Many countries are facing the problem of transporting renewable power from where its generated to where its needed. Pakistan has the similar problem that the wind power may be generated in one part of Sindh while it may be needed in another part. Aging transport infrastructure for power is a serious problem in developed countries as well as developing countries. Probolem: it requires a whole lot of money to build a better infrastructure. Untill we solve this problem, renewable power will not be a reality. See excerpts from this great article in Technology Review.
(There are) immense challenges ahead as power from renewable sources, mainly wind and solar, starts to play a bigger role around the world. To make use of this clean energy, we’ll need more transmission lines that can transport power from one region to another and connect energy-hungry cities with the remote areas where much of our renewable power is likely to be generated. We’ll also need far smarter controls throughout the distribution system–technologies that can store extra electricity from wind farms in the batteries of plug-in hybrid cars, for example, or remotely turn power-hungry appliances on and off as the energy supply rises and falls.
Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO, have concluded that there’s no technical or economic reason why the United States couldn’t get 20 percent of its electricity from wind turbines by 2030. The researchers calculate, however, that reaching this goal would require a $60 billion investment in 12,650 miles of new transmission lines to plug wind farms into the grid and help balance their output with that of other electricity sources and with consumer demand.
Regulation and governance is also a problem. Reading this just seems like we are in Pakistan or India!
The U.S. grid’s regulatory structure is just as antiquated. While the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) can approve utilities’ requests for electricity rates and license transmission across state lines, individual states retain control over whether and where major transmission lines actually get built. In the 1990s, many states revised their regulations in an attempt to introduce competition into the energy marketplace.
Another important point is smarter use of technology to reduce waste of energy and increase awareness.
Homeowners are getting software that lets them view and manage their energy consumption on the Web, and some of their appliances are being fitted with switches that will let the utility shut them off remotely during periods of high demand.
Smart-grid technologies could reduce overall electricity consumption by 6 percent and peak demand by as much as 27 percent. The peak-demand reductions alone would save between $175 billion and $332 billion over 20 years.
Infrastructure, Renewable Energy
power, transportation
