Amazing video by Technology Connections. It’s a long one, but don’t miss his 30 minute angry rant at the end.
Thanks for mentioning the last 30 minutes, but for additional clarity, there is a fake ending 30 minutes before the actual ending. Please watch those last 30 minutes!
Damn that last 30 minutes went HARD. I got chills.
Good clarification!
Love the rant
I will always upvote technology connections, I have watched so many videos of his about things I would have thought i couldn’t care less about and enjoyed them all!
This!!!
My highlight was the non lightening brake lights on electric cars when they are recuperating
That pisses me off to no end. The car knows how fast it is going, it has to show you. Just make the lights come on based on deceleration, regardless of how it happens. It doesn’t even need dedicated hardware. It’s just lazy coding and development.
What video was that? I think I haven’t seen that one.
A technology connections video with a 30 minite rant??
watches video
oh.A technology connections video with a 30 minite rant??
Isn’t that just the standard format for technology connections?
Looks at runtime
Oh, this is gonna be a good one!
Great video. Completely breaks down the argument. You already knew this of you had been paying attention. Oil/gas for electricity generation in any form is DOA. It is insanely more expensive than solar + battery.
Not to mention destructive to the environment and politically fraught with issues.
To think if our government went all in it could provide dirt cheap limitless energy that would not cause lung disease or wars is staggering.
But the rich would be only 0.987 as wealthy
they’d probably be more wealthy from their heavy investments in renewable energy, which is more profitable than fossil fuels btw
Wondering now if paradoxically accelerating global warming increases stock ROI in renewables as the perceived value of renewable energy increases with the perceived/predicted level of global warming.
No, they are just after power, not money. They have a darwinist ideology to push.
It’s capitalism, power is wealth by definition. These are compatible concepts.
By perceived value i mean speculation.
i don’t think they’re that far-sighted though it’s probably a neat side-effect to them
But what about the coal miners? 🥺 More importantly the coal mine owners, won’t somebody please think of them? 🥺
By pure coincidence, Hank Green released a video about coal on the same day
Also by pure coincidence, Matt Colville released a video explicitly paying homage to Technology Connections the same day, too.
As someone not from the US, I can’t say how much I appreciate the last part of his video. As much as I understand why YouTubers want to “keep politics out of entertainment”, it’s disappointing and makes me lose interest in some US content because it seems like they are ignoring what’s going on around them.
And about the batteries, that’s unfortunately an argument I sometimes hear from skeptics. “What are we going to do with all those batteries?” they ask. I explain that they can mostly be recycled and like to ask what are we going to do with all the CO2 in the air, but apparently it’s different. Ironically one of those persons is my father, that has a cabin with a solar system that I installed for him. He originally bought a generator but since it’s very noisy to run only for some lights, he prefers using the battery bank powered by a few solar panels on the roof. I’d show him this video but he doesn’t speak English and it’s probably a lost cause anyway.
We can only hope that at least a few people can be influenced by this video; both parts.
For what it’s worth, ALL technology connections videos have manually added English closed captions, not auto generated gibberish. It’s some of the best captioning work I’ve ever seen. He actually takes the time to sync them to the auto/video, prevents spoiling jokes/punchlines, and adds an Easter egg at the end of most episodes (usually describing the smooth jazz outro).
You might actually have decent luck using the subtitle translation feature built into YouTube, since it (machine) translates the actual words Alec is saying.
And he’s spoken about doing it in part to ensure accessibility for the deaf, which I appreciate immensely as someone who grew up watching time delayed black box captions on whatever my mom was watching
I always flick the subtitles on at the end to see how the jazz is described and how he transcribes his bloopers.
Alec is awesome. The content he makes isn’t really my cup of tea, but I recognize that that man has some serious game.
I don’t find his videos to be entertaining, but they’re so educational that I watch them anyway.
The political discussion taboo only serves 2 purposes. 1, keep the stupid comfortable. To them, politics isn’t about ideas but about identity and is treated like a religion. You aren’t challenging an idea, you are threatening their identity. 2, Don’t upset rich people. Everyone discussion politics openly is a threat to the rich. So if you make it taboo to discuss those things you make it so that only those not bound by that taboo may participate.
“A wind turbine is like an oil derrick that generates eq. 3 gallons of gasoline evry single minute.”
Tbh I thought it would be more
Except the wind never runs out. Also we can use the energy from wind turbines 3x as efficiently as we can the energy from a barrel of oil. Carnot is a bitch.
I have been watching his videos for years with great enthusiasm.
