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. Widespread adoption of Smart Grid technologies such as wind and solar power and EVs — and a drastically updated electric grid — could help the country steer clear of the offshore oil exploration that gave us the BP Gulf Coast disaster, the worst oil spill in U.S. history. That's the conclusion of an article in the current issue of The Environmental Magazine. The article also includes a disturbing laundry list of the tremendous economic losses attributable to blackouts: $6 billion during the 2003 blackouts in the Northeast and the even more disastrous 2000 blackout in Chicago, for example. Add to that the expectation that electricity demand will double by 2050 and that, according to the Energy Department, the cost of raw materials needed to run the current grid have tripled in four years. The article acknowledges that while widespread adoption of a Smart Grid is "years away," pilot projects are demonstrating that can be done.
Quick Take: While the article may seem a bit elementary to many Smart Grid advocates, it pulls the major issues together into a convincing argument for the economic, environmental and technological benefits of an intelligent grid. If you know any doubters, you might send them the link.
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