Piezoelectric Roads 1AC

8/13/2019 Piezoelectric Roads 1AC

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Inherency

Current mainstream America is unaware of recent breakthroughs in piezoelectric

technology.Diamond 09(Kim Diamond, Vice Chair of the Carbon and Energy Trading and Finance Committee of the American Bar Association'sSection of Environment, Energy, and Resources,http://www.renewablesbiz.com/article/09/04/breakthroughs-piezoelectric-power-raising-

public-awareness-step-right-direction-us-sustainable-development)

Efforts are afoot internationally to incorporate piezoelectricity into the clean energy mainstream.Whilestate-of-the art uses of this electricity-generating technology have debuted in countries such as England, the Netherlands, Japan, and Israel, the

U.S. is currently running at the back of the pack of global leaders in this space.News about scientific

breakthroughs enabling piezoelectric devices to be incorporated as sustainable building materials has not yet

percolated to Americans' mainstream awareness level.This needs to change. Wide scale employment of piezoelectric

power as an energy source is no longer merely a conceptual notion fit to appear in science fiction novels. Revolutionary

developments in piezoelectric technology now permit the kinetic energy generated from people walking

and dancing, as well as frommoving vehicles, to be converted into clean power. Innovative devices employing

piezoelectricity offer vast public benefits and potential business opportunities in both the long and short terms. Increased piezoelectricity usagecould be a trend that plays a significant role in shaping tomorrow's world in the alternative energy sector as well as in financial markets.

Consequently, new scientific and technological advances in piezoelectric inventions merit endorsement

and should be raised to the forefront of U.S. domestic public consciousness and discourse.

And we must invest in transportation infrastructure now. Deteriorating transportation

infrastructure could cost America $3.1 Trillion.Sledge 11(Matt Sledge, 09/26/11 06:12 AM ET, Huffington Post, Deteriorating Transportation Infrastructure Could Cost America $3.1Trillion,)

New tires add up. That's the finding ofareportissued Wednesdayby the American Society for Civil Engineers, which

tallies up the cost of our decaying surface transportation infrastructure, from potholes to rusting bridges to buses

that never come. The engineers found that overall,the cost of failing to invest more in the nation's roads and bridges

would total $3.1 trillion in lost GDP growth by 2020. For workers, the toll of investing only at current levels would be equally daunting:877,000 jobs would also be lost.Already, the report found, deficient anddeteriorating surface transportation cost

us $130 billion in 2010.By and large those costs would not come from the more dramatic failings of America's transportation system --like the collapse of the I-35W Bridge in Minnesota -- but more mundane or even invisible problems. The minivan that hits a pothole chips away

at a family's income. The clogged highway that drains away an extra half hour of a trucker's day also drives up the cost of shipping for

businesses. Congestion, the report found, is of particular cause for concern. Already, 40 percent of urban interstates have capacity deficiencies.

Currently, that costs us $27 billion a year in lost time and other inefficiencies wasted on the roads. By 2020, that number could grow tenfold

reaching $276 billion a year. The civil engineers are, by their own admission, a biased party -- they stand to gain the most from renewed

investment in infrastructure -- but they paint a picture of an infrastructure shortfall that would have ripple effects far and wide through society.

Companies, the report estimates, would underperform by $240 billion over the next ten years without additional investment. Exporters, which

would have trouble moving goods to market, would send $28 billion in trade less abroad. The cost to families' household budgets, the report

suggests, would by $1,060 a year. Underscoring the wider appeal of ASCE's argument, the report received the backing of both labor and

business leaders. "Todays report from the American Society of Civil Engineers further reinforces that the

U.S. is missing a huge opportunity to ignite economic growth, improve our global competitiveness,

and create jobs," Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a release.

Richard Trumka, the AFL-CIO president, saidin a release that "with a modest increase in investment, we

can rebuild a strong economywhere business can thrive and workers can afford a place to live, raise a family, take an occasional

vacation, pay for their childrens education and have a dignified retirement."The ASCE claims the answer to the transportation

problem is simple: Invest more, and quickly.
http://www.renewablesbiz.com/article/09/04/breakthroughs-piezoelectric-power-raising-public-awareness-step-right-direction-us-sustainable-developmenthttp://www.renewablesbiz.com/article/09/04/breakthroughs-piezoelectric-power-raising-public-awareness-step-right-direction-us-sustainable-developmenthttp://www.asce.org/economicstudy/http://www.asce.org/economicstudy/http://www.asce.org/economicstudy/http://www.asce.org/economicstudy/http://www.asce.org/economicstudy/http://www.asce.org/economicstudy/http://www.renewablesbiz.com/article/09/04/breakthroughs-piezoelectric-power-raising-public-awareness-step-right-direction-us-sustainable-developmenthttp://www.renewablesbiz.com/article/09/04/breakthroughs-piezoelectric-power-raising-public-awareness-step-right-direction-us-sustainable-development


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Plan:The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its transportation

infrastructure investment in piezoelectric roads in the United States.


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Advantage 1: The Grid

Piezoelectric highways could be a source of green energy and feed back into the grid.

Shockley 11(June 24, 2011 By Jennifer Shockley, GreenBuildingElements, Piezoelectric Elements Can Turn Highways into GreenZones,http://greenbuildingelements.com/2011/06/24/piezoelectricity-elements/)

Astonishing new advances in clean energy production are happening worldwide with the experimentation and understanding of piezoelectric

technology. Piezoelectricity is the energy caused by the weight, motion, vibration, and temperature

changes that occur between two objects as they pass. It is a natural occurring energy that an object releases as a force or

friction is applied to its surface; such as vehicles and roadways, bicycles and bike paths, or pedestrians and sidewalks.This

friction creates a voltage that can be transformed into re-usable energy.Piezoelectricity is known as vibrationenergy and occurs in waves and can be measured comparatively to how they measure the energy produced in ocean waves or moving water,

known as hydroelectricity. Piezoelectric crystals can be attached to any surface. These are pressure sensitive

materials that when squeezed release an energy charge that can be harvested either to use

immediately or back into the grid for future use.Gizmag wrote, This means that parasitic energy of busy roads,

railroads and runways near population centers can be converted into electrical energy that can run

public lighting, or be fed back into the grid.

