Holding Back the Wind
Stock market aside, there’s one area with possible 750 percent growth in the next 10 years: wind power. While lower oil prices and tight credit are hurting alternative energy investments in the short term, today the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)–a nonprofit established by the electric utility industry–predicted the huge growth of wind power in the United States and Canada through 2007. But it also warned that the transmission system to bring wind power to market is lagging. While more transmission investments are expected, they’ll be outpaced by the growth of new power plants, including wind farms, according to NERC’s new report on the state of the nation’s transmission system. In a statement, Rick Sergel, the CEO of NERC, put it simply: “We need more transmission resources to maintain reliability and achieve environmental goals.” He added, “Faster siting, permitting, and construction of transmission resources will be vital to keeping the lights on in the coming years.” Today, less than 1 percent of U.S. electricity comes from wind. But projects are planned for Texas, the Midwest, the mid-Atlantic, and western states and Canadian provinces.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.
And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.
How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets
When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.
The problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers.
Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we’re still underestimating the emissions they produce.
Google DeepMind’s new generative model makes Super Mario–like games from scratch
Genie learns how to control games by watching hours and hours of video. It could help train next-gen robots too.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.