After some consideration, I've realized that my initial entry on a complex technology was, perhaps, putting the cart before the horse. Before we begin manipulating electricity, we should probably review some basics; what is it? who discovered it? how does it end up in our homes and buildings? The videos in this post are all from the same source, Electricity 101 by the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, and they will lay the groundwork for the majority of the topics to be covered on this blog. Video #1 discusses the beginning of mankind's interest in electricity, led by Thales, the father of Western philosophy, in 600 B.C.
Video #1: Where does the electricity story begin?
Video #1 is not particularly content heavy, but don't worry, we'll get deeper in Videos 2 and 3. One takeaway from the first video is that electricity research has been going on a long time. Even if we begin recording its history in 1600 with William Gilbert, the time between electricity breakthroughs is pretty astounding; 147 years from Gilbert to Franklin, and 132 years from Franklin to Edison. We should not discount the many steps it took to reach these watershed moments (the discovery that electricity could be conducted and the beginning of its long distance transport, respectively), but we should understand that disruptive innovations in the power field have historically followed a 'slow and steady wins the race' philosophy. Video #2 expands on the timeline of electrical innovation.
Video #2: Conduction, generation, and transmission...electrifying ;)
Video #2 was not exagerating in its label of the 'current war' between Edison and Tesla. Did you know that the development of the electric chair, which uses AC power, was aided primarily by Thomas Edison in an effort to highlight the deadliness of Tesla's AC transmission structure? If this were a marketing or history blog, we might spend some time here discussing Edison's history as a marketer, likely the chief reason that hes is known today as 'the world's greatest inventor.' But, I digress. More to the point of Electricity 101, Video #3 will give us a feel for the present state of the power grid.
Video #3: Buying, selling, and trading that precious resource
As Video #3 describes, electricity is an undifferentiated commodity requiring immediate use. Until recently, the established nature of wholesale markets and a lack of concern over the efficiency of electricity supply, distribution, and consumption left the power industry somewhat insulated from market forces and associated technological advancements. Highlighted first by the Northeast blackout of 2003, peaks in the demand curve cause problems significant enough to warrant measuring, managing, and maintaining the grid in a way that is only beginning to be explored. The confluence of required improvement, a highly connected world, and advanced data mining and analyzation capabilities are now driving the power industry. The innovation timeline is being crunched, and that is what makes electricity so very very exciting!
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