Linus really pouring on that "white death" energy.
mosiacmango
joined 1 year ago
These are grid scale projects. Each one is designed to power 100s of thousands of homes.
Based on the data I can find, 35MW datacenters are what AI will require by 2030. The project I linked above could power 20+ of them at once by itself.
There are immense capacity utility scale batteries available now from dozens of vendors. They would be roughly 100x easier to build than a nuclear power plant, even with a solar farm attached.
The most recent nuclear power plant built in the US was the 2 new units at the Vogtle plant in Georgia. They took 11 years and 34 billion dollars to build to output a roughly 2.4 gw of steady power.
A 1gw solar + battery plant was built in Nevada that cost 1.9 billion. They secured financing in 2022, and finished building it in 2024.
So we can get a solar array built to do the above with battery storage for 4 billion, in 2-4 years. For the same cost as that added 2.4GW nuclear, we could build 18GW of solar with 12.6gwh of storage.
So nuclear will do 2.4GW of peak, with 2.4gwh of "storage" available 24/7.
I have no doubt that the above 18GWh of solar could be traded in for more battery, to a more sane ratio that could compete with that "storage" while also providing 4-5x of total power. Based on what I can find, the batteries were about 1/2 the cost, so if we knock the solar generation to 9GW, we can increase battery to 25.2GWh. Now you still have huge power generation, a huge power storage that you can use all at once or over a long period, and it matches the "storage" that that nuclear plant offers for 12hrs, I.e the time when the sun is down.
It's honestly baffling why these companies are trying to spin up nuclear plants instead of pushing ahead with more grid renewables.
You said earlier that "Goodwill specifically markets itself as a thrift store to help the working class while also helping homeless and disabled people get retail experience to get normal jobs."
They certainly advertise the second part in that link, but I didn't see anything about the first part, which is what you seem to mainly be upset about.
They are pretty up front about selling donated goods to pay for their charity work of job training. They don't claim to be a "thrift store to help the working class" at any point.
Habitat for humanity uses the exact same model as goodwill for its retail charity stores.
Retail Revenue
Most Habitat for Humanity affiliates around the country have a ReStore, which is a resale store that receives donations of various types of home goods from people in their community and sells them for a profit. This profit goes directly toward Habitat’s mission and supports the organization’s efforts to build and repair homes.
You can disagree with Goodwill as a charity, but both are still thrift stores.
Yeah, looks like we don't agree in most of the thread, but I'm 100% fucking with you there.
That's how all charity thrift stores work. That's how they have always worked. The retail sales power the charity. Goodwill, habitat for humanity, salvation army, on and on. I have some local ones that pay for animal shelters.
They all sell donated items to make money for the charity.
My local one has a banner up for Halloween costumes, but that's about it. There are some generic "feel good" images of people being happy to work inside on the walls, but it's not like it rotates or has ads or anything. Just generic cheerful "thank you's."
There is nothing about how the store is there to sell cheap things to the working class, just that their charity helps people get jobs.
That's just inside the walls too. I've never seen any kind of actual ad for Goodwill in print or online.
Thats pretty fucked up. According to this article in 2013, there were 69 goodwill franchises that used it.
It does look like they are moving away from using it:
As of September 1, 2024, only 10 of the 149 local Goodwills in the United States are reported on DOL’s list. Many of those organizations are in the process of transitioning away from using the certificate. GII does not hold a certificate, and we support local Goodwill leaders as they collaborate with people with disabilities, local employers and other service providers to create an array of community-based employment and other opportunities.
More like its $35 that Goodwill can use to help an actual working mom of 3 when re-sellers pay to get a coat they can sell online for $130.
Retail charities view their store as the source of funds for the charity, not as the charity itself. They also know people are reselling high end items, so they can mark them higher to make more money for the charity.
Can you link some of these ads you're talking about? I don't really see any ads for them ever.
I don't think they hide that they sell things that are donated, since they want people to donate. They also dont sell things at market prices, especially not from what I've seen personally. I bought a $600 snowboarding jacket there for $85 once. It wasn't $8.50, but 80% off for a coat in pristine condition is nowhere near "market" prices. I've got tons of things from years of thrifting there that were wildly under "market" prices. I still go regularly and think the prices are very solid for thrift, if occasionally bonkers.
It sounds like you have specific issues with Goodwill, which is fine, but the above is how all retail charities work. The store prices are not the charity. The charity comes from the profits from the stores, so all retail charities are incentivized to make a profit. The fact that the prices are much less than market, and that they do some great environmental things as well via recycling is the extra positive bits of retail charity like goodwill or habitat for humanity.
If you don't care to support the model that's fine, but that's why they price things the way they do.
Pleather sold real well in the 90s.