EoW November 2013

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Transatlantic cable
November 2013 25
Their choice is dictated largely by the industry rule of thumb
that it costs up to $1 million per mile to bury transmission wire
– about ten times more than to string it overhead. And, the
reasoning goes, since US cities are much less densely populated
than those in Europe, it takes much more wire to serve an
American than a European populace.
Mr Frum went on to question the industry cost estimates; then
to point out the good e ects to be expected from a switchover
from overhead to buried transmission wiring. His principal
points:
† There is reason to think that industry estimates of the
cost of burying wires are in ated. While the US industry
“guesstimates” costs, a large-scale study of the problem
conducted recently in the United Kingdom estimated the
cost premium at 4.5 to 5.5 times the cost of overhead wire,
not ten.
† US cost gures “are a moving target”. American cities are
becoming denser as aging baby boomers (those born
between 1946 and 1964) opt for city living. Urban centres
require less wire per inhabitant than suburban and rural
areas.
† Costs can be understood only in relation to bene ts. As the
climate warms, storms and power outages are becoming
more common. And, as the population ages, power failures
become more dangerous. In France, where air conditioning
is uncommon, a 2003 heat wave left 10,000 people dead,
almost all of them elderly. If burying power lines prevented
power outages during the hotter summers ahead, the
decision could save many lives.
While conceding the merit of Mr Frum’s expanded argument
for burying transmission lines, outsidethebeltway senior editor
Doug Mataconis questioned the feasibility of such a large-scale
undertaking. He noted that the United States is much larger
than Germany and has many more miles of power lines. Burying
every line in the country would be very costly to the utility
companies. The money would have to come either from higher
energy rates or from the American taxpayer.
He also pointed out that the project would involve not only
electrical lines but telephone and cable transmission lines,
as well – thus increasing the number of participants fairly
signi cantly. What is more, it took decades to wire the US for
electricity. In Mr Mataconis’s estimate, burying those lines would
likely take just as long again.
He acknowledged, however, that this “is not necessarily a reason
to dismiss the idea.”
Technology
Nanoparticles produced from very
common elements hold promise for
cheaper manufacture of solar cells
A discovery coming out of the University of Alberta would
appear to be an important step forward in making solar power
more accessible to parts of the world, such as the Canadian
North, that are o the traditional electricity grid.
The researchers found that materials abundant in the Earth’s
crust can be used to make inexpensive and easily manufactured
nanoparticle-based solar cells.
A team headed by Jillian Buriak, a chemistry professor
and senior research o cer of the National Institute for
Nanotechnology, on the Edmonton campus, designed
nanoparticles that absorb light and conduct electricity from
phosphorus and zinc. Both materials are more plentiful than
cadmium and free of the manufacturing restrictions imposed on
lead-based nanoparticles.
As reported in the 29th August edition of R&D (Rockaway,
New Jersey), the research supports the prospect of making
cheaper solar cells with methods that evoke roll-to-roll printing
(as with newspaper presses) or spray-coating (similar to
automotive painting).
It was demonstrated that zinc phosphide nanoparticles,
produced synthetically, can be dissolved to form “inks,” then
processed to make thin lms that are responsive to light.
These inks could be used to “literally paint or print solar cells”,
according to Dr Buriak.
“Half the world already lives o the grid,” she said. “And with
demand for electrical power expected to double by the year
2050, it is important that renewable energy sources like solar
power are made more a ordable by lowering the costs of
manufacturing.”
† The UAlberta researchers have applied for a provisional
patent and secured funding to explore scaled-up
manufacture.
Their work, which was supported by the Natural Sciences
and Engineering Research Council of Canada, is covered
in full in ACS Nano, a nanoscience journal published by the
University of California (Los Angeles).