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The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future

by Gretchen Bakke
The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future

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ISBN13: 9781608196104
ISBN10: 1608196100
Condition: Like New


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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

America's electrical grid, an engineering triumph of the twentieth century, is turning out to be a poor fit for the present. It's not just that the grid has grown old and is now in dire need of basic repair. Today, as we invest great hope in new energy sources — solar, wind, and other alternatives — the grid is what stands most firmly in the way of a brighter energy future. If we hope to realize this future, we need to re-imagine the grid according to twenty-first-century values. It's a project which forces visionaries to work with bureaucrats, legislators with storm-flattened communities, moneymen with hippies, and the left with the right. And though it might not yet be obvious, this revolution is already well under way.

Cultural anthropologist Gretchen Bakke unveils the many facets of America's energy infrastructure, its most dynamic moments and its most stable ones, and its essential role in personal and national life. The grid, she argues, is an essentially American artifact, one which developed with us: a product of bold expansion, the occasional foolhardy vision, some genius technologies, and constant improvisation. Most of all, her focus is on how Americans are changing the grid right now, sometimes with gumption and big dreams and sometimes with legislation or the brandishing of guns.

The Grid tells — entertainingly, perceptively — the story of what has been called "the largest machine in the world": its fascinating history, its problematic present, and its potential role in a brighter, cleaner future.

Review

"Bakke describes the grid as far more than towers and wires.... She leads readers through a history of the grid and a maze of financial, legal, regulatory, and environmental considerations with sprightly good humor.... Finally, Bakke sketches a possible design of the 'intelligent grid' of the future.... A lively analysis." Kirkus Reviews

Review

"Hopefully, Bakke's startling exposé revealing how electricity sloshes around the country across a precarious grid will be a wake-up call." Booklist

Review

"The Grid is a lucid and thought-provoking book." Wall Street Journal

About the Author

Gretchen Bakke is an assistant professor of anthropology at McGill University in Montréal, Canada.

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Average customer rating 4 (1 comments)

`
Amanda L Klehr , May 28, 2017 (view all comments by Amanda L Klehr)
Bakke has certainly done her research on the behemoth that is our electrical grid in the US. She perfectly highlights the issues, the hopes for solutions that researchers and industries are trying to find, and how people are already breaking from the unreliability of our grid (with microgrids and other solutions). This book is well written and researched. It was a good read and I would recommend it to anyone looking to understand a little bit about our electrical system.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9781608196104
Binding:
Hardcover
Publication date:
07/26/2016
Publisher:
BLOOMSBURY BOOKS
Pages:
384
Height:
1.00IN
Width:
6.30IN
Illustration:
Yes
Author:
Gretchen Bakke
Author:
Gretchen BakkePh.D.
Author:
Gretchen Anna Bakke

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