PG&E, one of California’s main energy utility, CEO Patti Poppe spoke with Elon Musk. Elon said that he is certain that global electrical output will need to triple to handle the electrification of transportation and the heating of buildings. This trend and increasing development could increase energy usage by ten times for developing countries like India.
This is clear as 25% of world oil is used for cars and trucks. The oil is mostly used for trucks.
Elon said, if the electricity per capita trend continues from the start of the industrial revolution then the world could reach a terawatt per person. This must be a trend does not include the use of wood before electricity.
Elon indicated that if current global powerplants were used at full capacity we could double energy available by just adding the energy storage (like megapacks) to hold the power for the time when it is needed. Storing full output global powerplant production for 12 hours would require about 17.8 million megapacks. If it takes 15 years to replace the megapacks, then this would mean the need to produce about 1.2 million megapacks per year.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
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