Current electrical grid technology is bad and we need better utilities now.Denholm et al 10(NREL : National Renewable Energy Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Technical Report NREL/TP-6A2-47187,January 2010 ,The Role of Energy Storage with Renewable Electricity Generation, Paul Denholm, Erik Ela, Brendan Kirby, and Michael

Milliganhttp://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/47187.pdf)

The operation of electric power systems involves a complex process of forecasting the demand for

electricity, and scheduling and operating a large number of power plants to meet that varying

demand. The instantaneous supply of electricity must always meet the constantly changing demand ,as indicated in Figure 2.1. It shows the electricity demand patterns for three weeks for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid

during 2005.factors such as the need for heating, cooling, lighting, etc. While the demand patterns in Figure 2.1 are for a specific region of the

United States, many of the general trends shown in the demand patterns are common throughout the country. To meet this demand,

utilities build and operate avariety of power plant types.Baseload plants are used to meet the large constant demand

for electricity. In the United States, these are often nuclear and coal-fired plants, and utilities try to run

these plants at full output as much as possible. While these plants (especially coal) can vary output,

their high capital costs, and low variable costs (largely fuel), encourage continuous operation.

Furthermore, technical constraints(especially in nuclear plants) restrict rapid change in output needed to follow

load.Variation in load is typically met with load-following or cycling plants. These units are typically hydroelectric generators or plantsfueled with natural gas or oil. These load-following units are further categorized as intermediate load plants, which are used to meet most of

the day-to-day variable demand; and peaking units, which meet the peak demand and often run less than a few hundred hours per year.

Without upgrades in utilities, line losses are inevitable.

These line losses lead to inefficiencies, loss of money, and CO2 Emissions.John 12(JEFF ST. JOHN: JUNE 20, 2012, 1.2 Trillion Metric Tons of CO2 in Line Losses the environmental case for a more efficient grid,greentechmedia, http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/1.2-Trillion-Metric-Tons-of-CO2-in-Line-Losses/# )

Whats the cost of power grid line losses-- and whats to be done about them?Utilities have long accepted that the laws of

physics dictate a certain amount of power lost as heat as its transmitted from generator to end-user. California lost about 6.8

percent of its power toline losses in 2008, at a value of about $2.4 billion in electricity.Losses of7 percentor so are the norm today in the United States,a rule that holds across Europe as well. Japan has gotten line losses down to 5.1 percent through

a $100 billion transmission buildout in the 1990s, but its an exception. Utilities in developing nations can see losses in the

double-digit percentage range.Thats a lot of power lost, and it has a corresponding value in carbon. To be

precise, the 1.4 trillion kilowatt-hours lostout of 20 trillion used around the world each year represent about 1.2
http://greenbuildingelements.com/2011/06/24/piezoelectricity-elements/http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/47187.pdfhttp://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/1.2-Trillion-Metric-Tons-of-CO2-in-Line-Losses/http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2010/ph240/harting1/http://www.gissmartgrid.com/line-loss/http://www.gissmartgrid.com/line-loss/http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/The-Fast-and-Furious-Japans-Race-to-Energy-Management/http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/The-Fast-and-Furious-Japans-Race-to-Energy-Management/http://www.gissmartgrid.com/line-loss/http://www.gissmartgrid.com/line-loss/http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2010/ph240/harting1/http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/1.2-Trillion-Metric-Tons-of-CO2-in-Line-Losses/http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/47187.pdfhttp://greenbuildingelements.com/2011/06/24/piezoelectricity-elements/


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trillion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.Cutting it by a third would add up to 53 gigawatts of power plants thatwouldnt need to be built, or 290 million metric tons of CO2 not put into the atmosphere, according to CTC Global.

The current electrical grid relies on coal, and reliance of fossil fuels will cause A LOT of

problems.including warming.Santoianni 12(May 17, 2012, Dawn Santoianni, Scientific America, The Backcone of the Electric System: A Legacy of Coal and theChallenge of Renewables, http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/05/17/the-backbone-of-the-electric-system-a-legacy-of-coal-and-the-challenge-of-renewables/)

Energy policy and clean energy may be political hot buttons this year, but the technological realities and challenges to achieving energy and

environmental goals are seldom discussed.There is strong public sentiment that the U.S. should decrease our

reliance on fossil fuels because of concerns about pollution, global warming, ecosystem damage, and

energy security.Although a domestically abundant energy source, coal power is imputed as being a major

contributor tosmog, acid rain, and global warming.High-profile accidents associated with coal mining and coal ash

management have further damaged coals reputation. Grass-roots campaigns to replace coal as a major source of

electricity claim that wind, solar, and geothermal power couldreplace retired coal capacity.In 2011, 42% of the electricitygenerated in the U.S. was from coal, according to theEnergy Information Administration.Although coal generation for 2012 isprojected to fall

15 percent,coal is still expected to represent a significant percent of the nations generating capacity through 2035. Reducing reliance on coal

faces challenges beyond policy and market economics. What are the technical constraints of the U.S. electric generating system, what role does

coal power play, and how can we further incorporate renewable energy sources? To understand the technological challenges, it is helpful to

understand the roots of U.S. electrificationhow our electrical system evolved, and the legacy of coal power within that system. Modern coal-fired power generation is a vestige of Thomas Edisons 1882Pearl Street Station, which was the first coal power station to provide electricity to

residents of New York City. With the introduction of alternating current (AC) by Westinghouse Electric, by the early 1900s power could be

successfully transmitted over long distances, allowingcentralized stations to deliver power to population centers connected by high voltage

transmission lines. Although turn-of-the-century electric power came from numerous smaller generators, improvements to steam power

turbine technology coupled with economies-of-scale further encouraged the consolidation of electric power. Transmission technology

improved as well during the early part of the 20th century. Increased voltage capacity enabled power to be more efficiently carried for longer

distances. Utility companies were able to interconnect multiple plants, allowing the most efficient plants to deliver power to a wide area,

provide backup power, and further reduce electricity costs. The use of coal for electric generation expanded rapidly to support soaring

electricity demand during World War II, and the transmission grid was built to take advantage of centralized power generation. The legacy of

that growth and consolidation is that large coal power plants still dominate the U.S. electric system, andthe

infrastructure for carrying high-voltage power(see Figure 1) from smaller, distributed sourcesis lacking.The electric system necessitates a real-time balancing of demand with generation. Appliances, air conditioning, and the power to feed our

increasingly wireless lives require electric generation be delivered to meet that demand. Failing to meet electric demand results in blackouts

with severe economic consequencesthinkNortheast Blackout of 2003. The electric generated by all sourcescoal, nuclear, wind, solar,

geothermal, biomass, natural gas, etc.must be delivered by the wires, buses, transformers, substations, and ancillary equipment thatcomprise the transmission grid. These components have physical constraints, including thermal limits (related to sag of the transmission wire)

and voltage stability (related to the ability to prevent sudden voltage dips that can lead to failures). Sometimes a specific power plant is needed

to maintain electric reliability, as was the case for five of First Energys coal plants that were scheduled to retire but arerequired to continue

operating for voltage support.The electric system relies on redundancies including operating reserve (excess capacity) to ensure reliability.

