global electricity network, money, coal, oil, current costs, long-term and distributed costs,
When we add up the current costs of coal and oil,
we often neglect to include externality costs we
are now all aware of — greenhouse gases, acid
rain, tanker accidents, nuclear leakages, Middle
East wars, and resource depletion. We are finding
that these issues are very expensive to clean up,
and in some cases impossible to rectify. At the
same time it is impossible to create new fossil
resources.
Transmission lines are a one-time investment that
deliver clean energy anywhere for decades to come.
The power source can be located anywhere, whether
renewable or not.
The generator can be sited far away from the load.
The rule of thumb for transmission costs is about
US$1 million per mile (this varies with voltage
and terrain). A 100 km line (about 62 miles) would
cost about US$62 million.
There are more than enough renewable energy resources
on the planet for everyone. They are widespread
— sometimes concentrated, sometimes dispersed.
It is no longer necessary to build the power plant
next to the city.
We can develop the renewable resources, then transmit the power to where it is needed.
