Even Thomas Edison bet badly, as in his development of direct-current electricity that proved inferior to alternating current.
Although there are easily enough dammable rivers to double the current electricity supply, many of the best sites are in remote Amazonia.
One can draw the analogy with current electricity and running-water systems, where end-users can use services from providers with ease, without being concerned with the technical complexity behind those systems.
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At current electricity prices, an investment in a geothermal heat pump system can be paid off in less than eight years, says Trane, which like other energy service providers has seen a big uptick in interest for geothermal systems in recent years, from the military, schools, corporations and even residential customers.
Also, alternating current leaks more electricity in transit.
Its high-voltage direct current system is delivering electricity to the British Petroleum platform in the middle of the ocean.
Power electronics modify the voltage, current or frequency of electricity in applications as diverse as solid-state lighting, intelligent motors and electric vehicles.
With more than 700 patents to his name, Tesla invented radio, the coil transformer, wireless communication, fluorescent lights and the alternating-current motor, which allowed electricity to flow over long distances.
On the current trajectory and policy for electricity, then that seems a reasonable bet, as chronic under-investment, poor foresight and the de-carboning commitments combine towards a big and expensive catch-up.
The Waxman-Markey bill that passed the House on Friday by a 219-212 margin will punitively tax energy sources that contribute 90% of current U.S. electricity (or 71% if you want to leave out nuclear).
Large-scale electricity transmission usually uses alternating current, in which both current and voltage oscillate.
Dr Fox welcomed the announcement but said pylons twice the current height would be needed to transmit electricity to the national grid.
Creating a magnetic field using electricity is easy: an electric current flowing in a wire generates a magnetic field around that wire.
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Our ability to store electricity in batteries is improving, but current low energy density makes batteries an inefficient choice for large-scale storage.
The International Energy Agency forecasts that the world will consume 28 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2030, nearly twice the current level of consumption.
The demand for energy in the form of electricity and fuel is larger than its current supply in several parts of the world, particularly in developing countries.
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When something that conducts electricity sweeps through a magnetic field, a current starts to flow through it (this is the basis of a dynamo).
Fully exploiting wherever practical the best available efficiency techniques throughout the U.S. economy could save half our oil and gas use, and three-fourths of our electricity, at about an eighth of their current price.
At current growth rates data centers will consume 3% of global electricity supply by 2010.
By running electricity through them the team can measure how much current flows through the gaps coated with the nanotube scribble.
C. will get photovoltaic panels free in exchange for signing a 20-year-power purchase agreement that locks in their electricity costs at a price about 10% below current rates.
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Almost all of the electricity moved over grids is in the form of alternating current.
When a current flows in such a wire, the electrons that flow as electricity are forced to align their spins to those of the local atoms embedded in the wire.
On top of that, the state has upped its current portfolio mandate to require that renewable fuels supply 33 percent of its electricity by 2020.
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Analysts say that in order to meet the 2030 target - which Mr Cameron said he "basically endorsed" last year - only about 10% of UK electricity can come from gas-fired power stations emitting at current levels.
If economic growth carries on at the current rate in China, it will require up to 1, 000 gigawatts of new electricity generation in China.
The current pylons used are about 25m (82ft) but the higher pylons would be capable of transmitting more electricity.
Andrew Kent, a physicist at New York University, spends most days running electricity through a magnet smaller in diameter than a single cell, trying to determine the lowest current at which an electron's spin changes orientation.
Electricity provides the heat that transforms the rolled-up structure into a flat one, with the current experimental version taking around five minutes to completely settle.
The rest amounted to little more than extensions and expansions of current policy that would have to be approved by Congress, including doubling the tax credit for producers who make electricity from wind, biomass and landfill methane, the Gore campaign said.
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