An energy network stretching across 5,000 miles could cut carbon emissions in Europe by as much as 25% according to scientists. The proposed scheme would harness renewable energy along a supergrid running from Morocco to Siberia and from Egypt to Iceland.
The far-reaching proposal would see high-voltage direct current (HVDC) lines providing electricity from wind power generators. HVDC lines are three times more efficient than the currently employed alternating current (AC) cables in use.
If the project gets the go ahead, the power grid would provide electricity to 1.1 billion people in 50 countries as well as cutting down on the 1.25 billion tons of carbon emissions generated from providing electricity every year.
The European Union has already promised to invest €1 trillion in order to reduce its carbon footprint by 20 per cent before the year 2020. The construction of the supergrid is estimated to cost around $80 billion, or £40 billion, not including the cost of building wind turbines.
“We have the technical abilities to build such a supergrid within three to five years,” said Dr Gregor Czisch, an energy systems expert at the University of Kassel in Germany. “We just need to commit to this big long-term strategy.”
Bringing in countries as far away as Iceland and Siberia is important in ensuring sustained access to wind power, according to scientists involved in the project. The supergrid would allow areas with above average wind potential to supply areas which have unreliable weather patterns, such as the UK.
Very interesting. I have been waiting for and hoping for an efficient method of long distance energy transport so that Iceland could get “on the grid”.
There is certainly a lot of wind potential on the rock. Perhaps too much to be manageable for wind farms? I suppose you might look at low wind areas which would be considered high wind elsewhere. I assume you can also feed geo sourced power onto this grid too. nice.
There is a new world wide web emerging right before our eyes.
It is a global energy network and, like the internet, it will change our culture, society and how we do business. More importantly, it will alter how we use, transform and exchange energy.
For more information, see http://www.terrawatts.com