Baseload generation currently provides the backbone for the electric grid. Baseload is the minimum level of electric demand over 24 hours,

such as during late evening or early morning and is served by plants that provide steady and low-cost power with few unscheduled outages.

Nuclear and coal have predominately served as baseload plants because they operate most efficiently at full, steady output and are slow to

ramp up or down. Geothermal and hydropower have also been used in certain areas as baseload power. Hydropower with pumped storage is a

flexible energy source able to serve sudden spikes in demand, such as during hot summer days (peak demand). Natural gas turbines, which can

quickly ramp up or down to follow electric load, have been a preferred source of peaking power. Load-following or intermediate demand plants

provide power in between off-peak and peak hours, which is when solar and wind power have had the most use. Intermittent or diurnal

sources such as wind and solar have been widely considered unsuitable for baseload generation because of their variability. In other words, you

cant count on them to meet demand 247.Energy storage may help bridge the gap for intermittent generating sources. Success withbaseload

solar power is promising, while other energy storage technologies are still under development. So why cant we just use wind and solar when

available, supplement with current energy storage capabilities, and use quick-start resources such as natural gas turbines as needed? The

problem lies with transmission constraints. While some studies have shown thatload shifting using energy storage could help eliminate

minimum generation constraints, these technologies have not reached wide-scale deployment and transmission infrastructure is lacking to fully

support distributed renewable generation. Regional differences in available electric generating sources compound the problem. While some

states such as California generate only a small percentage of power from coal, in other states including Kentucky and Indiana, over 85

percent of electricity generation is from coal.

Coal Plants are bad and cause global warming and pollution7 Reasons.DSB 9(DeSmogBlog, Excepted from the Union of Concerned Scientist Clean Energy report, 10 Harsh Realities of the US Coal Industry,10 Harsh Realities of the US Coal Industry
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/05/17/the-backbone-of-the-electric-system-a-legacy-of-coal-and-the-challenge-of-renewables/http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/05/17/the-backbone-of-the-electric-system-a-legacy-of-coal-and-the-challenge-of-renewables/http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/coalvswind/c02c.htmlhttp://www.beyondcoal.org/solutions/renewable-energyhttp://205.254.135.7/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=electricity_in_the_united_stateshttp://205.254.135.7/forecasts/steo/index.cfmhttp://205.254.135.7/forecasts/steo/index.cfmhttp://205.254.135.7/forecasts/steo/index.cfmhttp://www.eia.gov/cneaf/electricity/chg_stru_update/appa.htmlhttp://www.eei.org/whoweare/AboutIndustry/Pages/History.aspxhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/02/wired_for_progress.htmlhttp://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/02/wired_for_progress.htmlhttp://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=2003-blackout-five-years-laterhttp://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/Coal/6256235http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/Coal/6256235http://energy.aol.com/2012/01/23/geothermal-could-become-californias-baseload-power-commissione/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=energy-storage-role-in-electric-gridhttp://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=energy-storage-role-in-electric-gridhttp://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=1593http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=1593http://web.mit.edu/mitei/intermittent-renewables/papers/2011flexiblitystorage.pdfhttp://205.254.135.7/electricity/monthly/http://205.254.135.7/electricity/monthly/http://205.254.135.7/electricity/monthly/http://205.254.135.7/electricity/monthly/http://205.254.135.7/electricity/monthly/http://web.mit.edu/mitei/intermittent-renewables/papers/2011flexiblitystorage.pdfhttp://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=1593http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=1593http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=energy-storage-role-in-electric-gridhttp://energy.aol.com/2012/01/23/geothermal-could-become-californias-baseload-power-commissione/http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/Coal/6256235http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/Coal/6256235http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=2003-blackout-five-years-laterhttp://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/02/wired_for_progress.htmlhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398http://www.eei.org/whoweare/AboutIndustry/Pages/History.aspxhttp://www.eia.gov/cneaf/electricity/chg_stru_update/appa.htmlhttp://205.254.135.7/forecasts/steo/index.cfmhttp://205.254.135.7/forecasts/steo/index.cfmhttp://205.254.135.7/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=electricity_in_the_united_stateshttp://www.beyondcoal.org/solutions/renewable-energyhttp://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/coalvswind/c02c.htmlhttp://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/05/17/the-backbone-of-the-electric-system-a-legacy-of-coal-and-the-challenge-of-renewables/http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/05/17/the-backbone-of-the-electric-system-a-legacy-of-coal-and-the-challenge-of-renewables/


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Excerpted from the Union of Concerned Scientist Clean Energy report

A typical-sized 500 megawatt coal-fired electricity plant in the United States puts out each year: 1. 3.7

million tons of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main greenhouse gas, and is the leading cause

of global warming. There are no regulations limiting carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. 2. 10,000 tons of sulfur dioxide.

Sulfur dioxide (SOx) is the main cause of acid rain, which damages forests, lakes and buildings. 3.

10,200 tons of nitrogen oxide. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) is a major cause of smog, and also a cause of acid

rain. 4. 500 tons of small particles. Small particulates are a health hazard, causing lung damage. 5. 220tons of hydrocarbons. Fossil fuels are made of hydrocarbons ; when they don't burn completely, they are released into

the air. They are a cause of smog. 6. 720 tons of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide (CO) is a poisonous gas and

contributor to global warming. 7. 125,000 tons of ash and 193,000 tons of sludge from the smokestack

scrubber.A scrubber uses powdered limestone and water to remove pollution from the plant's exhaust. Instead of going into the air, the

pollution goes into a landfill or into products like concrete and drywall. This ash and sludge consists of coal ash, limestone,

and many pollutants, such as toxic metals like lead and mercury.


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Scenario 1 is Pollution

Independent of the warming debate, air pollution from burning coal distorts weather

patterns, killing billions.

