The other technological daydream has suddenly come back into the news after a period of dormancy, probably caused by the “cold fusion” fiasco. It seems that what might be called low-energy nuclear reactions may be feasible, and a claim was recently made in England for a process that produces 10 times more energy than its input. If this can be confirmed—and be scaled up—our world will be changed beyond recognition. It would be the end of the Oil Age—which is just as well because we should be eating oil, not burning it.
Electrification in the United States public and private investment. Early in the century the distribution of electric power was largely concentrated in cities served by privately owned utility companies (investor-owned utilities, or IOUs). Electrification in the United States public and private investment. Early in the century the distribution of electric power was largely concentrated in cities served by privately owned utility companies (investor-owned utilities, or IOUs). Thomas Edison the first commercial power plant in 1882.In 1903 the first steam turbine generator, pioneered by Charles Curtis, was put into operation at the Newport Electric Corporation in Newport, Rhode Island.In 1917 an IOU known as American Gas & Electric (AG&E) established the first long-distance high-voltage transmission line-and the plant from which the line ran was the first major steam plant to be built at the mouth of the coal mine that supplied its fuel, virtually eliminating transportation costs. A year later pulverized coal was used as fuel for the first time at the Oneida Street Plant in Milwaukee.All of these innovations, and more, emerged from engineers working in the private sector.By the end of the century, IOUs account for almost 75 percent of electric utility generating capacity in the United States. In 1998, the country's 3,170 electric utilities produced 728 gigawatts of power-530 gigawatts of which were produced by 239 IOUs. (The approximately 2,110 nonutilities generated another 98 gigawatts.)
The inhabitants of New York, Chicago, and other cities across the country enjoyed the gleaming lights and the new labor-saving devices powered by electricity, life in rural America remained difficult. On 90 percent of American farms the only artificial light came from smoky, fumy lamps. Water had to be pumped by hand and heated over wood-burning stoves. The inhabitants of New York, Chicago, and other cities across the country enjoyed the gleaming lights and the new labor-saving devices powered by electricity, life in rural America remained difficult. On 90 percent of American farms the only artificial light came from smoky, fumy lamps. Water had to be pumped by hand and heated over wood-burning stoves. In the 1930s President Franklin Delano Roosevelt saw the solution of this hardship as an opportunity to create new jobs, stimulate manufacturing, and begin to pull the nation out of the despair and hopelessness of the Great Depression. On May 11, 1935, he signed an executive order establishing the Rural Electrification Administration (REA). One of the key pieces of Roosevelt's New Deal initiatives, the REA would provide loans and other assistance so that rural cooperatives—basically, groups of farmers—could build and run their own electrical distribution systems.
The model for the system came from an engineer. In 1935, Morris Llewellyn Cooke, a mechanical engineer who had devised efficient rural distribution systems for power companies in New York and Pennsylvania, had written a report that detailed a plan for electrifying the nation's rural regions. Appointed by Roosevelt as the REA's first administrator, Cooke applied an engineer's approach to the problem, instituting what was known at the time as "scientific management"—essentially systems engineering. Rural electrification became one of the most successful government programs ever enacted. Within 2 years it helped bring electricity to some 1.5 million farms through 350 rural cooperatives in 45 of the 48 states. By 1939 the cost of a mile of rural line had dropped from $2,000 to $600. Almost half of all farms were wired by 1942 and virtually all of them by the 1950s. The model for the system came from an engineer. In 1935, Morris Llewellyn Cooke, a mechanical engineer who had devised efficient rural distribution systems for power companies in New York and Pennsylvania, had written a report that detailed a plan for electrifying the nation's rural regions. Appointed by Roosevelt as the REA's first administrator, Cooke applied an engineer's approach to the problem, instituting what was known at the time as "scientific management"—essentially systems engineering. Rural electrification became one of the most successful government programs ever enacted. Within 2 years it helped bring electricity to some 1.5 million farms through 350 rural cooperatives in 45 of the 48 states. By 1939 the cost of a mile of rural line had dropped from $2,000 to $600. Almost half of all farms were wired by 1942 and virtually all of them by the 1950s.
Generation, transmission, and distribution—the same then as now. But back at the very beginning, transmission was a matter of intense debate. On one side were proponents of direct current (DC), in which electrons flow in only one direction. On the other were those who favored alternating current (AC), in which electrons oscillate back and forth. The most prominent advocate of direct current was none other than Thomas Edison. If Benjamin Franklin was the father of electricity, Edison was widely held to be his worthy heir. Edison's inventions, from the lightbulb to the electric fan, were almost single-handedly driving the country's—and the world's—hunger for electricity.
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