Here is an interesting idea: energy source aren’t the problem, the way energy is transferred is. Ben Jervey posted Intelligent Transmission, a blog post, about switching from conventional energy transmission techniques to new smarter more efficient methods.
Jervey’s post has some good thoughts. He states that solar and wind powers are effective ways of generating energy, they aren’t continuously running. Instead of using our current transmission system that just lets the energy flow, we should move to a system that stores and adapts to energy to help it move more efficiently. I wonder is this new systems efficiency would offset its costs to implement?
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2 comments:
Thanks for the great link! I was having a hard time understanding the issue with the variable energy provided by wind and solar and why it was such a problem. Now I have a much better understanding, and it sounds like a smart-grid is a must if we ever plan to have alternative energy become a major part of our total energy plan. I think there has got to be a way to justify the switch to a smart-grid. So much is at stake with the environment, our economy (green energy will create jobs), and our ability to end our dependence on oil.
r.c. The short term cost would be higher. Current utilities in cities would have to be totally reworked. In the long term this would save large portions of money. Electrical power loses more energy than you would think in transmission, and a new power grib would vastly help this.
energy4tomorrow, Isn't the smart grid a neat concept? Solar is a good option, but new system would be needed because solar isn't always on. The money saved from solar could even offset the cost of the new grid.
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