Easily missed gems: And superconducting DC cable requires even smaller rights-of-way than does HVDC with traditional cables. Some of the biggest obstacles to

Easily missed gems: And superconducting DC cable requires even smaller rights-of-way than does HVDC with traditional cables. Some of the biggest obstacles to ensuring grid stability are rights-of-way fights. There's abundant power just north of NYC in Canada, and NYC has one of the most fragile grids in the US. A major project to implement the obvious solution was tanked because of NIMBY fights all along the corridor. The compromise was to try to build a buried line (under a lake!) at about a tenth the capacity (essentially not helping) at about ten times the cost. Now Albany is fighting against the buried line plan too. HVDC doesn't make these problems disappear, but when you finally get anyone to agree to one thin line, at least you can transmit a lot of power over it. * * * Although [supercooled transmission lines] do need to be cooled to liquid-nitrogen temperatures—below 77 kelvins—the losses from refrigeration and other sources are less than half those of conventional AC and DC overhead transmission lines. Moving power around the country through frozen ice lines, it's like magic in some unbelievable fantasy novel (ie, the best kind of science). * * * China, which is now the world leader in the development and deployment of grid technology, in particular HVDC. * * * The cost of the generated power with the HVDC supergrid would almost certainly be much lower than what’s available today because operators would be able to buy electricity from the least expensive source. * * * ...governments and grid operators will need to agree on the rules for free trade in electricity. Electricity trading through a wholesale market, perhaps broken up into regions, would enable the kind of efficient power flows a global supergrid would offer. While baking in strong protections against ENRON-style disasters. * * * Not mentioned: DC converting stations serve as a firewall for blackouts. Post-Fukushima, the southern part of Japan's grid was unaffected. It operates on 50 Hz, because it was mostly built on German tech, while the northern grid operates at 60 Hz, because it was mostly built up on American tech. There's a massive AC-DC-AC conversion system in the middle. Problems with balance or shortages don't infect the other part of the system. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2011/07/19/reference/japans-incompatible-power-grids/ http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2011/07/19/reference/japans...