The grid

the fraying wires between Americans and our energy future

352 pages

English language

Published Jan. 4, 2016 by Bloomsbury USA, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

ISBN:
978-1-60819-610-4
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OCLC Number:
938855575

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"The grid is an accident of history and of culture, in no way intrinsic to how we produce, deliver and consume electrical power. Yet this is the system the United States ended up with, a jerry-built structure now so rickety and near collapse that a strong wind or a hot day can bring it to a grinding halt. The grid is now under threat from a new source: renewable and variable energy, which puts stress on its logics as much as its components. In entertaining, perceptive, and deeply researched fashion, cultural anthropologist Gretchen Bakke uses the history of an increasingly outdated infrastructure to show how the United States has gone from seemingly infinite technological prowess to a land of structural instability. She brings humor and a bright eye to contemporary solutions and to the often surprising ways in which these succeed or fail. And the consequences of failure are significant. …

1 edition

Subjects

  • Clean energy
  • History
  • Electric power distribution
  • Electric power failures
  • Technological innovations
  • Electric power systems
  • Energy policy

Places

  • United States