A point I'd love to see addressed further is the impact of existing extensive electrification on this comparison between states. In a broad sense China is about where the USA was when FDR launched the Rural Electrification Program in the 30s and 40s. I'd posit that China's or Viet Nam's or Bangladesh's massive growth in electrification is due to being late adopters of extensive electrification. Now being new to teh game they can take advantage of new technologies from the get go while the USA, Canada, the EU etc have legacy systems that work well and exist as part of an integrated whole.
It is not at all clear that expanded wind and solar generation is compatible with building an electro state. The nations that are electrifying fastest generate their electricity from other sources.
China, Vietnam, and Indonesia generate their electricity largely from coal. Other rapid electrifiers also use electrical generation method other than solar and wind. For Cambodia, it is largely hydro and coal, while Bangladesh generates its electricity largely from coal, natural gas and oil.
The more important electricity is for the energy system, the more dangerous to base a nation’s electrical generation on intermittent power sources like wind and solar. That means electro-states must generate the bulk of their electricity from coal, natural gas, oil, hydro or nuclear.
Gents, this is one of the best things I've read in months. Great perspective here. Well done.
A point I'd love to see addressed further is the impact of existing extensive electrification on this comparison between states. In a broad sense China is about where the USA was when FDR launched the Rural Electrification Program in the 30s and 40s. I'd posit that China's or Viet Nam's or Bangladesh's massive growth in electrification is due to being late adopters of extensive electrification. Now being new to teh game they can take advantage of new technologies from the get go while the USA, Canada, the EU etc have legacy systems that work well and exist as part of an integrated whole.
It is not at all clear that expanded wind and solar generation is compatible with building an electro state. The nations that are electrifying fastest generate their electricity from other sources.
China, Vietnam, and Indonesia generate their electricity largely from coal. Other rapid electrifiers also use electrical generation method other than solar and wind. For Cambodia, it is largely hydro and coal, while Bangladesh generates its electricity largely from coal, natural gas and oil.
The more important electricity is for the energy system, the more dangerous to base a nation’s electrical generation on intermittent power sources like wind and solar. That means electro-states must generate the bulk of their electricity from coal, natural gas, oil, hydro or nuclear.