A GLINT OF HOPE FOR NIGERIA'S ENERGY PROBLEMS

As much as it seems far fetched to be achieved in the U.S., the possibility of a Smart Grid cannot go without one imagining how much that could solve Nigeria's epileptic energy problems. This is an excerpt from CNN.

By Matt Ford For CNN

(CNN) -- Think of the future of green energy and the mental picture you may conjure up is one of vast solar plants glinting like a beetle's eye in the sun, or ranks of wind turbines turning in the breeze.

Power up: A 'smart grid' could integrate traditional and new energy sources and lead to greater efficiency.

While the years to come will feature more of these power sources, one of the most potent weapons in the green energy arsenal is actually remarkably prosaic: efficiency.

According to research sponsored by the U.S. Government, improving the efficiency of the national electricity grid by 5 per cent would be the equivalent of eliminating the fuel use and carbon emissions of 53 million cars.

For years environmentalists have been talking up the idea of a "smart grid" as a way of achieving this - an electricity distribution system that uses digital technology to eliminate waste and improve reliability.

Advocates of a "smart grid" also say that it would open up new markets for large and small scale alternative energy producers by decentralizing generation.

"It would give consumers the potential to have a much more complex relationship with their energy supplier," says John Loughhead, Executive Director of the United Kingdom Energy Research Center.

"Essentially, with a smart grid, traffic goes both ways. If you wanted to install some kind of micro-generation facility in your home, you could use it to sell to the grid and get money back."

Read More @ http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/01/eco.smartgrid/index.html