Alternatives to the Erection of Additional Transmission Lines - Coursework Example

ALTERNATIVES TO THE ERECTION OF ADDITIONAL TRANSMISSION LINES Background Transmission lines are the cables which carry electric current and are used to convey electric energy from the source of its generation to its point of utilization. They are metals, usually aluminium or copper, which has been drawn into wires. They carry electric charge of up to 345,000 volts. They are at times insulated or just bare. Poles are erected at close intervals in order to hold up high the transmission lines. These poles are made of either wood or metal. Introduction The erection of transmission lines is usually a very disadvantageous affair. It is very essential for an alternative means to be sort after. Most power generation sites are usually put up in places far away from the points of consumption of electricity. These are places like riverbanks, sea shores, lake side and waterfalls. This makes it necessary for the transmission lines to be very long. In this regard, it becomes a very expensive activity to carry out. Considering that the lines also carry high voltages, they are themselves a hub of danger cutting across community land. The lines also hamper transportation in certain areas. In addition, a lot of the generated power is lost in the long transmission lines as heat energy leading to unnecessary loss to the society. It is therefore important where possible to avoid additional transmission lines and employ the use of alternative means. Discussion One of the major ways of avoiding the erection of additional transmission lines is effective management of the mode of consumption of electric energy. This should be aimed at reducing the dependence on electric energy. It should also be aimed at reducing the wastage of electric energy. By so doing, the magnitude of electric power consumed by the community is reduced. In turn, the need to transmit more electric power or install additional transmission lines is alleviated. Effective management of electricity consumption comes at a price. There are various mechanisms which can be employed to ensure that electricity consumption is properly managed. One of the ways of seeing to this is the replacing of the high energy consumption bulbs with the energy saving bulbs. Conventional bulbs consume between 75 and 100 Watts each. There are new Light Emitting Diode bulbs that have been developed which consume only 15 Watts each. If a mechanism can be put in place to ensure that every house hold installs these new bulbs, the energy consumption shall be tremendously reduced. It shall with no doubt follow that there will be absolutely no need to erect additional transmission lines. Another mechanism that can be used to reduce the amount of electric energy that is consumed by the community is radical sensitization. A sensitization and awareness program can be held that educates the community on the importance of conserving electric power. Most consumers of electricity usually put electric power into waste simply because they are ignorant of the implications of their actions. They simply use electric power haphazardly without much care. Electricity is wasted out of ignorance in numerous ways. These include leaving electrically powered lights on in rooms that are not used; leaving electrically powered appliances such as radios and televisions running while one is out on a journey or at work; plugging in and powering electric irons while one is still engaged in other activities such as showering or choosing the items of clothing to wear before finally embarking on ironing; reheating food several times using an electric source of heat before finally deciding to eat. These ignorant and avoidable ways of life can be eliminated. They are practiced out of ignorance and shear irresponsibility. They lead to huge wastage of electric power consumption in overall. Upon raising of awareness, these behaviors can be completely done away with. There are several ways in which awareness can be enhanced. Public rallies can be held where high profiled and popular personalities are invited to attract large masses and the theme of the rally becomes changing of irresponsible ways of life geared towards saving electric power. Competitions can also be conducted to encourage masses to save on their consumption of electricity. Advertisements can also be run on television stations, radios channels and the print media. The moment the entire community appreciates and executes electric power conservation methods, they are capable of consuming little power from the main grid. This therefore completely does away with the need to erect additional transmission lines. Electricity consumption can also be reduced by the use of alternative sources of energy. This reduces the overdependence on electricity as the only source of electricity. One of the major alternative sources of electricity that can be easily employed is solar energy. Solar energy is a clean and renewable form of energy. It is not entirely reliable, but it can be a very good supplement to electricity as a source of energy. Solar energy can be tapped when the conditions are adequate and used for various purposes. These include heating of water, cooking, operating domestic appliances such as televisions, radios among others. By supplementing electric energy with solar energy, the magnitude of electric power consumption is greatly reduced. As such, the electric power necessary for transmission from the point of generation to the consumption point is also reduced. In turn there shall be no need to erect additional transmission lines. Another appropriate supplement to the use of electricity is the use of geothermal heating. This is the use of geothermal energy directly to heat appliances. It is applicable in relatively higher magnitudes in areas closer to tectonic plate boundaries and with active volcanic activities. It is also applicable in any other portion of the world. The ground has heat that is about 12 degrees Celsius from three meters below the surface. This heat originates from the natural decay of radioactive elements in the ground. Heat pumps can be used to tap this energy from the ground and be utilized as a source of energy. During cold seasons, this heat can be circulated into buildings using the heat pump and keep the buildings warm. The converse can happen during the hot seasons where the heat pump drives hot air from the buildings and replaces it with cold air from the ground. The application of this mechanism alleviates the use of the conventional air conditioning mechanism which makes immense use of electric energy. In this regard, the reduction of electric power consumed is achieved. It goes without saying that there will in turn be no need for the erection of additional transmission lines. Electric power consumption by the community can also be supplemented using biogas. Biogas is harvested using a relatively simple mechanism. This can be employed domestically by almost every homestead. It is not entirely a substitute for electricity but it can be a very good supplement. Instead of using electric power for all the energy requiring activities in a homestead; ranging