The complex lines of power that deliver energy to all the citizens of the United States have once produced over 7,671 billion kilowatt-hours, this extensive lines of power maintain the U.S industries, homes and businesses alive and running on a daily basis. The power plants provide energy the lines to transport the power all over the country. In NPR.org, offers us ”Visualizing The Grid’ which  is a very interactive illustration that I believe it is extremely helpful in order to understand how the electric grid is placed and how it obtains the power from. The link is: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398 Take a minute to observe it.

I am going to show you how the the electric grid is distributed in the United States based on this article from NPR. To begging, the main sources of power of the grid come from Coal, Nuclear, Gas and Hydro and Oil. We can see based on NPR that the most used resource its Coal. The least used is Oil (not to be confused with Gas which is one of the most used, mostly in the south). The power plants that provide the energy to the grid are more pervasive towards the eastern hemisphere of the country. The solar power has its stronger use in the south-west.

After years of use, the electric grid has demonstrated to be a quite useful mean of energy distribution; however, it has begun to show decay (plenty of blackouts were ocurrying across the country)/ These has motivated scientists to develop new maintenance for the grid. The ”Smart Grid” as the Department of Energy says ”Smart grid generally refers to a class of technology people are using to bring utility electricity delivery systems into the 21st century, using computer-based remote control and automation”. With today’s innovative technology it was time to develop  new means of understanding and distributing energy in The United States.

It is known that after being introduced, the smart grid made the regular grid more proficient and it also in the citizen’s homes and businesses. The Department of Energy also says that ”Now, many options and products are being made available to the electricity industry to modernize it”, so the smart grid resulted into a successful idea that it is going to help the americans built their way into the future. Siemens, a company expert on grid infrastructure mentioned ”the Smart Grid doesn’t just mean smart meters. It’s about the big picture of improved energy delivery, informed consumption and reduced environmental impact”. They are, as their website says ‘No. 1 provider of a Smart Grid platform and the No. 1 Smart Grid integrator”.

So how does it work?

As the Department of Energy refers to the smart phone, being a phone with a computer inside. The smart grid is able to report the electric activity on its own so we will not be seeing a man coming home and checking for the meters anymore. The Smart Grids in the many homes and businesses can be controlled/adjusted from one place and all the information can be gathered more easily.

Sources:

“Energy.gov.” Energy.gov. The Department of Energy, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2012. <http://energy.gov/oe/technology-development/smart-grid>.

“Visualizing The U.S. Electric Grid.” Npr. NPR, n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2012. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398>.

“What Is the Smart Grid?” Usa.siemens.com. Siemens, n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2012. <http://w3.usa.siemens.com/smartgrid/us/en/Pages/smart-grid.aspx?stc=uszsg120108&sp_source=uszsg120108>.

Germany may be considered as the number one European country that is achieving its green energy project goals. In terms of green energy, Germany, according to a brochure in bmwi.de receives 80% of its energy from renewable sources, this being said, leaves Germany as a goal achieving country due to their excellent performance and efficiency on this green energy sector. Although expensive, Germany’s  energy policy opened a gate for new jobs in the market when it was created. A new policy was introduced two years ago to survive the challenges and new perils of global warming of this new century that it is slowly devouring our planet. Sustainability, efficiency and security is what makes Germany the number one in Europe, and one of the top in the world along with Japan and the U.S. a green energy economy.

The Federal Ministry of Economics introduced, a couple of years ago, a new policy that main goal is to keep sustainability. As it says in the brochure, one of their objective for this policy is to keep cutting down green house emissions and decrease the use of nuclear energy. Whether this goal will be achieved or not, it will significantly contribute to the sanity of planet earth.

Germany’s competitors in renewable energy are Japan and China, but is it really a competition question? I believe that these countries should be viewed as examples in today’s world in order to motivate other developed countries that are able to afford the costs of obtaining energy from renewable sources. According to an article from The Daily Source ”Dozens of other countries from Brazil to Indonesia have since passed similar measures”, showing that Germany’s policy has indeed motivated other countries.

I believe that in this new century many changes will occur, such as more countries switching their polluting energy source methods, and develop cleaner ays of obtaining energy in order to avoid more global warming. Germany’s new energy policy is sustainable and shows efficiency but lacks one critical factor, economic. The prices for renewable energy are skyrocketing and costing germans more and more money every day. Jack Dini, a reporter on the Canada Free Press, mentions ”the green energy transition could cost German consumers up to 60 percent more by 2020 compared to 2011” It is known that renewable energy can be expensive, but it is all an opportunity cost at the end, the money has to be spent in order to provide our children and all of our sucessors a livable environment.

Sources:

BMWI. Business Growth Prosperity. Berlin: BMWI, 2012. Http://www.bmwi.de. Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), Apr. 2012. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.bmwi.de/English/Redaktion/Pdf/germanys-new-energy-policy,property=pdf,bereich=bmwi,sprache=en,rwb=true.pdf>.Dini, Jack. “Germany’s Green Energy Policy Hit Households Hard.” Canada Free Press. Http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/47243, 10 June 2012. Web. 09 Sept. 2012.

Dini, Jack. “Germany’s Green Energy Policy Hit Households Hard.” Canada Free Press. Http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/47243, 10 June 2012. Web. 09 Sept. 2012.Energy Policy.” BMWi. Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.bmwi.de/English/Navigation/energy-policy,did=79110.html>

“Energy Policy.” BMWi. Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.bmwi.de/English/Navigation/energy-policy,did=79110.html>.

Theil, Stefan. “No Country Is More ‘Green By Design'” The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 28 June 2008. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/06/28/no-country-is-more-green-by-design.html>.

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