If I ever meat him, it won’t be a handshake. That rant at the end deserves a hug. I love that antifascist energy that came pouring off him.
“It’s time to wake up and smell the fascism!”
Anyone willing to share a tl;dw?
EDIT: Okay so I watched the video and here’s a tl;dw which by necessity will lack a lot of detail and nuance. The video is in two parts.
The first part, an hour long, is about the slam dunk viability of solar panels as an energy source. In general, but most particularly in comparison to fossil fuel. The presenter underscores the real, deeper meaning of renewable energy sources and addresses many arguments made against solar power especially when it comes to scaling it up and in regards to its ecological impact. ngl, it’s pretty jaw dropping, even if I already knew most of this.
I was increasingly frustrated in the first part because I wanted to shout Do You Get Why This Is Not Happening? Do You Get Why This Renewable Energy Future Is Not Happening. So I was relieved to see that he does get it.
The second part, about 30 minutes long, comes after a quick faux end credits. In this portion, he “goes there” and lays out not only why we are not moving into this future we could have, that is already here for us to have (to wit, money interests) but broadens into a reflection and indictment about the overall situation currently in the U.S.A. While dipping into partisan politics, he elucidates his personal operating principle and shows how it is a throughline into that topic. He did it in a way that pulled no punches while remaining, at least IMO, respectful
First hour: Developing a detailed intuition for exactly how solar and wind energy work and what makes them so much better than oil (without mentioning climate change or pollution)
Last 30 min: Establishing a baseline moral framework that everyone can get behind, and explaining that under this framework a revolution against the Trump regime would be entirely justified but at a minimum we absolutely must vote against Republicans in the 2026 and 2028 elections.
As someone in the comments put it: he explains solar and then goes nuclear.
Damn, I love his stuff anyway, but this time I’m looking forward to watching it just to see how he incorporates a call for revolution against his government into a video about solar panels, haha
Its a very reasonable angry pivot that become even more reasonably angry.
The “not mentioning climate change” is key. He hit people where it hurts for everyone (Democrats and Republicans) - not spending money.
I think all the information is pretty well-known in this community, but here’s a summary:
- Renewables (specifically solar + batteries) are an inevitable future of energy production due to technological advancements and economies of scale improvements; you should not oppose them but welcome them
- We are at a tipping point where solar + batteries is now the cheapest energy source available
- Land use for solar farms is not a big issue, they are much more energy efficient per unit area than the ethanol corn that currently plagues the US
- Replacing all ethanol corn fields with solar farms would make almost twice as much energy as the US grid is currently producing
- Renewables are better than fossil fuels because they do not require continuous extraction; when a solar panel or battery has been “used up” and is degraded, it can be recycled, whereas fossil fuels can only be burned once after extraction
- The end goal is an almost-closed-loop system for all energy production, similar to what we have with lead-acid batteries already
- Recycling solar panels is relatively easy because they are mostly glass and aluminum, which we know how to recycle well, and we could probably figure out silicon too
- Recycling batteries is a harder problem but possible too if we put some effort in; currently the recycling capacity is lacking because there’s not enough batteries being recycled, since most of them are still working fine in EVs sold since the start of EV boom
- Worst-case, we can literally just grind up batteries into battery mush and refine it, same as we do with ores from which the raw materials come in the first place, but likely something better is possible
- Alec describes his personal politics, how he values labor and working-class people, and how he thinks immigrants are hard-working people who need to be welcomed and cared for
- Trump and Republicans as a whole are fascists and lie constantly, which needs to be called out and stopped
- ICE must be abolished and its thugs tried for their crimes
- Democrats are not doing enough, and in fact are pretty bad on some points, but it’s still better to vote for them
- People need to organize with their neighbors, care for each other first and foremost, and defend themselves against the government
Alec’s personal views are a relief, I think it’s a shame he didn’t go deeper into them before (IIRC he had a video where he called out right-wing misinfo but stopped short of any direct calls for action). I suppose the contrast between his usual “tech presenter/science explainer” and this clearly righteous political call for action might get through to some people better.
His social media is very political, he’s on bluesky.
I’m not enough of a fan to look up other social media, I just occasionally watch some of his videos on topics that are interesting to me. But that’s great to hear!
Hell his YouTube is quite political if you understand the little p politics he expresses. When he talked about elevators and captioning he’s been vocally in support of resources going to making the world more accessible to disabled people (and he puts his money where his mouth is, hand captioning all of his own videos). He’s mostly been vocal about the need for doing something about climate change. Then there’s also the video about algorithms that clearly originates from him being pissed about people wanting to invade Canada.
