Today, continuing from Smart money in alternative energy?Part 2: the solution or solutions configuration?, we will look at just one tiny facet within the complex energy problem?the generation of power. Assuming that in the long run, the generation of electricity through conventional fossil-fuel burning power stations is unsustainable due to environmental and fuel supply issues, what can be done? We do not really know for sure because we are not scientists and engineers. But we have some worthwhile ideas to offer.
Before we go into that, let us review the present conventional arrangements in power generation. Currently in most countries, electricity is generated centrally in power stations and then distributed to the rest. Let us call this the ?centralised power generation? model. One of the problems we can think of with this model is that a lot of energy is lost in the transmission of electricity from the power station to the destination.
There is an alternative (and more radical) model that we believe may possibly be a better idea for a world of scarcer energy and global warming. Instead of having power generated centrally, why not distribute the generation of power into a network of nodes? Let us call this the ?distributed power generation? model. The advantage of this model is that with locally generated power at the nodes (even homes can be nodes), there is no wastage of energy from the transmission of electricity. Also, from a security point of view, this model is not vulnerable to a single terrorist strike.
You have to understand that these two alternative models are not mutually exclusive. Think of them as a spectrum, with each end as one of the models. Now, the question is, which end of the spectrum will the future be likely to be? Those thinking in terms of the centralised power generation model will concentrate on technologies like nuclear power, clean coal, ethanol and so on. Those thinking in terms of the distributed power generation model will concentrate on technologies like solar, fuel cell, wind and so on. Therefore, your vision of the future will determine which alternative energy investments you are more likely to evaluate.
Which model do you think the future is likely to be?
