Alternative Energy
This article raises the point that just producing energy from
alternative sources such as wind and solar farms is not the end of the
story. One needs to transmit the energy to the consumers too.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/business/27grid.html?em=&pagewanted=all
Fossil fuels are so entrenched in our lives because they contain their
energy in a stable package that can be utilized where and when we need
the energy. For all the other alternative energy sources, we need to
figure out how to store and transmit the energy. The electricity
supply has to be stable.
For the small amount of energy generated by home solar panels
currently, it is not complicated to just hook it up to the electricity
grid. But beyond a small percentage of alternative energy, more
extensive work is probably needed to figure out how to maintain a
stable supply since there can be a long series of cloudy days or
windless days, or the time of highest demand is not when there is high
supply. Presumably, energy storage technology would have to be
improved. Lithium-ion batteries will not be suitable, sufficiently
energy dense or cheap.
Solar and wind farms are probably located a great distance from urban
centers where there is high demand for energy. There would therefore
be transmission issues. Is there sufficient capacity on transmission
lines? Transmission lines are expensive, and for great distances
there may be unacceptable energy losses especially if AC transmission
is used.
The path for alternative renewable energy sources isn't simple. A lot
of new peripheral technology needs to be developed for solar or wind
farms to be competitive to traditional power plants.
