Dr. Emmett Brown: Marty, I’m sorry. But the only power source capable of generating 1.21 gigawatts of electricity is a bolt of lighting.
Marty McFly: (startled) What did you say?
Dr. Emmett Brown: A bolt of lightning. Unfortunately you never know when or where it’s gonna strike.
Marty McFly: We do now.
I know the last post, I talked about how impossible energy generation from lightning would be, but seriously it would be a. the coolest form of energy and b. probably the most efficient since we would have to do nothing to generate it. But alas it is impossible and I must depart the realm of science fiction and return to that of reality, where cars do not travel through time.
If you do not understand, or know much about the electrical grid in the US, feel free to stop reading and read the previous post. It should give you a basic layman’s understanding. Then feel free to come back and read up on how and why our grid sucks and how we can totally make it better.
The three main components of our electrical grid are generation, transmission, and distribution. Each of these components have inefficiencies, some are easier to rectify than others. First, power generation. Electricity in the US is generated by three main sources coal, hydropower, and nuclear. We all know the horrible affects of coal on the environment, but not only is it a heavy polluter but it is terribly inefficient. Only about 60% of the power generated from a coal plant is used to make power the other 40% is released as heat. Although, this is extremely inefficient, improvements in coal burning technology, and alternative energies will hopefully improve this inefficiency in the future. This grid that we depend on is mostly made up of its transmission and distribution components. These two aspects of our grid are also some of the most inefficient.
Transmission refers to the movement of electricity over long distances.
Distribution is the movement of electricity from a transmission network to a distribution network eventually powering your home.
These two components of our grid are archaic, they have not been upgraded in over 50 years. The biggest reason for the lack of upgrades is money. Power companies do not want to shell out the cash needed to upgrade these systems in order to improve efficiency, because in the end improved inefficiency leads to decreased profits. Here are some facts from an ABB group Study of our electrical group.
Net generation in the US came to over 3.9 billion megawatt hours (MWh) in 2005 while retail power sales during that year were about 3.6 billion MWh. T&D (Transmission and Distribution) losses amounted to 239 million MWh, or 6.1% of net generation…. We can estimate those losses came at a cost to the US economy of just under $19.5 billion.
The 6.1% that is lost every year is due to our current T&D infrastructure. We use high voltage lines that lose a significant of electricity through heat. There are some 40 million-distribution substations (transformers) in the US that lose a tremendous amount of power through heat. Not to mention the entire step-up and step down of voltage are terribly inefficient. Honestly, we are in the 21st century and technology has improved since the 1950’s, we should not be stuck in the stone ages while we hold space age tools in our hands. The burden of every lost MWh is not felt by the power companies but by the power consumers, you and me. Every bill that we pay, we are paying for their incompetence and frugality. There are tools at our disposal that could significantly reduce these inefficiencies, however, in the eye of the power companies, they are too capital intensive.
On top of the costs I just talked about, further inefficiencies occur because of congestion. The ABB article states:
Congestion occurs when the flows of electricity are restricted either by physical capacity on a particular device or by operational safety constraints designed to preserve grid reliability…. Congestion is the result of a number of factors, notably a lack of adequate transmission investment and an increase in bulk power transactions in competitive energy markets… The California Independent System Operator reported congestion costs of $670 million in 2005.
This is unacceptable. So many inefficiencies, it drives me crazy. All because the power companies can keep their profit margins high by standing on the backs of a consumer that does not have any choice. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There are a ton of innovative opportunities to improve our grid, which as an added benefit will: lower emissions, conserve fuel, and lower the price of energy. It is known by many names, but the most common is the smart grid.
The Smart Grid, or intelligent monitoring system, monitors energy consumption in a household and communicates the information back to the generation facility. It is a network of monitoring devices both in the home and on T&D that facilitate communication and will help to save energy, reduce cost, and increase reliability and transparency. It is truly an amazing system. Essentially what it does is it allows the grid to respond directly to changes in supply and demand automatically. As an example, say clouds are blocking a solar power array and it is peak hours, the system can calculate and reroute power from a baseload hydropower station to the areas affected. This is much better than the current method, rolling black outs. Power companies, if the demand/consumption ratio will initiate rolling black outs to keep the grid from crashing, but with a smart grid this will be unnecessary. Which would remove both the hazard and the bother associated. The smart grid is not the only solution to our T&D inefficiencies.
Underground cables and a reduction in the amount of T&D lines used. Could significantly decrease the amount of power loss, but it is expensive. Also by adding energy storage to the grid power companies can help to reduce blackouts and other disruptive events.
What it comes down to though is the power companies shelling out the cash to initiate these programs. The only way to do that is by the consumer pressuring them to change. Adam Smith believed in a free market economy, for a free market economy to work without regulation, your everyday consumer has to personally hold the companies that are negatively affecting their lives accountable. It is in our hands. We are the only one who can make these companies upgrade their systems so that hopefully we can enjoy a more sustainable future.
Sincerely,
That Guy
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