- Renewables (specifically solar + batteries) are an inevitable future of energy production due to technological advancements and economies of scale improvements; you should not oppose them but welcome them
They’re lying.
Who’s lying, and about what?
Gotta watch the video to find out.
Thanks for the detailed and thorough response
What, exactly, did we expect from someone named “fuckwit_mcbumcrumble”…? lol
Well, a little more bum crumble, if I’m being honest
You’re welcome!
Hahahahaha, funny interwebs person being a sarcastic edge! Such fresh comedic material, I’ve never encountered before
Or maybe for some things, you just shouldn’t… you’re only hurting yourself in the end
There’s a time and place for things, and garnering the wisdom to find the subtleties of that is something you should probably work on
Or continue forth being destructive for the lols and self-gratification, you’re hilarious — truly. Enjoy the dopamine hit while it lasts!
Big edit: sorry @fuckwit_mcbumcrumble … I got whooshed hard. I now see that yes, the tldw is indeed “They’re lying”. I feel a little dumb now, as I thought you meant the youtuber was lying; not that you had (super) summarized the subject. Very concise tldw, technically lol
Guess the video triggered me into also being tired of people lying, and thought you were being disinformative. My bad friend
That last 30 minutes earned a new Patreon subscription. I hope this starts a trend.
Not finished it yet but it annoys me so much that for some reason it is VASTLY cheaper for me to buy a briefcase or two full of batteries for my house than it is for the same to be done in bulk at the scale of the grid.
Just batteries would cut my energy costs to about a third of their current rate by charging them at cheaper off peak prices. Isn’t it insane that this is a feature of the current energy market?
It is in some markets. California PG&e has it, Texas is offering subsidies in some cities for it, and I’ve heard that it’s becoming popular in the UK too (octopus iirc).
I forget the exact rates but the time-of-use pricing from PG&E was pretty good. Cheaper rates from 9pm to about 6am. After getting used to it running large appliances like dishwasher and laundry became easy.
Yeah, and borderline extortionate pricing from 2pm-6pm
undersells the advantage of solar over corn ethanol land use by a lot. At least 2x. Excluding high energy/equipment cost of fermenting ethanol, overstating mileage, and understating EV mileage. The point of ethanol is purely to pay farmers for useless work, but they can make far more with less work from solar. Corn farmers in US have lost money for 4 consecutive years. Excluding land costs, their costs is $650/acre/year, excluding their time/labour. Cashflow per acre $97 @ $4/bushel. At 2.5 hours/day for $30/hour, profit before rent-equivalent drops to $22/acre
In Nebraska, solar costs $1/watt to install (before recent permitting BS). China costs $0.50/w (no tariffs, cheaper construction services/equipment). An acre in Nebraska can hold 400kw of solar, and produce 630kwh/year. It breaks even at 5c/kwh with 5% financing of whole installation (with system paid off in 25 years, even though it keeps producing) including $4000 O&M costs (high, because its washing dust and leaves 1-2 times per week). Every 1c/kwh revenue higher is $6300/acre profit,
Since ethanol is just a gift to farmers/rural land owners. Giving them 2%/financing rate as the gift and 4c/kwh in revenue is the same profit per acre, and at 5c/kwh, massively higher ($6300) profit. For US car drivers, instead of paying $0.12/mile (a 25mpg gasoline car will use 5.4 gallons ethanol/100 miles at $2.20/gallon). 18c/kwh charging for EV means $0.05/mile. Massive cost reduction already, but tariffs and other BS removal can provide significantly more value for farmers and drivers.
God, fuck ethanol. Last I checked it literally took 1.5 gallons of oil/gas to produce 1 gallon of ethanol. It turns more fuel into less fuel and pisses away soil fertility doing it.
I read an article some time ago arguing the purpose of ethanol (and ag subsidies in general) is, consciously or unconsciously, manifest destiny - we have to have a “use” for all the land we stole, we have to do something with it even if that something is a complete waste, because otherwise, people might start asking why we don’t give it back. Seems more likely to me all the time.
I think there’s absolutely a place for corn ethanol in America. It’s called bourbon, and that’s about it. Other biofuels are likely necessary for energy density required situations such as aviation, but I strongly suspect that there’s better options for that than ethanol
It’s the power of a voting class. Origins are geopolitics of 70s oil crisis. Then vote buying of rural areas. Most of the legislative giveaways were titled “clean air something”. There is a food security argument for grains (livestock is a food battery, and ethanol is surplus monetization)
There is a high oil-related cost portion of corn farming. Close to $300 of the $650/acre is fertilizer ($225), tractor fuel, pesticides. The last 4 years of corn farming losses is also during low NG price. The minimal profit before rent-equivalence can go negative at higher NG price, because ethanol is only blended into gasoline when gasoline is expensive, and then corn only bought for cheap when it is not. The US always has a high oil price policy, and geopolitical insecurity to achieve it. Weapons-oil industry is deep state establishment pushing for war and higher oil prices, and more corn helps, and politicians are rewarded with larger bribery war chests.
