This story originally appeared on Vox and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
The tricky thing about generating electricity is that for the most part, you pretty much have to use it or lose it.
This fundamental fact has governed and constrained the development of the world’s largest machine: the $2 trillion US power grid. Massive generators send electrons along a continent-wide network of conductors, transformers, cables, and wires into millions of homes and businesses, delicately balancing supply and demand so that every light switch, computer,