If (and that's a big if) you could devise a superconductor that can operate at room temps, and IF it could be made with reasonably affordable materials...
The main impact would be on electric motor and generator efficiency, at least initially.
A typical copper wound AC generator peaks out at about 91.5% efficiency at converting mechanical force to electric power (and often can be as low as 85% under real world conditions). For superconductors, the theoretical peak is around 99.5%.
"That last three percent, it may not sound like a lot, but it is. It's tremendous." -Gale, Breaking Bad
If (and that's a big if) you could devise a superconductor that can operate at room temps, and IF it could be made with reasonably affordable materials...
The main impact would be on electric motor and generator efficiency, at least initially.
A typical copper wound AC generator peaks out at about 91.5% efficiency at converting mechanical force to electric power (and often can be as low as 85% under real world conditions). For superconductors, the theoretical peak is around 99.5%.
"That last three percent, it may not sound like a lot, but it is. It's tremendous." -Gale, Breaking Bad
If (and that's a big if) you could devise a superconductor that can operate at room temps, and IF it could be made with reasonably affordable materials...
The main impact would be on electric motor and generator efficiency, at least initially.
A typical copper wound AC generator peaks out at about 91.5% efficiency at converting mechanical force to electric power (and often can be as low as 85% under real world conditions). For superconductors, the theoretical peak is around 99.5%
If (and that's a big if) you could devise a superconductor that can operate at room temps, and IF it could be made with reasonably affordable materials...
The main impact would be on electric motor and generator efficiency, at least initially.
A typical copper wound AC generator peaks out at about 91.5% efficiency at converting mechanical force to electric power. For superconductors, the theoretical peak is around 99.5%
If (and that's a big if) you could devise a superconductor that can operate at room temps, and IF it could be made with reasonably affordable materials...
The main impact would be on electric motor and generator efficiency, at least initially.
A typical copper wound AC generator is about 50% efficient at converting mechanical force into electrical power. With superconductive windings, it wouldn't necessarily be 99% but it'd be a lot closer to 99% than it is today. You'd instantly make power generation a lot more efficient.
If (and that's a big if) you could devise a superconductor that can operate at room temps, and IF it could be made with reasonably affordable materials...
The main impact would be on electric motor and generator efficiency, at least initially.
A typical copper wound AC generator is about 50% efficient at converting mechanical force into electrical power. With superconductive windings, it wouldn't necessarily be 99% but it'd be a lot closer to 99% than it is today. So instantly you could make every power plant and wind turbine significantly more productive.
If (and that's a big if) you could devise a superconductor that can operate at room temps, and IF it could be made with reasonably affordable materials...
The main impact would be on electric motor and generator efficiency, at least initially.
A typical copper wound AC generator is about 50% efficient at converting mechanical force into electrical power. With superconductive windings, it'd be somewhere around 90%. So instantly you could make every power plant and wind turbine significantly more productive.
If (and that's a big if) you could devise a superconductor that can operate at room temps, and IF it could be made with reasonably affordable materials...
The main impact would be on electric motor and generator efficiency, at least initially.