A Nuclear Fission Regulatory Blank Slate
What if nuclear regulations were reset? ... Read More
Austin Vernon
Austin Vernon's Blog
Latest posts
How Rockefeller and His Partners Built Standard Oil
Many tech industry followers will recognize the playbook. ... Read More
Building Ultra Cheap Energy Storage for Solar PV
Solar still needs storage cheap enough to move energy between seasons. I have been working on a startup to do this for the last two years. ... Read More
Expanding the Universal Marginal Energy Source
Solar PV is poised to change the global energy landscape. ... Read More
Are Volcanoes a Risk to Solar Dominated Grids?
It seems grids will fare fine because of non linear affects. ... Read More
The Outsize Impact of AI Logistics
Automated logistics will heavy impact one third of GDP. ... Read More
A Review of Massively Scalable Enhanced Rock Weathering
How cheap can it pull CO2 from the air? ... Read More
Startup Strategy for Commodity Products
Making ultra cheap products requires different rules and strategy. ... Read More
Imagining the Drone Air Force
Can cheap, expendable drones complete every mission? ... Read More
Integrating AI Agents into Companies
AI needs a different environment than humans to take advantage of its speed. ... Read More
Human Driving Increases Transportation Cost 10x
Why ground transportation still has a lot of legs. ... Read More
2024 Geothermal Update
Drilling and completions technology progresses, but is it enough? ... Read More
How to Make Off Grid Data Centers Affordable
Powering data centers with solar and batteries can be compelling with optimized designs. ... Read More
Revitalizing US Navy Shipbuilding
The US Navy's ship program is sick, but the fixes aren't rocket science. ... Read More
Making Hydrogen Affordable
Green hydrogen could be critical for chemical production, but making it cost effective is a tall task. ... Read More
Evaluating Geothermal Learning Curves
A look at how geothermal might improve like wind and solar. ... Read More
In Defense of Electricity Markets
Electricity markets are often maligned but they are the best option for handling changing electricity generating technology. ... Read More
The Case for Brick Thermal Storage
Thermal storage could solve many difficult areas of decarbonization. ... Read More
2023 Geothermal Update
Drilling technology progresses, but is it enough? ... Read More
The Future of Carbon Dioxide Direct Air Capture
How do we scale to gigatons? ... Read More
The Minimum Viable Navy
What is the absolute minimum performance we need to counter China? ... Read More
Why Battery Powered Cargo Ships are Compelling
Ships need cheap batteries instead of high performance ones. ... Read More
How to Build a House in One Day
Humanoid robots powered by artificial intelligence could build regular houses in one day using traditional construction techniques. ... Read More
The Case for Separating Fission from Electricity Production
Nuclear power could level up by producing high value products. ... Read More
Nuclear Power's Challenges in less than 1000 Words
There are fundamental reasons nuclear power struggles with cost. ... Read More
AI Tutors and Education Reform
AI can revolutionize K-12, but how many actually want it? ... Read More
Fuel Logistics for a Pacific War
How hard is it to fuel a war across a vast ocean? ... Read More
Are Aircraft Carriers Obsolete?
One poorly designed class of ships does not obsolete aircraft carriers. ... Read More
The Weapons That Win World Wars
Asymmetric advantages disappear when the gloves come off. ... Read More
The Future of Industrial Process Heat
New competitors hope to challenge fossil fuel's dominance. ... Read More
How the US Military is Responding to China
The US is rapidly compensating for the short range of its fighter aircraft. ... Read More
The Decentralization of Atoms is Underrated
Stephen Malina and I co-wrote this post to praise flexible and distributed technologies. ... Read More
Electric Trucks are Ready for the Road
New designs that can utilize cheaper battery chemistries will alleviate scaling problems. ... Read More
Can Nuclear Power Manage Another Comeback?
Nuclear power survived a dark period in the 1980s by increasing output from existing power plants, can it build on that success to grow again? ... Read More
How to Reduce the Impact of Fossil Fuels on Electricity Prices
An explanation of a Matt Ygelesias tweet. ... Read More
The Nuts and Bolts of Siting and Building Power Lines
Politics and physics add many constraints. ... Read More
Geothermal's Path to Relevance: Better Heat Transfer and Heat Engines
What technology does geothermal need to be competitive? ... Read More
Is the Smart Grid All Hot Air?
The benefits of different smart grid technologies vary widely. ... Read More
The Realities of 21st Century Defense Contracting
Atoms are more important than bits when killing people. ... Read More
Simple Solutions Power Solar's Advance
The solar supply chain is pushing complexity to giant factories. ... Read More
SpaceX's Starship: America's Secret Weapon
Declining launch costs enable new classes of weapons. ... Read More
The Electric Car's Shrinking Role in Reducing Oil Demand
Trucks, vans, and other high mileage vehicles promise to impact oil demand more than EVs. ... Read More
Russia's Apparent Shortage of Smart Bombs Caused a Cascade of Failures
Precision Guided Munitions drive modern war and somehow Russia forgot to build enough. ... Read More
Ending Russia's Hydrocarbon Windfall
What is the correct goal and what can be done quickly? ... Read More
Natural Gas is a Fuel of the Future
Inertia and new technology make it hard and undesirable to root out. ... Read More
Why is the Nuclear Power Industry Stagnant?
Technical and economic barriers prevent nuclear from growing. ... Read More
The Future of E-Bikes
E-Bike technology is amazing. How will it improve, and how will we use it? ... Read More
The Three Horseman of Grid Stability
Grid operators must balance the grid at the millisecond level, the daily level, and during peak events. ... Read More
Geothermal's Path to Relevance: Cheap Drilling
What technology does geothermal need to be competitive? ... Read More
Energy Prices are Naturally Turbulent
Volatility flows up from our energy technologies. ... Read More