The Aluminum Association announced that $6.5 billion from the nation’s stimulus plan will be spent for more aluminum transmission lines. This will enable new renewable sources of clean, green energy such as solar and wind to be connected to the transmission grid. The American Wind Energy Association released a study recently that said investing in the power grid to allow wind to supply 20% of the electricity needs of the eastern U.S. would save consumers $12 billion a year. The grid can eventually help make electric vehicles a reality and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Aluminum transmission and distribution lines deliver electricity to every building, home, industry, airport and more every day of the year. The U.S. transmission grid is a web of several hundred thousand miles of aluminum conductors. In electrical applications, aluminum can do everything copper can but more efficiently. It can provide up to twice the conductivity per pound of copper.