Lost? How?
Power is generated far away from everyone, near coal mines or large waterfalls and most of Australia lives near or in a central city. Electricity has to travel a long way to get from power stations and some just gets lost along the way. There are two ways it can get lost, the sheer distance the particles lose their charge and just stop or go into generating heat on the power lines. My lightbulb experiment show electricity lost through heat transfer. This is almost unfixable unless we build the power stations closer to the city but that is not where the large mineral deposits are so that doesn't work.
How much is lost?
There are many numbers thrown around from 25% to 7% and it really depends on the area and distance from the power source. Major energy companies for Queensland report losses to be around 7% which is around Australian average. But in further distances such as between the Hoover Dam and Los Angeles in the United States, much more power is required to be sent over lines and the distance is much greater and some report losses up to 25%.
7% Thats HUGE!
Well, it is but it is just adding to the list of losses power companies have to deal with. Power companies have to have lots extra in the system to meet peak demand, power system upgrades and maintenance and the ability for one power station to fail and completely stop generating power. But it also involves careful planing and long standing predictions for the future demands and losses.
