Frank, your response touched on several areas of interest. First, re: '... a bit too monolithic and "divine"... for me.'
Agreed. Also, your comment about d.c. transmission was interesting. Would you care to say more on the subject? I don't know a lot about it, except that it was once preferred, and (as stated in the article) offered lower transmission losses.
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Megaprojects can be scary, not only for the reasons you noted.
(Aside: This brings to mind many discussions here about emergency radio systems. My question is: given the growth of parallel radio infrastructures (WiFi, Wimax), themselves parallel to fibreoptic and copper networks, won't it soon be possible to put together ad hoc networks for emergency purposes?
Wouldn't such networks, by virtue of parallelism and redundancy be easier to create, to adapt and to "heal" than dedicated networks?)
For power, wouldn't it be better (so far as practical) to locate various means of generation closer to their destinations? If we assume that more and more generation will be "green" what's stopping us from dispersing such generation, and again, lowering transmission losses, as well as demand on the existing grid?
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"The greatest obstacle to implementing a renewable U.S. energy system is not technology or money, however. It is the lack of public awareness that solar power is a practical alternative—and one that can fuel transportation as well. Forward-looking thinkers should try to inspire U.S. citizens, and their political and scientific leaders, about solar power’s incredible potential. Once Americans realize that potential, we believe the desire for energy self-sufficiency and the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions will prompt them to adopt a national solar plan."
Maybe the greatest obstacle is lack of coherent planning.
We already have fairly reliable predictions of an impending power generation shortfall. No matter what mix of technologies constitute future power generation, there's lead time required. Rising fossil fuel costs dictate rising capex for new infrastructure, getting more expensive every year.
Not encouraging.
Jim |
