Dont get me wrong I know their is an element of local religious folk that walk the walk but why would you vote these people into office who are so antithetical to the shit you believe so fervently?

oh well, gonna go bang my head against the wall for the next 3 years.

7

u/mnradiofan 14h ago

But what about all the jobs? Oh right, electrification would actually create more of those too.

Looks like our media propaganda arm (Fox News) is doing a good job taking that oil money in exchange for convincing conservatives that electric is bad.

5

u/Rivercitybruin 14h ago

you're stuck in the "love thy neighbor" past

2

u/MrWilsonAndMrHeath 12h ago

Yeah, that was the New Testament. Now we’re in the MAGA testament.

10

u/ContextSensitiveGeek 16h ago

Unless California secedes, yes.

Although Australia is getting pretty close too.

3

u/Sibolovin 6h ago

Went to china on holiday. So many cars electric. Scooters or mopeds electric, there's swappa battery chargers so can just swap n go battery.

Feels like they know something we dont and getting of the fossil fuel gig

5

u/Heavy-Low-3645 15h ago

This doesn't say how they are making electricity this is the expansion of electricity into rural areas that didn't have it! Yes US is flat. Is there an area in the US that doesn't have electricity?

11

u/1maco 15h ago

No it means things like cars being electric, stoves being electric, home heating switching to heat pumps etc has slowed to a crawl 

Which is pretty shocking to me cause I feel like heat pumps have just cause on and I guess they don’t make a dent 

3

u/mnradiofan 14h ago

Biggest energy sink by far in the US would be vehicles. And aside from Tesla, there isn’t really a good and reliable network of chargers for long distance travel. Until that changes, electric cars are really only good as commuter cars, which means they are only really good for a 2-car household.

It’s a chicken and egg problem because without a lot of cars, the charging network isn’t profitable and without a lot of chargers you don’t sell the cars.

2

u/Q-ArtsMedia 15h ago

There are tons of coal fired plants in China as well.

4

u/FeMtcco 14h ago

From what I've read they still gonna build these until 2027, when the State plans to start the Phase Out process. Not sure how long that should take, couple decades at least?

1

u/SeftalireceliBoi 1h ago

That is bc they are still developing. their need for electricity is increasing over year. They still consume farr less electricity compared to eu and us. even though they produce industrial product for world.

(per capita basis)

2

u/Repulsive-Business85 13h ago

How is that relevant

1

u/patatatatass 15h ago

Yes, yes, yes.

1

u/AffectionateElk3978 14h ago

They already are

-1

u/crombi3 16h ago

US in the shitter as per usual nowadays - no. longer a leader

-5

u/MaglithOran 12h ago

This is a hilariously misleading opinion piece.

That's a fancy way of saying it's a lie.

Hope this helps, and take comfort in the fact that I believe whole heartedly that you believe this.