BBC Learning 5(Global dimming transcript http://www.bbcactive.com/AsiaPacific/MediaSupportFiles/80.pdf)One degree in just three days no one had ever seen such a big climatic change happen so fast.This was a new kind of climate

change.Scientists call itGlobal Dimming- directly influenced by pollution from burning coal. Rotstayn

has founda direct link between Global Dimming and the Sahel drought. If his model is correct, what came out ofour exhaust pipes and power stations contributed to the deaths of a million people in Africa, and afflicted 50 million more. But this could be just

of taste of what Global Dimming has in store. The Sahel is just one example of the monsoon system.Let me take you to

another part of the world. Asia, where the same monsoon brings rainfall to three point six billion people,

roughly half the world's population.My main concern is this air pollution and the Global Dimming will also

have a detrimental impact on this Asian monsoon. We are not talking about few millions of people we

are talking about few billions of people.

Coal plants are built near African American Families which causes increased asthma

rates among African American Childrenreducing air pollution is a moral obligationfor social justice.Browning12(Dominique Browning, March 29, 2012, TIME Ideas, The Racial Politics of Asthma,http://ideas.time.com/2012/03/29/the-racial-politics-of-asthma/)

One likely reason is that 68% of African-Americans(compared to 56% of whites) livewithin 30 miles of a coal-fired

power plantthe distance within which the maximum ill effects of the emissions from smokestacks

occur.Just as medical researchers once uncovered the link between cigarettes and lung cancer, researchers are now making the

explicit connection between air pollution and asthma.Kari Nadeau, a physician at Stanford University

School of Medicine physician, has been following the evidence on the asthma trail to understand the cause of the illness. Nadeauand her team investigated the effects of air pollution on children in Fresnoone of the top ten most polluted cities in the country

andreported the findings in theJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.Our research showed that the effects of air pollution in Fresno

are associated with genetic changes in the immune cells of children, Nadeau told me. In other words,the simple act of inhaling

polluted air affects the immune systems ability to do its job. The increasing numbers and severity of asthma are

directly related to these genetic changes. These genetic changes are permanent.Reducing air pollution is a social justice

issue of profound significance. But the National Black Chamber of Commerce has been playing politics with childrens health. Ithasreceived $525,000 from ExxonMobilno champion of reducing fossil fuel pollutionsince 1998. This is something that all parentsblack

or whiteshould be furious about.
http://www.bbcactive.com/AsiaPacific/MediaSupportFiles/80.pdfhttp://ideas.time.com/2012/03/29/the-racial-politics-of-asthma/http://ideas.time.com/2012/03/29/the-racial-politics-of-asthma/http://www.energyjustice.net/files/coal/Air_of_Injustice.pdfhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20920773http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20920773http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=113http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=113http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20920773http://www.energyjustice.net/files/coal/Air_of_Injustice.pdfhttp://ideas.time.com/2012/03/29/the-racial-politics-of-asthma/http://ideas.time.com/2012/03/29/the-racial-politics-of-asthma/http://www.bbcactive.com/AsiaPacific/MediaSupportFiles/80.pdf


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Scenario 2 is Blackouts

Blackouts expected to increase in frequency and severity.CRO Forum 12(http://www.agcs.allianz.com/assets/PDFs/Special%20and%20stand-alone%20articles/Power_Blackout_Risks.pdf)PowerBlackout risks, pg 25, November 2012

The power blackout risk is generally underestimated. Blackouts during the last ten years in Europe and Northern

America have demonstrated an increasing likelihood of supra-regional and long-lasting blackouts

including high economic losses. Due to the increasing interconnectedness in combination with rather

old infrastructure we expect this risk to increase in both frequency and severity.

Blackouts cost the economy 30 Billion Dollars PER DAY. Just a few days of outage

brings economic growth down to ZERO.

Rahmstorf 13(Stefan, Professor at the Postdam Institute for Climate Research, "Anthropogenic Climate Change: Revisiting the Facts,"http://www.pik potsdam.de/~stefan/Publications/Book_chapters/Rahmstorf_Zedillo_2013.pdf)

This worsened the already-anemic state of a U.S. economy that had been hammered by a massive stock-market meltdown and a series of

confidence sapping corporate scandals. It hurt Canada, too, weakening our biggest market. So now,just when there are signs of

healthy growth in both countries, is the last time you'd want to see a large part of the continent'selectric-power network collapse.We can be grateful that the immediate impacts look modest. David Rosenberg, chief

North American economist with Merrill Lynch, estimates that the U.S. impact could amount to as

much as $30 billion for each day of interrupted activity.That's roughly one percentage point of quarterly

economic growth, which means that just a few days could theoretically take economic growth in the

third quarter right down to zero.

And, US key to global economy and decline leads to global nuclear war.

Friedberg and Schoenfeld 8 (Aaron, Prof. Politics And IR @ Princetons Woodrow Wilson School and Visiting Scholar @Witherspoon Institute, and Gabriel, Senior Editor of Commentary and Wall Street Journal, The Dangers of a Diminished America, 10-28,

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122455074012352571.html)Then there are the dolorous consequences of a potential collapse of the world's financial architecture. For decades now, Americans have

enjoyed the advantages of being at the center of that system.

The worldwide use of the dollar, and

the stability of oureconomy, among other things, made it easier for us to runhuge budget deficits,as we counted on foreigners to pick up the

tab by buying dollar-denominated assets as a safe haven. Will this be possible in the future? Meanwhile, traditional foreign-policy

challenges are multiplying. The threat fromal Qaeda and Islamic terroristaffiliates has not been extinguished. Iran and

