From AC to DC: Going green with supergrids

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From AC to DC: Going green with supergrids - environment - 11 March 2009 - New Scientist

"THOMAS EDISON might have relished the irony. Just as his most famous legacy, the incandescent light bulb, heads for extinction, his other great passion, direct electric current, is set to boom. The bulb that has dominated lighting for more than a century is now a pariah in the era of climate change and banned in many countries. Meanwhile, direct current - defeated by alternating current in the race to capture the electricity market in the 1890s - could help us hold back global warming.

As electricity demand soars, and utility companies rush to install renewable-energy generators, it has become obvious that existing electricity transmission systems can't cope. Engineers in Europe and the US know they need to improve their grids, and huge new investment has been announced. Yet simply adding extra capacity using the same old systems may not be the best solution. Instead, putting a new twist on an old technology could transform the way we get electricity.

Although DC lost out to AC in the early days of electrification, high-voltage direct current (HVDC) has long had a niche role - transmitting large amounts of power over long distances because it is more efficient than conventional AC lines. Now it is also set to become a key link for the growing number of renewable-energy generators, particularly offshore wind farms. This is leading many in the energy industry to take a fresh look at DC."
 
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