An infrastructure-challenged U.S.
Economist Glen Langan says there's a theme that keeps popping up in the U.S. economy in the early 21st century: inadequate infrastructure. "We're a nation of inadequate infrastructures: the power grid, air travel/air traffic control, railways, highways... pick an infrastructure and you'll see a network that can't handle present demands, let alone an expanded national economy in 2020 or 2030," Langan said.
The power grid bottleneck is particularly frustrating and damaging because both wind and solar power generation systems are mushrooming, and could, with an adequate grid, account for more than 20% of the nation's power needs, Langan said, adding that some economic models put renewable energy's potential contribution even higher, at 25% or more.
"Imagine T. Boone Pickens building his massive, multi-billion dollar wind mill farm and having it sit idle because the grid cannot tolerate and transmit the increased power? Pretty sad," Langan said.
What's the right remedy for the above, in Langan's view? "Public investment, federal, state, and local," Langan said. "It's clear the private sector does not have the resources or the plans to upgrade any of the systems. Most of the infrastructure systems have been underfunded or ignored for more than a decade and that's one thing the new [U.S.] president will have to reverse."
Economic Analysis: In addition to growth-capacity benefits, another benefit of the infrastructure systems build-out would be the addition of hundreds of thousands of new, good-paying, domestic-based jobs. That's no minor positive in a current U.S. economy that's not going to confuse anyone with the GDP growth and prosperity of the 'Roaring 20s' or 'Wonderful 90s.'
Comfort Zone Investing: Survival of the fittest -- letting some banks fail
Three All-American stocks for portfolio fireworks
Michael Jackson fireworks, the workaholic
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-27-2008 @ 8:02PM
A.S. said...
The solution is actually very simple: it is called "Better Place", as in www.betterplace.com, a company that finally solved the electric car's problem. Anyone seriously interested in the issue should check it out.
8-27-2008 @ 11:56PM
BoboTheClown said...
Unfortunately, the power line problem is more than just money or even right-of-way. Environmentalists often oppose them, and can tie projects up in court indefinitely. A wind project in Montana was scrapped because the power 'tie lines' were opposed by environmentalists. Their rationale? They 'worried' that the tie line 'could' be used to transmit electricity from coal-powered plants. AP story: http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/09/27/news/update/doc46fbc5744b171734195877.txt
San Diego Gas and Electric is currently fighting environmentalists over a power line from a Mohave Desert solar/wind farm to San Diego. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/16/eco.solar.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch
These are but two of many examples.
As Arnold Schwarzenegger said, "They say that we want renewable energy but we don't want you to put it anywhere, we don't want you to use it. I don't know whether this is ironic or absurd. But, I mean, if we cannot put solar power plants in the Mojave Desert, I don't know where the hell we can put it."
This problem will never be solved unless Congress reigns in the currently unlimited ability of environmentalists to obstruct most every energy project. And Democrats will never do that.
8-28-2008 @ 6:50AM
al coholic said...
Just as China and other newly developed countries bypassed the copper connections to houses for phones, so will a soon to come generation never have to maintain a grid like ours because of the liklihood that every house will have it's own fuel cell power plant.
The grid will thought of by our children as about as important as Western Union telegrams. Relics of the past.
Until then we just have to keep it patched as best we can.
8-28-2008 @ 8:53AM
Mike Sanders said...
Sounds like we'll be using more copper... FCX is one play, here... Much needs to be done to improve the water, sewer and natural gas pipelines, as well. We've gone overboard on electronics, semiconductors and gadgets. Now is the time to dig-in and do it right. Underground power lines, those plastic inner-linings for sewer systems and other utility constructs, are going to boom, as is construction. This will be a shot in the arm, which won't leave the U.S.
9-02-2008 @ 11:15AM
William Van Sickle said...
How about FIRST replacing polluting carbon-based generating facilities with wind/solar/tidal and then worrying about expansion and were to place alternative generators? A good place to start might be a number of the closed military bases and federal reservations like maybe the pheriphery of national forests and land reserves? Interstate rights of way is also a possibility. I'm sure if we put our heads together and said how do we do this rather than look at the obstacles we could find a way. There is no reason that entire towns could not be powered by alternative methods and alot sooner than people are projecting if we were to make it a national priority. I strongly suspect that we could be self sufficient on electricity by 2025 if we just got busy and did it instead of finding reasons why we can't. But then again, that's just me, an old electrical engineer with 36 years experience....
9-26-2008 @ 2:38PM
Total Solar Energy said...
the US needs to get that infrastructure right. It has the potential to be the world leader in solar if it got it right
http://www.totalsolarenergy.co.uk