AltEnToday

One of the aspects of the alternative energy future that has caught my attention in recent weeks is the electricity grid. On one hand, it’s such an ubiquitous feature of modern life that it’s hardly worth paying attention to… On the other, it’s a product of an era of the previous century. Even during the Solar Power 2008 conference in San Diego last October, Congresswoman Maria Cantwell mentioned the importance of infrastructure upgrades and the necessity of pioneering a more advanced grid. A smarter grid. Friedman mentioned it as well in his latest book (as mentioned in the last few posts). And of course, most solar systems are ‘grid tied’ systems that integrate in to this system.

With this in mind, I set about trying to find a good book or research source to learn more about the grid: It’s past, it’s present, and the challenges we may all face in upgrading it for the future. Distributed electricity sources will be coming on line in much greater numbers in the future as rooftop solar and backyard wind becomes part of the electricity landscape, not to mention the promises of millions of plug-in hybrid cars that will be on the road in the next decade. Each major car company seemed to have something in the works during the latest Detroit auto show. If the grid has been taxed in today’s landscape, imagine when we’re using it for not only our lights and air conditioning but also our transportation solutions.

With all this in mind, I have begun a search for a good, non-engineering oriented book on the nature of our current grid electrical system. I’d like to understand better all the features of this unique system, and learn where growth is possible and/or constrained, where new technologies must advance to make an impact on both our energy generation as well as our ability to use what we’re using efficiently. I have scoured Amazon with little success, and a recent trip to the Stanford University Bookstore - arguably one of the best places to visit for a robust selection of engineering and hard-to-find titles - turned up nothing that was explicitly about the grid itself (without being filled with calculations, tables, and engineering jargon).

I did pick up a new book, a textbook actually titled Energy for Sustainability, which is arguably the longest book I’ve ever owned (at a mere 790 pages). It has a chapter on centralized electricity, but frankly it’ll probably take me a few weeks to reach it so until then I’ll keep looking. I’m pretty confident a lot of my posts in the next few weeks will be derived from things I learn from this book, so please stay tuned. And, if you happen to have a suggestion for a good book to read on the topic of the Electricity Grid, I heartily encourage you to leave a comment or send me an email (dave (at) altentoday (dot) com). Thanks!