Building the energy internet

I just caught an interesting article on the Web site of The Economist titled Building the energy internet. It's forward looking, perhaps a tad optimistic, but well written. The article talks about transforming today's dumb electricity grid into a smart, responsive and self-healing digital network - in short, an 'energy internet. It points out how backwards the energy grid of much of the civilized world really is, and you asked 50 million residents of the US Northeast and eastern Canada who suffered several major blackouts that, they would strongly agree.

In last summer's blackout, managers of major energy plants had to call each other by phone to discover they had a problem. Given the aging technology they had to work with, they were slow to solve the problem, or at least patch it. And our society, which is dependent on a reliable supply of energy to function, is more vulnerable than ever to a falling tree or a terrorist act. Fortunately, some bright minds are working on how to make the energy grid much more responsive, progressive and reliable. The article is fascinating reading, and an interesting look into the future of what could be.

For an insightful and often very funny counterpart, check out the reader comments to the article on Slashdot. There are many bright minds and witty wags who congregate there, perhaps the best collection of thought you can find just about anywhere on the Web. Enjoy.