North Koreaare continuing on their bellicose paths, while Pakistan and Afghanistanare progressing smartly down the road to

chaos. Russia's new militancy and China's seemingly relentless risealso give cause for concern. If Americanow

tries to pull back from the world stage, it will leave a dangerous power vacuum. The stabilizing effects of ourpresence in Asia, our continuing commitment to Europe, and our position as defender of last resort for Middle East energy sources and supply

lines could all be placed at risk. In such a scenario there are shades of the 1930s, when global trade and finance

ground nearly to a halt, the peaceful democracies failed to cooperate, and aggressive powersled by the

remorseless fanatics who rose up on the crest of economic disaster exploited their divisions. Today we run the risk that

rogue states maychoose to becomeever more reckless with their nuclear toys, just at our moment of maximum

vulnerability. The aftershocks of the financial crisis will almost certainly rock our principal strategic competitors even harder than they will rockus. The dramatic free fall of the Russian stock market has demonstrated the fragility of a state whose

economic performance hinges on high oil prices, now driven down by the global slowdown. China is perhaps even more

fragile, its economic growth depending heavily on foreign investment and access to foreign markets. Both will now be constricted,

inflicting economic pain and perhaps even sparking unrest in a country where political legitimacy rests on progressin the long march to prosperity. None of this is good news if the authoritarian leaders of these countries seek to divert attention from internal

travails with external adventures.
http://www.agcs.allianz.com/assets/PDFs/Special%20and%20stand-alone%20articles/Power_Blackout_Risks.pdfhttp://www.pik/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122455074012352571.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB122455074012352571.htmlhttp://www.pik/http://www.agcs.allianz.com/assets/PDFs/Special%20and%20stand-alone%20articles/Power_Blackout_Risks.pdf


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And, no impact defensestatistics go aff

Royal 10(Jedediah, Director of Cooperative Threat Reduction at the U.S. Department of Defense, 2010, Economic Integration, EconomicSignaling and the Problem of Economic Crises, in Economics of War and Peace: Economic, Legal and Political Perspectives, ed. Goldsmith and

Brauer, p. 213-215)Less intuitive is how periods of economic decline may increase the likelihood of external conflict. Political scienceliterature has contributed a moderate degree of attention to the impact of economic decline and the security and defense behavior of

interdependent states. Research in this vein has been considered at systemic, dyadic and national levels. Several notable contributionsfollow. First, on the systemic level, Pollins (2008) advances Modelski and Thompson's (1996) work on leadership cycle theory, finding that

rhythms in the global economy are associated with the rise and fall of a pre-eminent power and

the often bloody transition from one pre-eminent leader to the next. As such, exogenous shocks

such as economic crises could usher in a redistribution of relative power (see also Gilpin. 1981) that leads

to uncertainty about power balances, increasing the risk of miscalculation (Feaver, 1995). Alternatively, evena relatively certain redistribution of power could lead to a permissive environment for conflict as a rising power may seek to challenge a

declining power (Werner. 1999). Separately, Pollins (1996) also shows that global economic cycles combined with parallel leadership cycles

impact the likelihood of conflict among major, medium and small powers, although he suggests that the causes and connections between

global economic conditions and security conditions remain unknown. Second, on a dyadic level, Copeland's (1996, 2000) theory of trade

expectations suggests that 'future expectation of trade' is a significant variable in understanding economic conditions and security behavior

of states. He argues that interdependent states are likely to gain pacific benefits from trade so long as they have

an optimistic view of future trade relations. However, if the expectations of future trade decline, particularly for difficult

to replace items such as energy resources, the likelihood for conflict increases, as states will be inclined to useforce to gain access to those resources. Crises could potentially be the trigger for decreased trade expectations either on its

own or because it triggers protectionist moves by interdependent states Third, others have considered the link between

economic decline and external armed conflict at a national level. Blomberg and Hess (2002) find a strongcorrelation between internal conflict and external conflict, particularly during periods of economic downturn. They write: The linkages

between internal and external conflict and prosperity are strong and mutually reinforcing. Economic conflict tends to spawn

internal conflict, which in turn returns the favor. Moreover, the presence of a recession tends to amplify the

extent to which international and external conflicts self-reinforce each other. (Blomberg & Hess, 2002. p.89) Economic decline has also been linked with an increase in the likelihood of terrorism (Blomberg, Hess, & Weerapana, 2004), which has

the capacity to spill across borders and lead to external tensions. Furthermore, crises generally reduce the popularity of a sitting

government. Diversionary theory" suggests that, when facing unpopularity arising from economic decline,

sitting governments have increased incentives to fabricate external military conflicts to create a

'rally around the flag' effect. Wang (1996), DeRouen (1995). and Blomberg, Hess, and Thacker (2006) find supporting evidence

showing that economic decline and use of force are at least indirectly correlated.Gelpi (1997), Miller (1999),and Kisangani and Pickering (2009) suggest that the tendency towards diversionary tactics are greater for democratic states than autocratic

states, due to the fact that democratic leaders are generally more susceptible to being removed from office due to lack of domestic

support. DeRouen (2000) has provided evidence showing that periods of weak economic performance in the United

States, and thus weak Presidential popularity, are statistically linked to an increase in the use of

force. In summary, recent economic scholarship positively correlates economic integration with an increase in the frequency ofeconomic crises, whereas political science scholarship links economic decline with external conflict at systemic, dyadic and national levels.5

This implied connection between integration, crises and armed conflict has not featured prominently in the economic-security debate and

deserves more attention. This observation is not contradictory to other perspectives that link economic interdependence with a decrease

in the likelihood of external conflict, such as those mentioned in the first paragraph of this chapter. Those studies tend to focus on dyadic

interdependence instead of global interdependence and do not specifically consider the occurrence of and conditions created by economic

crises. As such, the view presented here should be considered ancillary to those views.

Renewable Energy can solve blackoutsconsistency proves- India.West 12(Can Renewables Save Indias Failing Grid?, James West, Thu. Aug. 2 2012,MotherJones,http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/08/record-breaking-india-blackout-prompts-alt-energy-debate)

Forty per cent of India's population is not connected to the grid. Bhusan argues the blackout provides a symbolic moment

to force a debate about renewables."Either we provide that 40 percent through coal, or we provide

that 40 percent through renewable energy," he said. Currently, according to the Centre for Science and Environment, 80

percent of India's powercomes from thermal power plants (coal, lignite and gas). Another 3 percent is from nuclear power plants, and

hydropower plants produces about 12-13 percent;just 2-3 percent is renewable, mainly wind and solar. While the failings in this
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case appear to be with government oversight of the complicated electrical system, renewable sources help prop up an ailing,

fractured system,argues Bhusan.


