Could the ‘inter-grid’ be the next revolution? If you are wondering what exactly this is, it is a coinage of renowned economist and social critic Jeremy Rifkin, and what he sees as the Third Industrial Revolution.
Just like the digital media and the Internet has made it easy to share information, he sees a time not too far away, when the world will be distributing energy peer-to-peer! Every person who consumes energy will also be contributing to its generation and distribution. The mammoth buildings we live in will be an active participant in this scheme. Every possible source of energy from the sun to the ocean to the wind will be harnessed and distributed, and stored. The first inter-grids will be up this year in Houston, Bouldor Colorado and Southern California.
The microgrid local generation concept alongwith economic regionalization will see a new and better socio-economic world order, Rifkin believes.
At a time when the centralized power supply system is struggling to meet the demand, localized distributed systems make perfect sense. The microgrid concept is simple. It makes buying and installing a wind or solar power generating unit as simple as any other gadget at home.
Initially a bit costly, it generates all the electricity your home needs and pays for itself in just a few years.
Your home still connects to the existing wires and power plants, but it is a two-way connection. You're just as likely to be uploading power to the grid as downloading from it. So you end up getting paid for the energy you generate at home. That goes for office buildings and others.
What do you think? Is this the ideal way to meet the energy challenge?
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