Old Zeb

A Smart Electricity Solution for Transportation

Many ideas raised here have merit -- but some underlying assumptions are completely false. The main one being that "The dispatcher could reduce the amount of electricity being generated but this takes time."

Wrong.

If more mechanical energy is applied to an electrical generator than is being withdrawn as electricity, it will speed up. And the frequency of your voltage will speed up...a very bad thing it that were to occur. But this does not happen because generation is automatically controlled by the existing utility computer control systems. The frequency of the AC outlet in your home is well regulated -- your synchronous motor driven clocks rely on it! As the total system load varies, so does the power input to the electrical generators. It is easy to throttle hydro-electric systems. Nukes, not so much.

Yes, we need to generate electricity from the cheapest sources, and that can -- and is being done. An I assure you, as an electrical engineer, very little energy is wasted.