>>2017579>>2017582Even if the demand is intermittent, having variable power sources like solar and wind can't cover the demand *consistently*. There are cloudy days and less windy days.
Customers awaiting deliveries/passengers won't be happy if you tell them the trains aren't running because of the weather.
>>2017704>Did you notice how he neglected transmission losses which are quite significant? >[citation needed]Losses = I2R. Basic physics.
"For example, a 100 mi (160 km) span at 765 kV carrying 1000 MW of power can have losses of 0.5% to 1.1%. A 345 kV line carrying the same load across the same distance has losses of 4.2%." From:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110604181007/https://www.aep.com/about/transmission/docs/transmission-facts.pdf>You don't include that in calculating the electricity demand of a single industry.You should have some idea of this and build in some spare capacity. Otherwise you have to choose which customers get brownouts and blackouts. Like the situation in South Africa where they have only have electricity available at specified times of the day so that the entire grid doesn't shut down.
>He was giving a rough back of the envelope calculation to illustrate the enormity of electrification.>It was laughably wrong to the point of hilarity.Provide an estimate of your own with reasoning rather than being a dickhead. There is no issue with saying something is wrong if you can provide evidence for your claim. Then other people can agree or disagree.