A crash course in changing the world.
It’s New Year's Eve 2020. Friends and I are partying at the top of Sears Tower in Chicago. A cutie comes up to me and asks if I’ve seen “The Grid”. “No, but I’d love too” is my reply. She takes me into a room filled wall to wall with computer screens. Massive graphs, constantly changing numbers, video feeds of the roof, inner columns and underground. On all those displays is the location and energy provided from every power source to not just the Sears Tower but the entire city of Chicago. The Midwest is relying on its vast amounts of plains to provide wind energy. With all the farms, biogas is being harvested for use as a fuel for power plants. Gases such as methane from cows that would otherwise attack the ozone, are now seen in the atmosphere in lower levels due to their use for power generation. The dancing from New Years Eve is generating enough electricity to power the lights and music as well as the crazy twisty turvey drink fountains with enough power left over to help out with the HVAC. The swaying from the building (http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blogs/electricity-from-the-moti...)is generating the additional power needed to cool down the crowd. Nuclear power the cleanest and most efficient power producer in 2010 still has quite a presence.
I continue to stare in awe at the constant motion of where the power is coming from. So many sources, so many uses. The concept is simple: give people the power they need from as many environmentally sources as possible. Yet “The Grid” makes it seem so elegant, so complex. I thank the girl and dance the night away.
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