First of all, let me start of by stressing the fact that the U.S electricity delivery system is really something to be proud of. Many other countries around the world aren’t at that level yet. Being an international student, believe me I know! Now back to being objective, the idea of reinventing the U.S energy grid is a plan that should be implemented. Smarter use can indeed be done with electric grids.
“Smart grid” generally refers to a class of technology people use to bring utility electricity delivery systems into the 21st century, using computer-based remote control and automation.These systems are made possible by two-way communication technology and computer processing that has been used for decades in other industries. They are beginning to be used on electricity networks, from the power plants and wind farms all the way to the consumers of electricity in homes and businesses.
To make it easier to grasp the idea, they used this analogy with smart phone (in an article on www.energy.gov.) that basically says:”in the way that a “smart” phone these days means a phone with a computer in it, smart grid means “computerizing” the electric utility grid”.
Once again, it’s not only about progress, but more about saving energy and as a result, our planet Earth! Smaller grids across the country will help reduce the emission of CO2. On another sub-topic, you may have seen the article ” Could energy innovation create a “green bubble”? ” on www.npr.org. It talks about encouraging the development of more renewable sources of energy like wind and solar and how funding right now is a problem for renewable energy developers. Most likely because of other important issues. Well, in my humble opinion, this conversion needs to be made a priority. We are on the edge of destruction; climate change does certainly not seem to be reversible. Bottom line is, let’s focus on our planet first, then we can think about setting a priority on the purchase of renewable energy by the electric utilities, such that the continued consumption of coal, oil and gas to produce electricity and what not. Seriously, it’s like putting our effort on trying to renovate our apartment while our building is on fire…My final comment is:
Enjoyed your real life experience of the power grid in other parts of the world, I also really enjoyed your ‘green bubble’ comment and references to their article. Wish I stumbled upon that article. Do you feel the smart grid will help CO2 or more towards the implementation of more resourceful information?