GLOBAL LINK OF RENEWABLE ENERGY-SOURCES - TECHNICAL, ECONOMICAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF AN INTERCONTINENTAL ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION-SYSTEM

The present energy system mainly depends on worldwide transport of fos sil primary energy carriers. One way to reduce fossil fuel consumption would be to substitute the worldwide transport of fossil primary ener gy carriers by transportable secondary energy carriers converted from renewable energy sources. This could also reduce global and local envi ronmental effects resulting from the use of fossil fuels as energy. By means of a Global Link, regions with large supplies of renewable ener gy could be connected to regions where the energy demand is relatively high. In this context, it is the objective of this article to, first, give a general overview of the different possibilities. Then possible compensation and equalization effects of an intercontinental electric ity transmission and distribution system are analyzed; environmental a nd economic aspects are also discussed. Some conclusions are drawn in the final section.