“Electranet” Could See Light Of Day

With his new-found movie star clout, former Vice President Al Gore has begun an aggressive environmental crusade for ground-breaking technology and policy changes to the nation’s electricity grid. Using the momentum of his Oscar-winning documentary on global warming, Gore is advocating a decentralized “smart grid” that would allow anyone to set up their own generator and buy or sell surplus electricity without caps. Such an “Electranet” would eliminate the need for new-generation plants, spark widespread use of renewable energy and, ultimately, beat back global warming.

“In the same way the Internet took off and stimulated the information revolution, we could see a revolution all across this country with small-scale generation of electricity everywhere,” Gore told a House committee on climate change last week.

Futuristic as it may sound, experts say that despite resistance from utilities and sluggish state bureaucracies, newly designed distribution grids could be just a decade away.

Via: LA Daily News