One of Bill Gates's Favorite Books of 2016 A revelatory look at our
national power grid--how it developed, its current flaws, and how
it must be completely reimagined for our fast-approaching energy
future. America's electrical grid, an engineering triumph of the
twentieth century, is turning out to be a poor fit for the present.
It's not just that the grid has grown old and is now in dire need
of basic repair. Today, as we invest great hope in new energy
sources--solar, wind, and other alternatives--the grid is what
stands most firmly in the way of a brighter energy future. If we
hope to realize this future, we need to reimagine the grid
according to twenty-first-century values. It's a project which
forces visionaries to work with bureaucrats, legislators with
storm-flattened communities, moneymen with hippies, and the left
with the right. And though it might not yet be obvious, this
revolution is already well under way. Cultural anthropologist
Gretchen Bakke unveils the many facets of America's energy
infrastructure, its most dynamic moments and its most stable ones,
and its essential role in personal and national life. The grid, she
argues, is an essentially American artifact, one which developed
with us: a product of bold expansion, the occasional foolhardy
vision, some genius technologies, and constant improvisation. Most
of all, her focus is on how Americans are changing the grid right
now, sometimes with gumption and big dreams and sometimes with
legislation or the brandishing of guns. The Grid
tells--entertainingly, perceptively--the story of what has been
called "the largest machine in the world": its fascinating history,
its problematic present, and its potential role in a brighter,
cleaner future.
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