The Case For Decentralized Generation Of Electricity

In the article â€Å"The Case for Decentralized Generation of Electricity†, energy policy analyst Thomas R. Casten and project engineer Brennan Downes frame the consequences of meeting up with the demands of power energy with central generation or letting go of decentralized generation that recycles waste energy. They go on to summarize how a new power generation has been built over the past 30 years under given circumstances of technology that was available at the time, the cost of technology and fuel prices, and conclusion of their ideas. From 1910 to 1960, electricity was originally produced by either using hydroelectric dams or burning fossil fuels in order to deliver power to cities and buildings. But those methods proved to be†¦show more content†¦Having these turbines and machines located directly within large populations rather than many miles away was an advantage. Although, they found that using multiple engines and turbines was more cost-effective and less harmful in transmission, electric industries weren’t being fair because they began to charge consumers at very high rates. To regulate the situation in 1978, Congress stepped in and wanted to create competition within the industry in the year. Independent power companies began to advance and develop on-site generation in areas made able to regulate the monopoly. Today, most power companies think that centralized electrical energy gives the most favorable results for all. To support this belief, the International Energy Agency predicted a significant increase in numbers for the next thirty years as our world’s need for electrical power continues to grow every second. According to Figure 1 in the article, the electricity generation capacity for the world will increase by almost 4,500 GW to reach 8,000 GW total. With the demand for burning fossil fuels to increase by 90% and great amount of carbon dioxide emission, we will negatively affect our environments with this hug e contribution to global warming. To meet our increasing reliance and demand for this resource, central generation of electricity will also critically affect the tax market, fossil fuel market, and our world’s environment as a whole. However, with close