You are welcome to participate in the discussion in the comment area and get more exciting articles, please click to follow and thank you for your support.
Text: Jiang Qingtong
Editor|Jiang Qingtong
【Foreword】
According to the annual electricity consumption data released by the relevant departments, we can clearly find that China is the world's largest electricity consumer, but most of the electricity is used in industry-related fields.
As for the United States, although their total electricity consumption is less than that of China, their residents' daily electricity consumption is actually the highest in the world, and the per capita electricity consumption of the United States can reach up to 371 kWh, which is almost five times that of the mainland if compared with China in the same period.
What's even more surprising is that their power consumption is so large, but the quality of the equipment used to supply power needs to be improved, and it is even less than one-fifth of that of the mainland, which is really extremely rare.
So what exactly is the electricity used in the United States? Why is the quality of their power supply not proportional to the amount of electricity consumed?
[High electricity consumption in the United States]
As the world's largest economy, the United States has its own unique advantages in many areas, even in terms of electricity consumption, it must show its own personality.
The mainland's energy department has released a data that in 2021, the electricity consumption of the United States can reach more than 3 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity for a whole year, of which residential electricity consumption accounts for the largest proportion, about 38%, nearly 39%.
What is the concept of this data? Let's put it to be specific, if the total population of the United States at that time was 300 million, and we subtract this total population from the total electricity consumption, we can get the average amount of electricity used per person, which is about 4454.2 kWh.
If you divide it by 12 months, then the average monthly electricity consumption per person is 371 kWh, which may not be obvious if you look at the data alone, but if you compare it with the per capita electricity consumption of residents in the mainland at that time, you can know how much electricity consumption of Americans is.
In 2021, China's residential electricity consumption is about more than 1 trillion kWh, we can see the gap from the total, and then look at the per capita monthly electricity consumption, the mainland is about 69 kWh, is it more contrasting.
However, this is not the first time that this situation has happened in the United States, and in 2022, the electricity consumption of residents in the United States will continue to "play steadily", and in the first half of 2022 alone, the electricity consumption of American residents will reach nearly 7,300 kWh, an increase of 2.6% compared with the same period.
If calculated according to the total number of people after the census of the United States in the same year, their per capita monthly electricity consumption is also about 363 kWh, which is still about five times more than the electricity consumption of mainland residents compared with China in the same period.
Such a "stable" residential electricity consumption is only possible for Americans, and behind this series of data, it reflects the difference in the concept of development direction between the two countries.
China pays more attention to industrial development, so it will be more inclined to industry in terms of electricity consumption, but the United States pays more attention to the quality of life of residents, so it will be more inclined to residents when supplying electricity, so that the proportion of electricity consumption in the United States is extremely high.
So why is the average monthly electricity consumption of Americans so high? Do they have any high-powered appliances that they use all the time? With such a high power consumption, the monthly electricity bill should be a lot of money.
[Reasons for the huge electricity consumption of residents]
The main reason why there is such a huge difference in electricity consumption between Chinese and American residents is that the living habits of the two people are different.
First of all, the geographical location of the United States is determined, their climate there is complex and variable, the United States is close to the sea in the east and west, so whenever there are ocean currents blowing in different directions, the impact on the local climate is huge, it is very hot in summer, and it is difficult to resist the cold in winter.
In order to adapt to the complex and changeable climate, Americans have formed some "different" living habits, and it is precisely because of these habits that the total electricity consumption of the United States has remained high throughout the year and has been growing steadily.
Secondly, because most of the houses that Americans live in are wooden structures, although this type of house is less expensive to build and more resistant to disasters, it is a bit unsatisfactory in terms of cold protection and warmth.
Therefore, in the summer, Americans will turn on the air conditioner for a day because of the heat, as long as the temperature does not drop, then the air conditioner will not be turned off, and in the winter it is the same, in order to ensure that the indoor temperature is normal, they will turn on the heating all day until the winter passes.
These two aspects of electricity consumption alone are unimaginable values, not to mention that not only these factors affect the electricity consumption of residents, but also the way Americans eat and drink, which is also one of the reasons for the high electricity consumption.
Americans are very keen on using electrical appliances, and they almost can't do anything without these high-power appliances, and they basically don't use open flames when cooking, but use appliances such as induction cookers, rice cookers, and electric ovens.
Even if you only need to crack an egg, Americans like to use electric egg beaters, these appliances are basically very high in power, and once they are used for a long time, the natural power consumption is high.
In addition, most home kitchens in the United States are filled with a variety of appliances, such as dishwashers, coffee machines, and bread makers.
