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Traffic congestion is known
to us all. When too many people enter a freeway system at the same time,
speeds can slow to a crawl. One must either expand the roadway, time space
the entry of cars, or build another system to move the people. Power grids
experience congestion when the demand for electricity exceeds the capacity
of the transmission lines from the power plants.
Anyone can look around the
home or office to see the reason for the growth in demand: computers,
VCRs, DVDs, stereos, microwaves, air conditioning, appliances, games,
and so on. Each of these tools and toys has added demand on an energy
system designed in the analog era of 50 years ago. If you overload a circuit
at home, you lose power to a part of your house. If you overload or have
inadequate power to a city, then you experience brownouts and blackouts.
California and many other regions of the world are rebuilding
their electrical grids to meet the new system requirements.
At the same time, we are
seeing the emergence of clean energy markets in many nations. Solar, wind,
and fuel cells are projecting double digit growth during the coming decade.
From $13 billion in 2004, Clean
Edge projects a $92 billion industry in ten years (see cleanedge.com).
Driving this development are three prime factors: supportive government
policies, more investment in R&D and green projects, and continued
technological advancements. Encourage these all that you can.
The grid and clean energy
converge at the micro and macro levels. Most people who install solar
PV on their rooftops are able to sell excess power back
to the grid for use by others. Larger wind and solar arrays are often
built in remote regions with good wind patterns and solar radiation. That
bulk electricity is delivered via high voltage grids to major cities and
industry. GENI is all about A linking
renewable energy resources around the world. We appreciate your support.
Please vote
with your dollars by contributing to the sustainability of our planet.
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In partnership for the planet,
Peter Meisen
President
P.S. We are excited to
announce a $60,000 matching grant from our GENI Board, so all new contributions
will be doubled! More on this next month, or call/e-mail for details.
If you received this letter
from a friend and would prefer getting GENI's monthly electronic newsletter
directly, click on "Subscribe
to GENI Newsletter"
The Global Energy
Network Institute focuses on the interconnection of electric power networks
between nations and continents, with an emphasis on tapping abundant renewable
energy resources. This strategy is the highest priority of the World Game
simulation developed by Dr. Buckminster Fuller three decades ago.
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