electrek: Electricity is about to become the new base currency and China figured it out [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS]

[docwhiz]

Sounds great for the coasts but what about Kansas?

From the air.

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[Bob70533457973917]

Sounds great for the coasts but what about Kansas?

Pipes, hoses, tanker trucks and trains... You're covered!

 

[Greg Chick]

“What I’m trying to explore in this op-ed is the idea that if the present is electric and the future is even more electric, then it makes sense for electricity to be the foundation of the economy.

If electricity is the backbone of global trade and the metric of productivity, the kWh ultimately becomes the real currency of a truly electrified world.

And I think China has figured this out, as evidenced by its new electricity generation surpassing the rest of the world combined and by its ban on cryptocurrency.

They are going to let the rest of the world hold the crypto bag while they have more electricity generation than anyone to power their industries, which are already taking over the world.

I think the rest of the world should learn from this. Instead of pouring capital into meme coins and made-up stores of value, we should invest in electricity generation and storage.”


https://electrek.co/2025/11/21/elec...e-new-base-currency-and-china-figured-it-out/

Water & Power have always been the base of political clout. Nothing new. How such is used can, or can not be unethical. Wars may or may not be waged over such. The question is, who gets rich, or more powerful. Monopolies are created and maintained mixing power and politics. Choices exist wether or not to allow harm as a product of the quest for power.

 

[docwhiz]

Water & Power have always been the base of political clout. Nothing new. How such is used can, or can not be unethical. Wars may or may not be waged over such. The question is, who gets rich, or more powerful. Monopolies are created and maintained mixing power and politics. Choices exist wether or not to allow harm as a product of the quest for power.

Solar and wind power are by their nature distributed and resilient. This makes it hard to establish a monopoly (although electric utilities are trying hard to maintain their monopoly on electricity).
This "democratization" of energy will help reduce political power of autocrats by giving individuals more control.

 

[Greg Chick]

Solar and wind power are by their nature distributed and resilient. This makes it hard to establish a monopoly (although electric utilities are trying hard to maintain their monopoly on electricity).
This "democratization" of energy will help reduce political power of autocrats by giving individuals more control.

It is called Point Of Use, POU, be it, water harvesting from rain or reuse, or solar harvest being either thermal or PV , or Wastewater treatment and so on. The macro vs micro is the consumers right. The centeralization of these things is like the banking industry or the other macro controls of power. Off Grid was considered close to a cult type identity, I am suggesting it is just a level of POU. No, not, Pee On You, but Point Of Use responsibility, right and option.

 

[BigSkies]

Solar and wind power are by their nature distributed and resilient. This makes it hard to establish a monopoly (although electric utilities are trying hard to maintain their monopoly on electricity).
This "democratization" of energy will help reduce political power of autocrats by giving individuals more control.

While I like the idea behind this, I don't know how true it is.

Wind in particular requires enough capital that it's only effectively deployed at a utility scale.

Solar can be distributed AND it makes even more sense deployed at a utility level. It's not a one-or-the other choice. Both distributed and utility level deployments make a lot of sense. I understand that the rough economics is that it's about 2/3 cheaper per kW for utilities to deploy solar than it is for homeowners. This isn't something to bemoan, as it means all utility customers will eventually get the benefits of solar, and not just those that have the money to install their own panels.

What solar and wind does is reduce reliance on external suppliers of energy. This might have been the point you're trying to make, and I mis-interpreted it. This is less relevant for the US, as the US is the world's biggest petro-state.

Roughly 40% of the world's shipping emissions are from shipping energy (oil, coal, gas) from energy suppliers to energy consumers. Solar and wind can allow regions and nations to reduce dependence on foreign energy suppliers. This will be a benefit to nations with high energy demands and volatile currencies. Being able to reduce energy imports by a meaningful margin will keep inflation in check, stabilize prices, and lower the impact of FX shocks to large parts of the world. This would reduce the leverage of energy exporting autocrats (inclusive of the US), but won't do much beyond that.

 

[docwhiz]

While I like the idea behind this, I don't know how true it is.

Wind in particular requires enough capital that it's only effectively deployed at a utility scale.

Solar can be distributed AND it makes even more sense deployed at a utility level. It's not a one-or-the other choice. Both distributed and utility level deployments make a lot of sense. I understand that the rough economics is that it's about 2/3 cheaper per kW for utilities to deploy solar than it is for homeowners. This isn't something to bemoan, as it means all utility customers will eventually get the benefits of solar, and not just those that have the money to install their own panels.