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Advantage 2: EV Market

Lack of charging outlets is the major barrier for EV market penetration - only 3,300

exist and they are unevenly distributed.Kemp 12Senior Market Analyst and writer for Reuters specializing in commodities and energy (John, Column- Will US Federal Fleet Help

Alternative Fuel Switch?, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/25/column-kemp-cars-idUSL5E8GP8YG20120525)

Federal law defines alternative fuel vehicles broadlyto includeboth those running on alternative fuelssuch as

compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen and high blend ethanol (E85)as well as certain qualifyinghybrid

electric vehicles run on a combination of regular petroleum and electricity (42 USC 13211).In 2010, there were nearly 1 million

vehicles running on alternative fuelsin use across theUnited States, according to the Department of Energy's Alternative

Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center, up from less than 400,000 a decade earlier. In addition,more than 2

million hybrid electric vehicleshad been sold overthesame period.Alternative fuelled vehiclesarestill

a tiny minority of vehicles on U.S. roads, butthe numberisincreasinglyrapidly. Theproblem isthat feware

actuallyfilling up with alternatives to gasoline owing to the lack of outletsactuallyselling alternative fuels

such as E85 or LNG.There werejust10,000 fuelling stations dispensing alternative fuels in 2011 (up from less than7,000 in 2010). Of those, a little over3,300 were supplying electricity(six times as many as in 2010 making this the fastestgrowing segment of the alternative fuel infrastructure).But less than 1,000 dispensed compressed natural gas, and just 45 dispensed LNG. EvenE85 was available from fewer than 2,500 outlets.In contrast, there are almost 160,000 retail gasoline stations across the country, and manymore private refuelling facilities owned by large fleet operators such as UPS, transit systems, and the federal government.Availability

problemsare compounded bytheuneven distribution of alternative fuelling stations. There are lots in

California, the nation's biggest vehicle market, andanother concentration in the ethanol-producing states of theMidwestsuch as

Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota,but not many in therest of the country. Drivers in Ohio have access to just 74 dispensing E85, nine

providing CNG, and none selling LNG, according to the Energy Department. The result is that even whencars are

capable of running onalternative fuels, manyare actually fillingup with regular gasoline and diesel,

defeating the object ofhaving them in the first place.

Electrical Vehicles NOT PROMINENT NOWBergin12 Tom Bergin, Oil Industry: Electric Cars Are No Threathttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/oil-industry-electriccars_n_1246432.html

In its Energy Outlook for 2030, released earlier this month, BP predictedthat electric vehiclesand plug-in hybrids,will make

up only 4 percentof the global fleet of 1.6 billioncommercial and passenger vehicles in 2030. "Oil will remain the dominanttransport fuel and we expect 87 percent of transport fuel in 2030 will still be petroleum based," BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said as he

unveiled the BP statistics on January 18. The balance is seen coming from biofuels, natural gas and electricity.Plug-in hybrids can be poweredfrom the mains and only rely on their small gasoline engines when the battery dies.Standard hybrids are principally driven by an internal

combustion engine whose efficiency is boosted by the recycling of energy generated from braking.Exxon Mobil, the biggest oil and gas

company in the world, saysthe continued high cost of electric vehiclescompared to petroleum cars, means take-up won't even

increase much during the 2030s.In its 2040 Energy Outlook, released in December, theTexas-based company said

electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and vehicles that run on natural gas would make up only 5 percent of

the fleet by 2040.Peter Voser, Chief Executive of Royal Dutch Shell, the industry number two, sees a rosier future for electric vehicles. He

predicts they will account for up to 40 percent of the worldwide car fleet, although only by 2050.

Piezo roads can charge electric carsMaurice10 Pico Maurice,Under Highway Piezoelectric Generators Could Provide Power to Propel Electric Cars

The scientific term for generating electricity in this manner is piezoelectricity, which is defined as the charge which accumulates in certain solid

materials, notably crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA and various proteins in response to applied mechanical

strain, i.e., vibrations caused by cars traveling on busy highways.In short, piezoelectricity means electricity resulting
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from pressure. How piezoelectricity createsan electric charge through vibrationsof various materials is not a

new discovery, and has been knownto the scientific world since the 19th Century. Innowattech wants to perfect theirgenerators so that they will pick up energy vibrations of both road vehicles and trains, where the generators will be placed under railroad tracks

in order to harvest the intense vibrations caused by trains as they pass over rails to which the generators have been attached.Professor HaimAbramovich of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at the Technion believes that astretch of road less than a mile long, four

lanes wide, and trafficked byabout1,000 vehicles per hourcan createabout0.4 Megawattsof power,

enough to power 600 homes. If electric power can be generated fromeither roadwaysor railroad tracks and thenfed into power grids, why not a direct feed ofgenerated electricity into the batteries of electric cars as they passover these generators?


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Scenario 1 is Warming

EVs result in significant emission reduction even on the current power gridmultiple

studies prove.

Kaplan et al., 10*affiliated with Frontier Group, a think tank that issues issue experts, writers and analysts to produce ideas andresearch to promote a cleaner environment and a fairer and more democratic society, Brad Heavner, B.A. from the University of Michigan,Senior Policy Advisor for Environment America and State Director of Environment Maryland, AND*Rob Sargent, graduate of the University of

Vermont, Energy Program Director for Environment America and oversees policy and strategy development for energy and global warming

campaigns throughout the U.S., more than two decades of experience leading a wide range of environmental and public interest campaigns

(Siena, Charging Ahead: Curbing Oil Consumption with Plug-in Cars, Environment Maryland Research & Policy Center, June

2010,http://www.environmentmaryland.org/sites/environment/files/reports/Charging-Ahead.pdf)

Many studies have compared global warming pollution from plug-ins versus that from conventional cars. There is a wide range of results, since

there are a number of factors that differ from study to studyfor example, the gas mileage of the conventional cars plug-ins are being

compared against, and the amount of electricity the plug-in cars are assumed to use. However, over 40recent studieshave shown that

plug-in cars produce less carbon dioxide than traditionalgasoline-poweredcars.An electric car poweredby

electricity from todays electric grid will have lowerglobal warmingemissions than a conventionalcar.One

study by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) found that a car fueled by electricity from unused capacity

in our current electric system would emit 27 percent less global warming pollution than a car fueled

by gasoline. The environmental benefits of plug-ins depend on the source of electricity used to power them.Because someparts of

the country are heavily reliant on coalwhich produceslarge amounts ofglobal warming pollutionand others use

cleaner sources of energy, the benefits ofplug-ins vary from state to state and region to region. Even

withthis variation, the PNNL study found that global warming emissions per mile driven by an electric motor would

belowerin every area of the country except for the Northern Plains states, where emissions would stay the same. In other words, cars

driving on electric power deliverroughly the same level ofglobal warming emission reductions astodays

conventional hybridswith greater reductions in areasof the country withacleaner electric gridand smallerreductions in areas with a dirtier grid.

