Making alternative energy sources reliable

From npr.org, posted on Monday, April 27, 2009:

The Obama administration wants to rebuild the national electricity grid that delivers power to everyone’s toasters and televisions. One reason is that the grid can’t handle all the new solar and wind power the president wants to build to create a greener energy economy.

Here’s the problem: Solar and wind power are intermittent. Sometimes it’s sunny, sometimes it’s not, and it’s the same for wind. But the grid needs constant and reliable sources of power.

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