If these electrical appliances really want to run all the time, their power consumption will undoubtedly further increase the monthly residential electricity consumption, and it is more exaggerated that Americans do not have the habit of turning off the lights when they sleep, sometimes although they are resting in the bedroom, there is no one in the living room, although no one is there, but it does not affect them to turn on the lights in the living room.
Coupled with the ban on drying bedding and clothes in public in some parts of the United States, this will also increase the electricity consumption of residents to a certain extent.
This is mainly because after the ban was announced, all the clothes and bedding they needed to dry, after there was no place to dry, they had to find another way to ensure that they had clean and fresh clothes to wear every day, that is, they had to use a powerful dryer to ensure that their clothes were dry every day.
Let's take the drying time of a quilt as an example, a quilt of ordinary thickness, if you want to be thoroughly dried, the dryer may have to run for about two or three hours, if you run for a long time with high energy consumption, then the daily power consumption of the dryer is almost more than ten degrees.
From the perspective of electricity consumption alone, this ban has virtually increased the pressure on electricity consumption in the United States, and it has been calculated that about 70% of households in the United States have dryers, and the total number of dryers in these households is 88 million.
If only the annual electricity consumption of the dryer is counted, this value is also unimaginable to ordinary people, because it is equivalent to the total annual power generation of a hydropower station, about 95 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.
Of course, the large electricity consumption is not only because the electrical appliances are used for too long, but also because the energy efficiency utilization rate of their electrical appliances is too low, after all, the United States has never formulated any requirements for the energy efficiency of electrical appliances, and Americans have not formed a sense of saving electricity.
In such a social context, electrical appliance manufacturing companies naturally do not consider the issue of energy efficiency, as long as they ensure that there is no problem with the quality of the products produced, manufacturers can rest assured that these goods will be shipped in large quantities to various regions for sale.
This will also lead to a large number of inefficient electrical appliances in the society, American families in the purchase of household appliances, generally only care about the brand and quality of these appliances, for energy consumption is not actually interested, so this is also one of the reasons for the large electricity consumption of American residents.
All the above factors add up, the electricity consumption of American residents is not high, it is strange, there is no awareness of saving electricity, and the living habits are different from ordinary people, these lifestyles are the reason for the high electricity consumption of American residents.
However, what is unexpected is that the United States, where the electricity consumption of residents is so high, is extremely stretched in terms of power supply quality, and once it encounters any natural disasters or bad weather, it is impossible to deliver electricity to residents normally.
Why is the power transmission equipment in the United States so fragile, as long as the power supply equipment in one area is damaged, it will affect the power transmission in the surrounding areas, is it that the United States, which is so developed, has no ability to even repair a good power supply station?
[The U.S., where it is difficult to maintain a stable power supply]
The United States will experience several large-scale power outages almost every year, whether it is in 2019, 2020, or last year, the United States has had a very serious power outage, and the reason for the large-scale power outage has a lot to do with the aging of the power grid equipment in the United States.
According to official statistics, most of the power grid equipment currently used in the United States has a service life of 25-30 years, and the severely aging circuits and transformers make them unable to undertake residential and industrial electricity, and the huge power impact transmitted during peak periods.
In addition to the aging of power grid equipment, there are also very serious problems in the planning and layout of power supply stations in the United States, and the power sources used in the United States are relatively complex, including wind power generation, solar power generation, and nuclear power plant power supply.
For example, some areas that use new energy to generate electricity, their power supply is intermittent, and the power generation will be affected by the local weather and natural environment.
This will lead to extremely uneven distribution of electricity in different regions, and once there is a need to allocate power resources, there will be a series of small problems that are easy to solve, but very complicated.
If some areas that use new energy to generate electricity cannot supply electricity normally, it may also trigger a chain reaction, and in severe cases, the entire power grid equipment will be paralyzed.
The reason why the power grid equipment in the United States has not been updated normally is that it is too complex with its own power market players, and it has a vital relationship, and the power grid equipment in different parts of the United States is usually controlled by different enterprises, and the power grid system is too scattered, and the interests are very complex, which also makes the United States want to update the entire power grid equipment project, can not be implemented.
【Conclusion】
In short, most of the high power consumption in the United States is due to its own reasons, and all we can do is give them a little advice, and we cannot participate in the rest, so we can only say that only the United States itself realizes the root cause of the problem and can really solve the problem.
Past Links:
There were no people for 100 years after the atomic bombing, so why are Hiroshima and Nagasaki inhabited now?
Tumbleweeds invaded the United States for 120 years, causing fire and blocking roads to run rampant, but they were eaten as endangered in China?
The corn cob that was "abandoned" by the mainland was used to burn the kang to feed the pigs, but now it is regarded as a treasure by the Koreans