Austin Vernon
@Vernon3Austin
Trying make cheap industrial energy storage. ⬇️ I write a blog about energy and technology
The move is to create a new paradigm around tooling-free manufacturing. To a large extent, the pieces are there — we need to extend them and figure out the whole system.
This morning, I was on the road with the Symphony engine team, shopping for scalable industrial capacity to build jet engine parts. "Getting that part will take 18 months best case," we were told. Why?? The answer was a stunning revelation about the non-obvious ways China has…
Are Volcanoes a Risk to Solar Dominated Grids? austinvernon.site/blog/solarandv… The answer seems to be no because solar capacity will be overbuilt and the dimming effects of SO2 are sub linear. Net solar output would only be affected for a few percent of hours, like a cold winter.
The Outsize Impact of AI Logistics austinvernon.site/blog/ailogisti… Automated logistics will impact 1/3 of US GDP. It lowers the fixed costs of transportation, allowing movement point-to-point in smaller vehicles. Cost and time can drop like a rock. Humans will benefit immensely!
made this helpful mnemonic for people struggling to learn about U.S. tanks
There is no "abundance store" you can stroll down to to buy abundance. So how are we actually going to get to an abundant future? I think this is wildly undertheorized, and I have thoughts.
What does it take to fund a more abundant future? Our new Head of Strategic Investments, @elidourado, lays out a clear framework rooted in technoeconomics, sociopolitics, and entrepreneurship Read his perspective: asterainstitute.substack.com/p/how-we-get-t…
This week on Construction Physics: how batteries are making the electrical grid more reliable. construction-physics.com/p/batteries-ar…
LFP is the most cost-effective way to build 18-hour or even 100-hour batteries.
The new grid storage battery cell that CATL unveiled last week is about twice the size of a typical lithium-ion battery cell. Now Hithium has started manufacturing one that's double the size of the CATL grid storage battery cell. The significance is that lithium ion is…
I’m pretty sure we will get a 1-2% one time GDP boost just from AI forklift drivers not damaging things all the time.
MAKE AMERICA BOOM AGAIN whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/20…
MAKE AMERICA BOOM AGAIN whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/20…
I learned recently that grid forming inverters are much easier with batteries than standalone solar or wind. Cost premium is minimal. Even higher fault current can be affordable. Synchronous condensers are probably already obsolete.
x.com/i/article/1925…
How Indianapolis Birthed the OKC Thunder The year is 1991. Oklahoma City and Indianapolis are in a heated competition for a United Airlines maintenance hub. OKC offers slightly more incentives, but United execs tell the city that their employees couldn't imagine living in…
A common criticism of solar PV is that large-scale use will require lots of extra power plants to pick up the slack during long cloudy stretches, making the effective cost of solar PV much higher. This week on Construction Physics, I take a look at this. construction-physics.com/p/can-we-affor…
🎙️ Jim Belosic, co-founder and CEO of SendCutSend, joins Tool or Die to explain how a small side hustle making car parts turned into one of the most important new manufacturers in the U.S. SendCutSend reinvented custom metal fabrication by embracing high-mix, low-volume…
🎙️ Jim Belosic, co-founder and CEO of SendCutSend, joins Tool or Die to explain how a small side hustle making car parts turned into one of the most important new manufacturers in the U.S. SendCutSend reinvented custom metal fabrication by embracing high-mix, low-volume…
I really would not expect anything different from how a small town would spend the money. I would guess that the plan is fairly popular and is seen as a way to make the town more attractive to new/existing residents.
Just visited a 400MW data center in nowheresville USA My learnings from talking to locals -5.7B$ investment -only 100 people employed on site -those employed contractually cannot talk about who owns it The real kicker… (1/2) #POWER
this organization rules the US and you don't even know it
Our first draft for the Policy Playbook proposal was ~3x too long, so Brian turned it into a regular post. The amount of time we’ve spent researching and thinking about this topic is getting pretty crazy and this is the most distilled version of that effort.
This week on Construction Physics, a proposal from @Vernon3Austin and myself on how the Navy can improve how it acquires ships. construction-physics.com/p/fixing-naval…
One deregulation I'd love to see is for the Trump administration to legalize the planting of American chestnut trees that have been genetically modified to be blight resistant. Make American Forests Great Again! 7 CFR §340 in case DOGE sees this.