Two exceptional factors account for this optimistic outlook for the . In the industrialised countries with mature electrical systems, liberalisation of markets has put pressure on margins and the competitive environment has constrained costs. The electricity utilities have been unwilling to invest in the regulated segments of the and have channelled money to the more speculative unregulated segments where profits are to be made. At the same time, regulators have exerted pressure to keep costs down in the interests of the consumer. Operators have been able to keep systems running with sophisticated asset management techniques, avoiding replacement costs. However, a series of embarrassing outages through out the industrialised world in recent years has served a warning that aging systems, many of them 40 years old, cannot soldier on forever. Most of the industrialised countries have announced large increases in capital expenditure budgets.
In China, the State Council authorised a huge expansion of capital expenditure in transmission and distribution in the 11th Five-Year Development Plan (2006-10), but for quite a different reason from Europe and North America. The transmission and distribution system is not reaching the end of its life in China, there is simply not enough of it. For the last fifty years China has spent 80% of investment in the electrical sector on generation and only 20% on transmission and distribution, following the Soviet style ideology which gives primacy to heavy industry, in this case power generation. The sudden addition, partly unexpected and unplanned, of 200 GW to Chinese generating capacity in 2006 and 2007 used up any gains that had already been made in transmission and distribution capacity. The Chinese authorities were forced to accept that it is not enough just to produce more electricity, it also has to be transported to the users. The result has been the allocation of $153 billion to be invested in transmission and distribution in China between 2006 and 2010.
India is starting to follow suite with increased capital expenditure in transmission and distribution as well as generation, on a smaller scale than China but still significantly.
The internationalisation which started in Europe and the Nordic regions is now being replicated in other regions of the world. Perhaps the most notable example of this is the Med Ring which has created a circle around the Mediterranean, linking the Middle Eastern countries with North Africa, from Morocco to Spain to the western European networks and on the eastern side through Sudel to south eastern Europe. This will eventually be linked across the Sahara to the various new Power Pools in Central, East and West Africa, right down to South Africa.
The main usage of our natural resources is in our home and with the cars that we drive. There are approximately 1.6 billion homes in our world, with over 100 million in the United States alone. There are even more cars then homes, with more cars constantly being produced all over the globe. Your home is where you spend most of your time. It's also where we use the most energy and water. This is where we create the majority of our pollution. On average, we create 4.5 pounds of waste product per day. Over the course of a lifetime that’s six hundred times our average adult weight. In the end on average we each leave a ninety-thousand-pound legacy of trash for the next generation to deal with. Americans use at least twice as much water and energy per person as anyone else in the world.
The next question is how can we stop this constant cycle of waste, without lowering our life style levels?
The first step is to take shorter shower. Every minute of shower time saved can use 5 gallons of water. So it might be better to brush your teeth at the sink and not in the shower. You can also install water saving shower heads to reduce the water flow.
The second step is to adjust your air conditioning thermostats. By altering your thermostat just 1 degree in summer and winter you will be able to reduce your utility bill by $100 per year. Older systems do use more energy to keep running. I don’t recommend throwing yours away and buying a new system, although with some simple grease and cleaning of the air filters you can reduce the energy requirements further. A clean engine always runs easier.
The third step involves recycle. 75% of our waste products found in landfills, could be recycled. It is very important to separate the paper, plastic, glass and aluminum products from your general waste.
Next we move to composting. Keep your kitchen scraps of fruits and vegetables in a composting bin or container. You can then use this natural compos to grow healthy vegetables of your own, this will not only save you money, and it will also help with the natural filtration system of the air that we breathe.
Our fifth step consists of how we use our dishwashers and washing machines. Run full loads in your dishwasher and washing machines to save energy, and don't pre-rinse your dishes or clothes before the cleaning cycle. Using these two simple steps you can save 20 gallons of water per load of dishes or clothes, or over 15000 gallons of water per year.
Now we get to our sixth and final step. You can save on the fumes that your car emits into the world, plus the ever growing costs to keep it running. You can now install a device into your car so that you will and can use water and petrol to keep your car running. I know that might seem a little futuristic, however the future is here. I highly recommend this for every motor vehicle. If you want more information regarding this please copy and paste into the address bar of your web browser.