Credit: Richard Cummins/Corbis
Electrical grids, the interconnected systems that transmit and distribute power, are at the heart of how we use energy. Yet despite their importance, in many places around the world these grids are falling apart. In the United States, while electricity demand increased by about 25 percent between 1990 and 1999, construction of transmission infrastructure decreased by 30 percent. Since then, annual investment in transmission has increased again, but much of the grid remains antiquated and overloaded.
Aging grids mean an unreliable electricity supply. They are also an obstacle to the use of renewable power sources such as wind and solar. It is estimated that generating electricity creates 11.4 billion tons of carbon emissions worldwide each year—nearly 40 percent of all energy-related carbon emissions. Renewable sources could reduce those emissions, but grids that were designed for a steady flow of power from fossil-fuel and nuclear plants have trouble dealing with the variable nature of wind and solar power.
Aging grids mean an unreliable electricity supply. They are also an obstacle to the use of renewable power sources such as wind and solar. It is estimated that generating electricity creates 11.4 billion tons of carbon emissions worldwide each year—nearly 40 percent of all energy-related carbon emissions. Renewable sources could reduce those emissions, but grids that were designed for a steady flow of power from fossil-fuel and nuclear plants have trouble dealing with the variable nature of wind and solar power.
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