A 'super Grid' For Europe?

Experts agree Europe’s grids are old and desperately need new investment, especially as the European Union plans to significantly increase the share of renewable energy sources. It's likely that the dominant source will be wind energy, resulting in fluctuating energy levels. Czisch and several others call for a direct current, as opposed to today’s alternating current grid. A new high-tech grid would make sure that the fluctuating electricity generation from renewables is smoothly dispersed. A new network of direct current power lines would be able to transport large volumes of electricity generated in one region to consumers in another, by allowing electricity to quickly flow in either direction. Resource shortages in one area could thus be absorbed by surpluses elsewhere, true to the motto: If wind isn’t blowing in the North Sea, it does in the Baltic Sea or in North Africa. Czisch based his scenario on an intricate calculation based on detailed climate, political, economic, logistic and demographic data from all over the world. It would rely on some 70 percent wind energy, backed up by storage hydropower and biomass. "Some of the best wind capacities lie in deserted areas, such as in Siberia, Kazakhstan and the Sahara," Czisch told UPI. "And then you have the coastal region of Morocco, which has excellent wind capacities." ... Czisch’s proposal has sparked the interest of several politicians and large energy utilities, but observers say political interest does not equal political will, especially for such a massive project, which would completely turn our fossil fuel-based system into a renewable one. And then there is the 27-member European Union, a politically overblown and slow body when it comes to groundbreaking long-term decisions. Czisch said he has some hopes the United States, a country with huge hydropower potential, wind and solar-thermal power resources, can one day take the lead, because there, the problem of coordinating such a system would be much smaller. http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Energy/Analysis/2007/11/02/analysis_a_super_grid_for_europe/5729/

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