To: yard_man who wrote (102118 ) 5/14/2001 5:44:03 PM From: Mark Adams Read Replies (1) | Respond to I stumbled on to this article when trying to find evidence to correct my apparent misconception that up to 75% of electrical energy generated is lost in transmission. Perhaps you could comment on that- are high voltage transmission systems 90%+ efficient? For example, the replacement of traditional valve and cam systems with electro-magnetic valve actuators could improve reciprocating engine fuel efficiency by at least 15% from optimized combustion and lower friction9 and another 16% by unloading cylinders according to speed and power requirements.10 Considering that there are 200 million or so reciprocating engines in America’s cars and trucks, just a one percent efficiency increase would reduce the nation’s greenhouse gases more than any single concept identified in the Clinton/Gore Climate Change Action Plan. Unfortunately federal funding of reciprocating engine research and development (R&D) technologies is virtually non-existent compared to that for electric utility power plants. The cumulative effects of such federal R&D spending biases could cause EPRI’s growth predictions to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Like everything else, deregulation and global climate change initiatives can also be gamed. Consequently, the alternative, and arguably the future we appear to be heading for, is an oligopolistic energy monoculture brought about by "captured" regulations that reward inefficiency.