Energy insecurity for Americans comes from relying on geopolitical manipulated energy subscription to live/operate. Farmers need export markets, which makes it good for them for US to not be hated by all of their markets. US oligarchy is also invested in high electricity prices/profits for incumbents. Datacenter bubble is ideal oligarchism alliance with tech.
The point of my post is that farming/rural areas can be weaned from the oil oligarchy voting block. Much cleaner air argument. Genuine energy security that comes from 0 reliance on future geopolitics/supply chains. Better corn prices if some corn farmers switch to solar. Lower oil prices if less of it is wasted on farming and cars. Lower electricity prices and abundance to fund whatever skynet priority to better kill us all, but without us going broke first.
Also if making a fuel (that is also key input for local fertilizer production for neighbour farmers) is important, H2 electrolysis at 5c/kwh input makes $3.50/kg H2. equivalent to above 17.5c/kwh EV charging, excluding the battery charger losses. It is 10x cheaper to move by pipe than it is to move electricity by wire, while also doubling as storage, and even better home energy applications by using waste heat for free hot water. H2 has same 2.4x advantage over ethanol cost, but you can produce an unlimited amount to sell to places that need more energy seasonally, or to blast stuff into space.
If we didn’t already have an electric infrastructure, hydrogen pipes would be spreading everywhere.
Renewables transition needs new distribution. Electric grid system in US especially and west in general has extremely poor supply chain for new transformers. If there is an effort in transmission/distribution expansion, an H2 economy is very competitive to electricity. Delivery by truck is feasible for rural homes. If new electric transmission costs 10c/kwh (existing national average charge is about 8c/kwh), then a $2/kg delivery charge is competitive. Pipelines would be 20c/kg, equivalent to 1c/kwh transmission charges.
Policy supports extortionist monopolists with incumbent climate terrorist fuels, and structurally made to stay that way, until we agree on whether war on Minnesotans is good or bad, and can move on to examining structural corruption issues.
One other thing is if the farm adds some batteries they can sell the electricity at peak times for 20-30c/kwh.
I think there’s something wrong with your math did you mean 630MWh/yr?
ty. corrected. original said 630kwh/year
That rant at the end really sums up my feelings as a Midwestern leftist. Hell the whole thing does honestly. But you treat people right, you make prudent decisions, and you treat labor with dignity and respect.
I also really respect him for accepting when something that had been obvious to him (the value proposition of solar and electrification) turned out to have not been obvious to others so he cut the snark and explained his reasoning. It’s an admirable display of character. But also, yeah it had been obvious to me as well.
Probably not my favorite video of his, but definitely rhe one I respect the most
“That’s it. That’s the end of the video. Don’t look at the timestamp, don’t–”
*Always Sunny music*
Alec Gets Radicalized
Just when I thought I couldn’t like him more, he goes and drops this gigabased rant.
TC for U.S president honestly
Or even a governor or senator, he has the right ideas and ability to explain what is happening and what needs to be done
That level of competence would never fly in the US government.
Most governments
I like the guy. Really. But haven’t you seen what happens when people from entertainment become president?
Like Zelenskyy? Sign me up
Now that I’ve seen the type of people that seek political positions over a few decades, I would push Alec to run for some sort of local office. He’s the exact opposite of the majority of assholes who enter politics.
His works is way beyond just entertainment though. He talked about this in this very video.
Oh fuck they broke Alec shit’s bad
Went from “ehh, its a long video. I’ll watch it tomorrow” to “holy fuck…”
I actually stopped watching it at the hour mark because I had to make dinner but then I let it play while I worked and holy shit! This dude for president!
This dude for president!
Can you imagine what he could do? I mean, if he could focus on the President thing and not use his time in office to take apart washing machines and heat pumps.
Technology Connections video in 2020: “This is a Sunbeam Radiant toaster”
Technology Connections video in 2034: “This is an AGM-158C long-range anti-ship missile”
I don’t think I had ever heard him swear until this video.
Did they break him…? Or did they set him free? :D
(was going to go with “unleashed” but that carries a different vibe not fitting to this serious cause :) )
