transmission

What a Waste of Energy

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has issued its annual snapshot of our national energy use, based on data collected by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Agency.  The good news is that we used less energy in 2009 than we did in 2008 (almost all of the savings probably attributable to the still-weak economy).  The …

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Move Over, Summer of Love. It’s Time for Power Flower

We tend to think of renewable power as coming in two sizes: single home-sized photovoltaic arrays, or big, remotely-located power plants.  Thus, we pour incentive dollars on solar homes, and place a tremendous emphasis on building large new transmission lines.  Perhaps it is time to review this approach, and consider what we can do to …

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Silos: Great for Fodder, Not So Hot for Energy Policy

The electricity grid is one big machine.  Transmisssion must be centrally coordinated.  Generating units must all be in sync.  Voltage levels have to be maintained.  There must constantly be an even match between demand and supply.  But you would hardly know it from the way we look at energy policy at the states and on …

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How Smart Can You Get?

It is said that it cost $3 million to air a 30 second advertisement during last weekend’s Superbowl. If that is the case, then General Electric chose to spend that much (plus change for production cost) to run a cute little musical piece based on the Scarecrow’s song from the Wizard of Oz — “If …

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A Jolt to the Economy

Perhaps unavoidably, the stimulus package that passed the House on Wednesday authorizes broad investment goals, but offers few details. In some instances, this leaves us with much opportunity for honest debate. Consider, for instance, the various authorizations related to improvement and expansion of the electric grid. With up to $8 billion in loan guarantees, $6.5 …

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