Global warming causes extinction.Molloy 7/6(Ivan, Associate Diploma of Geology: Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Rebuff to Climate ChangeDenial,http://www.mysunshinecoast.com.au/articles/article-display/rebuff-to-climate-change-denial,26302,2012)As a former geologist I have to respond to those who deny human induced Climate Change. Yes its true the worlds climate and geomorphology

have been continually changing throughout natural history providing favourable conditions for some forms of life at times, while extinguishing

others. In recent geological time,the planet has provided favourable conditions for the flourishing of human

life, which in turn like other forms of life also contributes to climate and geomorpholigical change. However,

unlike no other form of life, the impact of modernhuman civilisation has greatly distorted and added to

global climate change, and impacting heavily on flora and fauna. Human kind through massive over

population and industrialisation is now like a cancer on the planet exterminating hundreds of other

life species annually, and now it threatens its own survival with massive pollution. The Global Climate

has always changed but not at such a massive rate due to human activity which in turn now threatens

our survival.But other forms of life, such as cockroaches will continue on.

The United States is the biggest contributor to emissions and has a moral obligation to

act against warming.Claussen 6(Eileen, Climate Change: The State of The Question and The Search For TheAnswer, President of the PEW center for climatechange, http://www.pewclimate.org/press_ room/speech_transcripts/stjohns2of2.cfm, 10/5/2006)

And thiswarmingtrend has accelerated in recent years. Theten warmest years recorded have all occurred

between 1995 and 2005. 2005 itself was the second hottest year on record, surpassed only by 1998, when El Nio conditions in the

Pacific Ocean contributed to above-average temperatures worldwide. And the trend continues in 2006. For the United
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Statesat least, the first six monthsof this yearwere the warmest such period on record. No U.S. state was

cooler than average for the six-month period; and five states experienced record warmth.

Scientists say these increases in global temperatures will continue and accelerate in the years ahead. The projection is that average

global temperature will rise by two-and-a-half to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century, with

the level of warming in the United States projected to be higher than the global average.


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Scenario 2 is Oil Wars

Expanding EVs is the single most effective way to reduce oil demandBaker Institute

study proves.

Rice 10Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy (Study: Electric cars hold greater promise for reducing emissions and loweringUS oil imports, 9/27/2010. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-09/ru-sec092710.php)Electric cars hold greater promise for reducing emissions and lowering U.S. oil imports than a national renewable

portfolio standard, according to research conducted byRice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. Thisassessment is among several contained in a new major policy study the Baker Institute Energy Forum will release at a Sept. 27-28 conference

titled "Energy Market Consequences of an Emerging U.S. Carbon Management Policy." The study comprises several academic working papers

on a variety of topics, such as carbon pricing, the wind industry, global U.S. carbon and energy strategies, and renewable energy R&D. "As the

country moves forward to deliberate on energy and climate policy," the executive summary states, "consideration must be given to what

policies would best accomplish the stated goals for U.S. policy a reduction in the need for imported oil and in greenhouse gas emissions."

The papers released at the conference seek to "clarify and debunk common myths that currently plague the U.S. energy- and climate-policy

debate." For instance, the Baker Institute analysis found "the single most effective way to reduce U.S. oil

demand and foreign imports would be an aggressive campaign to launch electric vehicles into the

automotive fleet." In fact, mandatingthat 30 percent of all vehicles be electric by 2050 would both reduce

U.S. oil use by 2.5 million barrels a day beyond the 3 million barrels-per-day savings already expected from new corporate

average fuel efficiency standards, and also cut emissions by 7 percent, while the proposed national renewable portfolio standard

(RPS) would cut them by only 4 percent over the same time. Moreover, the researchers found that "business-as-usual market-

related trends might propel the United States toward greater oil and natural gas self-sufficiency over

the next 20 yearswhile scenarios specifically focused on strict carbon caps and pricing or a high carbon tax of $60 a tonne or more couldlead to a significant increase in U.S. reliance on oil imports between now and 2025. A carbon tax of $30 a tonne would also increase U.S.

dependence on imports of foreign liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 2025." The Baker Institute researchers foresee natural gas -- reinforced by

recent discoveries of vast reserves of shale gas -- playing "a very important role in the U.S. energy mix for decades to come." Under a business-

as-usual approach, the United States won't have to import any LNG for decades. And the growth of natural gas will help the environment by

lowering the demand for coal.

Oil wars lead to extinction of all species.Lendman07 Stephen Lendman,(Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization) 2007 Resource Wars - Can We SurviveThemhttp://www.rense.com/general76/resrouce.htm

Withthe world'senergy supplies finite, the US heavily dependent on imports, and "peak oil" near or

approaching, "security" for America means assuring a sustainable supplyof what we can't do without. It

includes waging wars to get it, protect it, and defend the maritime trade routes over which it travels. That means energy's

partnered with predatoryNew World Order globalization, militarism, wars, ecological recklessness, and

now an extremist US administration willing to risk Armageddon for world dominance. Central toits

plan isfirst controlling essential resources everywhere, at any cost, starting with oil and where most of it is

locatedin the Middle East and Central Asia. The new "Great Game's"begun, butthis timethestakes are greater

than everas explained above. The old one lasted nearly 100yearspitting the British empire against Tsarist

Russia when the issue wasn't oil. This time, it's the US with help from Israel, Britain, the West, and

satellite states like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan challenging Russia and China with today's weapons

and technology on both sides making earlier ones look like toys.At stake ismore than oil. It's planet earth

with survival of all life on it issue number one twice over.

QUICK TIMEFRAME TO OIL IMPACTPerl, 10Director of Urban Studies Program at Simon Fraser University (Anthony, Integrating HSR into North Americas Next MobilityTransition, June 16, 2010, p. 13016, http://wagner.nyu.edu/rudincenter/publications/RCWP_Perl.pdf)
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these efforts.Collaborative planning effortsmay include: 1) developing short- and long-term plans

outlining how state, regional, and local governments may construct EV charging locations and ensure

that the infrastructure can be electrically supported; 2) supporting public education and training

programs on EVs; 3) developing an implementation plan for counties with a population greater than

500,000 to have 10% of public and private parking spaces ready for EV charging by December 31,

2018; and 4) developing model ordinances and guidance for local governments for site assessment

and installing EV infrastructure.