What solar and wind does is reduce reliance on external suppliers of energy. This might have been the point you're trying to make, and I mis-interpreted it. This is less relevant for the US, as the US is the world's biggest petro-state.

Roughly 40% of the world's shipping emissions are from shipping energy (oil, coal, gas) from energy suppliers to energy consumers. Solar and wind can allow regions and nations to reduce dependence on foreign energy suppliers. This will be a benefit to nations with high energy demands and volatile currencies. Being able to reduce energy imports by a meaningful margin will keep inflation in check, stabilize prices, and lower the impact of FX shocks to large parts of the world. This would reduce the leverage of energy exporting autocrats (inclusive of the US), but won't do much beyond that.

Utility scale solar is cheaper to install but the perverse nature of our electricity monopolies means that it ends up costing consumers more.
Utilities count the cost of solar and wind as part of their infrastructure and they are permitted to charge a "return on investment" of 10% of that cost each year for the life of the asset. The result is that utilities make more profits by charging consumers more. That is why consumers don't see any cost benefit from utility wind and solar.
When a consumer installs solar, they gain all of the benefit of the energy with a payback of 3 to 5 years in addition to having energy security.

 

[Time2Roll]

Sounds great for the coasts but what about Kansas?

There are places in the US without water already. Kansas would be way down on the list.
Besides how often does the Kansas or Arkansas rivers run dry? Not to mention the Platte just a few miles north.
In CA we already have hundreds of miles of aqueducts and canals. The Colorado literally runs dry before it hits the ocean.

 

[VandalSibs]

When a consumer installs solar, they gain all of the benefit of the energy with a payback of 3 to 5 years in addition to having energy security.

I wish my return on investment would be that quick for solar in my state. With the low rates I get from my utility ($.09/kWh), the ROI is more like 20 years, if not longer....

 

[emoore]

I wish my return on investment would be that quick for solar in my state. With the low rates I get from my utility ($.09/kWh), the ROI is more like 20 years, if not longer....

My electricity is fairly cheap to at $.11/kWh but I'm happy to have solar and not pay the electric companies. I'd rather give it to the solar panel manufacturer. And it's not going to stay the same for the next 30 years. It will always go up where your costs are fixed with solar.

 

[docwhiz]

My electricity is fairly cheap to at $.11/kWh but I'm happy to have solar and not pay the electric companies. I'd rather give it to the solar panel manufacturer. And it's not going to stay the same for the next 30 years. It will always go up where your costs are fixed with solar.

My first array 10 years ago had a payback of 7 years when electricity was 0.13. Now my electricity is 0.33 so much faster payback. Also panels are cheaper.

 

[Jakelake]

Oil, Water, Electricity. Humans will fight over all of it until the end of time. And as usual, we have no long term plan, unlike the Chinese who are masters at playing the long game.

China bans crypto, but they sure don't seem to want to stop the massive amount of crypto scams that originate in their country and target older Americans. In 2024 alone they stole $9 billion from Americans. No one can convince me it isn't government sanctioned organized crime.

You can't be the target of crypto scammers if you don't own it or trade it. And if you do then you should know how volatile and risky it is before you get in. I would say that there are plenty of players in this country that have offered crypto coins to lots of people with a promise of huge profits in the future. No need to look to China for the scammers. There are plenty in the US who are carrying that torch.

 

[COdogman]

You can't be the target of crypto scammers if you don't own it or trade it. And if you do then you should know how volatile and risky it is before you get in. I would say that there are plenty of players in this country that have offered crypto coins to lots of people with a promise of huge profits in the future. No need to look to China for the scammers. There are plenty in the US who are carrying that torch.

That’s incorrect. Any scam that requests payment in crypto qualifies as a crypto scam. Or as you suggest, a scam that tricks people out of crypto they already own. But the common victims are elderly - not exactly the crypto owning crowd. They just fall for scams and get tricked into paying in crypto

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2025/10/us/crypto-atm-scams-companies-profit-invs-vis/

 

[zymolysis]

Water going to be the bigger thing. I can always do wind, solar or hydro for power but without water I can't grow crops or feed livestock. That is a much bigger problem.

Much of electricity production requires wasting water to turn turbines. Solar panels and wind turbines do not, so shifting electricity production to those will leave more water for other uses.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Much of electricity production requires wasting water to turn turbines. Solar panels and wind turbines do not, so shifting electricity production to those will leave more water for other uses.

That water isn’t wasted. Where do you think it goes?

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