Energy, the smarter way (CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Matthew Knight for CNN

Whilst the energy grids we rely on to provide us with cheap and reliable electricity may have been fit for purpose in the 20th century, it is now abundantly clear that the design of 21st century energy networks will have to be very different. In Europe, the foundations for a secure, flexible and more energy efficient future are already being laid.

Traditional carbon-based power generators are far from efficient. They waste well over half their energy in heat and contribute over a third to total greenhouse emissions. It is now widely accepted that continuing to rely so heavily on such polluting systems would not only spark environmental catastrophe but also economic collapse.

With an aging electricity grid, a drive to lower carbon emissions by 2020 and burgeoning new markets in renewable energy, the time was right for Europe's leaders to set about trying to find another way.
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"The grids built in the 1950s and 1960s were designed for power to effectively be poured in at the top -- big central generation. This power then went through transmissions systems and then smaller wires for distribution to the home," Botting told CNN.

Instead of energy just being pumped one-way down wires and into homes, SmartGrids envisions a two-way flow of electricity, where customers -- big and small -- not only receive energy but also generate it themselves and, when necessary, make it available to the grid.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/05/02/Smartgrids/index.html

[diane in sf]

1. This is what's happening, it also makes fewer big, juicy targets for terrorists

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Oops!

Wrong post!

--p!