Piezoelectric good- effective producers of energy and environmentally friendlyBorghino 12(Dario Borghino, 22 May 2012, GizMag, KAIST develops low-cost, large-area piezoelectricnanogenerator,http://www.gizmag.com/low-cost-large-area-piezoelectric-nanogenerator/22468/)

Researchers atthe Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have created a new

piezoelectric nanogeneratorthat promises to overcome the restrictions found in previous attempts to build a simple, low-cost, largescale self-powered energy system. Piezoelectric materials can convert vibrational and mechanical forces from, for example, wind and waves,

into an electric current. This property has been harnessed to create better microphone transducers and, in more recent years, to harvest

energy from clothing, shoes, and even traffic. Last year,a teamled by Dr. Zhong Lin Wang announced it had

created the world's first piezoelectric nanogeneratorand, shortly after, also announced the first self-powered nanodevice

complete with a wireless transmitter. Now Wang and his team have announced further progress in creating a

low-cost, large-scale nanogenerator which is also simple to manufacture. The team produced a composite bymixing piezoelectric nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes and reduced graphene oxide in a matrix of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The

nanogenerator was then fabricated by process of spin-casting. "The generator is mainly made of plastics and zinc oxide,

so the materials are environmentally friendly," says Wang. Despite its relative simplicity, the composite generates a muchhigher power density than other devices with a s imilar structure and has an energy conversion efficiency of seven percent. Wang told us that if

the nanogenerator were to be embedded in a pair of shoes, an average-build person could generate around 3W just by walking. For reference,

that would be roughly enough to power an iPad 2 (if you wanted to power the new iPad, however, you'd have to either pick up your pace or put

on a few pounds). Preliminary durability studies have confirmed that, even after thousands of cycles in

which the material was repeatedly bent and released, the nanogenerator consistently produced the

same amount of electric current, with no noticeable degradation in performance.

Piezoelectric Crystals have been tested in highways and are feasible.Tudor Vieru 08Piezoelectric Crystals Turn Roads into Power Plants http://news.softpedia.com/news/Piezoelectric-Crystals-Turn-Roads-into-Power-Plants-99776.shtml

A new design, devised by Haim Abramovich, a developer at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, may hold the key to

harnessing the power of moving vehicles to create electricity, he says. Piezoelectric crystals could be used to absorb heavy

traffic and convert a 1 kilometer stretch of highway into a 400 kilowatt power plant, much like Japan's

railwayproject.Innowattech, Abramovich's Haifa-based spin-off company, already announced its intentions of testing

the new system as early as January 2009, on a short stretch of highway, about 100 meters long, in

Northern Israel. The researcher says that, if successful, the new concept could be implemented in many highways and freeways, throughbasic maintenance work, without the need for further digs in the pavement. Piezoelectric materials, crystals and ceramics, have the ability to

generate a small electric potential when they are subjected to mechanical stress, which makes them suitable for a variety of applications, from

harnessing sounds to producing electricity. Piezoelectric concepts include the use of these small devices to capture sound waves from cell

phones and convert them into current to feed the battery. This would basically create a self-powering device that would never need refueling.

Critics to the Israeli system say that inserting this type of materials in the surface of the road would basically increase the traction force cars

would have to exert on the road, as the surface of the street would resemble that of a mud-covered area. This would mean that fuelconsumption would increase, though even opponents admit that powering roadside structures would be very beneficial to everyone.

Regardless of this project, the future of piezoelectric materials looks bright, with studies focusing on

their properties and applications even in nanotechnology. Ifa compromise between the hardness of

theroad and the make-up of the small devices is reached, thenundoubtedlythe system will benefitboth

drivers and theIsraeli national power grid.
http://www.gizmag.com/low-cost-large-area-piezoelectric-nanogenerator/22468/http://news.softpedia.com/news/Piezoelectric-Crystals-Turn-Roads-into-Power-Plants-99776.shtmlhttp://news.softpedia.com/news/Piezoelectric-Crystals-Turn-Roads-into-Power-Plants-99776.shtmlhttp://news.softpedia.com/news/Tokyo-Railway-Will-Have-Piezoelectric-Power-Generators-99373.shtmlhttp://news.softpedia.com/news/Tokyo-Railway-Will-Have-Piezoelectric-Power-Generators-99373.shtmlhttp://news.softpedia.com/news/Tokyo-Railway-Will-Have-Piezoelectric-Power-Generators-99373.shtmlhttp://news.softpedia.com/news/Piezoelectric-Crystals-Turn-Roads-into-Power-Plants-99776.shtmlhttp://news.softpedia.com/news/Piezoelectric-Crystals-Turn-Roads-into-Power-Plants-99776.shtmlhttp://www.gizmag.com/low-cost-large-area-piezoelectric-nanogenerator/22468/


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Plan is politically popular, increases growth, jobs, and productivity of the economy.Boushey 11(Heather Boushey is Senior Economist at American Progress, Center for American Progress, Now Is the Time to Fix OurBroken Infrastructure, http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/09/aja_infrastructure.html,September 22, 2011, LEQ)

Investingintransportation infrastructurein particularboosts employment. The Federal Highway Administrationperiodically estimates the impact of highway spending on direct employment, defined as jobs created by the firms working on a given project;

on supporting jobs, including those in firms supplying materials and equipment for projects; and on indirect employment generated when those

in the first two groups make consumer purchases with their paychecks.In 2007, $1 billion in federal highway expendituressupported about 30,000 jobs10,300 in construction, 4,675 in supporting industries, and 15,094 in induced employment.

Investing in infrastructure not only creates jobs; it increases the productivity of businessessmall, medium,

and large. At the most basic level, infrastructure investments make it possible for firms to rely on well-

maintained roads to move their goods, on an electricity grid that is always on to run their factories, andwater mains that provide a steady stream of clean water to supply their restaurants. There is a large body of empirical work that documents

this. Although the specific effect differs across studies, European Investment Bank economists Ward Romp and Jakob de Haan conclude that

there is now more consensus than in the past that public capital furthers economic growth. Because infrastructure investments

create jobs and boost productivity, these investments have historically had bipartisan support. In

early 2011, for example, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue issued a

jointstatement in favor of greater infrastructure investment in the near-term:With the U.S.

Chamber ofCommerce and the AFL-CIO standing together to support job creation, we hope that

Democrats and Republicans in Congress will also join together to build Americas infrastructure.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/09/aja_infrastructure.htmlhttp://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/09/aja_infrastructure.html

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