ZPEnergy.com - An UltraGrid Tieline for Linking the Nations Electric Utilities

Room Temperature Superconductors Inc. - An MPI subsidiary

A SuperGrid has been proposed to tie together the nation’s utilities. A national Tieline would serve the country well in this era of terrorist threats. The reliability and availability of cost-effective electric power is also threatened following natural disasters such as earthquakes, ice storms, hurricanes and floods, since the nation’s electric power utilities are only connected regionally. In the Far West, for example, only north-south tielines exist, and there are choke points. As a consequence, power cannot be imported from, or exported to, the East or Midwest. With heavy air-conditioning loads and other factors already resulting in brownouts and serious power shortages - a national Tieline connecting all part of the Nation would offer major benefits.

However, the present SuperGrid proposal assumes cryogenically cooled superconductors will be utilized, complicating the Tieline by requiring many thousands of miles of tubing filled with liquid hydrogen, a costly refrigerant. Ultraconductors have extremely high current densities at ambient temperatures. They require no refrigeration whatsoever.

The SuperGrid concept as outlined by Dr. Paul M Grant in the May, 2007 issue of the magazine POWER, incorporates nuclear power plants as an integral part of the proposed system. Dr. Alexey Yablokov, former environmental advisor to the late President Boris Yeltsin, and president of the Center for Russian Environmental Policy, estimates the death toll from the Chernobyl catastrophe at 300,000. The infant death and childhood cancer rates in the downwind areas have been horrific. The UltraGrid concept is totally compatible with Magnetic Power Modules™. These are inherently capable of installation at the point of use and can power individual homes, stores and factories. See the website: www.magneticpowerinc.com Polymer Ultraconductors can also be utilized to replace copper wire in many types of motors and generators helping to greatly reduce total energy demand.

Due to the resistance heating of wire, power transmission lines in the U.S. lose 11% of the electricity they carry in the form of heat - at a cost exceeding $80 billion annually. Each 1% reduction of these transmission losses would save above $500 million every year. Load leveling on a national basis might save an additional 5% of energy loss and 2% of new plant construction could be unnecessary - adding up to a savings of perhaps $65 billion in avoided cost for infrastructure. In addition, national load leveling will reduce the plant construction needed for growing peak power demands. Thus, an UltraGrid Tieline will more than pay for itself by the resulting savings.

Ultraconductors in the form of wire and cable are on the horizon. An UltraGrid system could utilize polymer Ultraconductors operating at ambient temperatures. The economics of a National Tieline would be far more cost-effective, if Ultraconductors are utilized for the major parts of the system rather than cryogenically refrigerated Superconductors.

A Tieline made of polymers could consist of a buried cable - carrying power at 5,000 volts or less, identical in power handling capability to a more than 100,000 volt system on towers - with minimal environmental degradation. This is due to the extremely high current density. For additional information, see the website: www.ultraconductors.com

301A North Main Street Sebastopol CA 95472
Contact: Mark Goldes 707 829-9391 direct
e-mail magneticpower@gmail.com