from lighting, to cooking, to ironing, to freezing, to watching of movies and the like; biogas energy can be chipped in to energize other requirements. It can be used to boil water, to cook, to warm the house among numerous others. It is a very clean source of energy which apart from supplementing electricity also helps in the conservation of the environment. The use of biogas sees to it that there is a reduction in the amount of power consumed by the community. In this regard, the need to install additional transmission lines becomes irrelevant. Another huge consumer of electric power is the companies. A very huge chunk of electric power is consumed by companies to run their huge machines. These companies include manufacturing firms, processing firms, assembling firms among others. Most of them consume electric power way above that consumed by domestic consumers of electricity. In fact, some of the machines used in these industries require electric power at voltages above that consumed domestically. They squeeze electric power from the main grid. Mechanisms need to be put in place to reduce or alleviate this tremendous amount of energy consumed by industries from the main grid. Industries can be encouraged to establish their own independent power stations that settle their need for energy. They have the capacity necessary and with a little boost from the central or local government, they are able to establish their own power generation plants closer to them. Industries that are next or close by to each other can also be encouraged to merge their efforts and come up with a common power generation plant that serves all their power needs. These efforts will ensure that the overdependence of power from the main grid is greatly reduced. It follows that there shall be no need to erect additional transmission lines. One of the most effective means through which industries can locally produce their own small scale power generation plants is the use of steam turbines. These do not need strategic points to be set up such as the banks of large water bodies as is the case with hydroelectric power or isolated areas as is the case with nuclear power plants. Steam turbines can be set up to generate electric power almost virtually everywhere. Steam has been used to generate energy for a very long time. It is one of the oldest sources of energy used during the industrial revolution. It produces reliable and renewable energy. It works with a very simple mechanism which makes it relatively simple to install and implement in small scale. Water is superheated to steam which is channeled to rotate a shaft using fins. The shaft rotates an electric conductor round a magnetic field and by Lenz’s law, electricity is generated. By employing this simple mechanism, electricity can be generated in small scale for local use by industries. These industries therefore can stop their consumption of electric power from the main grid and hence there would be no need to erect additional transmission lines. Industries also have the capacity to tap wind energy. Every part of the world has wind blowing across it at high speed at one time or the other. Tapping this periodic fast wind energy can be a challenge to domestic consumers of electricity. This however is not the case with industries. Using their huge capital base, ability to solicit for loans, ability to form cartels and government interventions, they are able to put up a wind mill that generates electricity to supplement the one they receive from the main grid. Wind mills can be raised high up from the ground to tap the energy of the free flowing wind in the high horizons. Using this mechanism, industries shall require relatively less electric power from the main grid. It therefore follow that there shall be need to transmit only minimal electric power using the power lines and thus absolutely no need for the addition of transmission lines. Industries are also able to reduce their power consumption through adopting energy conservative modes of operation. Managers and employees in large industries and companies usually waste a lot of electric energy either through ignorance or negligence. Most players in industries adopt the don’t care attitude when it comes to conservation of electric energy. They know that they are not directly responsible for the footing of electric bills of the industry and thus have no business in tying to conserve or lower the bills. In fact, in many cases employees engage in activities that encourage the wastage of electric energy and raising of the bills intentionally. Such employees usually have a grudge with the top management of the industry and feel that somehow by increasing the bill that the industry is meant to foot settles some scores. It is their shy way of getting back at the top managers and having their share of revenge. Such activities can be shunned and discouraged. Proper and stringent mechanisms can be put in place to ensure that no such activities take place. Ignorant tendencies of wasting electricity in industries can also be alleviated through sensitization and raising of awareness. These systems if put into action can save a great deal in overall of the electric power that is consumed by industries. In turn there shall be no need for additional transmission lines. Conclusion Transmission lines are expensive and dangerous for the society. Addition of transmission lines is equally a menace to the society. It is therefore necessary to avoid the addition of transmission lines. In order to achieve this, alternatives to the erection of additional transmission lines can used. These come at a price. The price is however worth the while. Considering the price and implications of the erection of additional transmission lines, it is necessary to take the price of the alternatives head on. Additional transmission is considered simply because of an increment in the amount of electric power that is consumed by the community. In turn, the alternatives to the erection of additional transmission lines are mechanisms to deal with high electric power consumption and its increase. They are the sources of energy which can be used to supplement electric power consumption; the sources of energy which can be used as substitutes to electric power consumption; mechanisms to reduce the wastage of electric power and mechanisms to completely eliminate the wastage of electric power. These alternatives are specifically the use of solar energy, the use of wind energy, the use of geothermal energy, putting mechanisms in place to sensitize the community among others. By applying these alternatives appropriately, there shall be no need for the erection of additional transmission lines. References Arnold P.J and Gerald M.N. Economic consumption of electric power. Australia (2003).Sydney. Henry Kissinger. Alternative sources of energy to petroleum and electricity. New Jersey Engineering Society 1992. Patel M.N. Journal of the effects of long power transmission lines. (2001)I India. New Delhi. Meijaard, J.P; P.J: The erection of electric power transmission lines. J Comput Appl Math 6 Patel, Indrica, and Sign, Sundra. Clean sources of renewable energy. New Delhi: Froonto, 2004. Read More