By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Thu, 2009-12-10 12:56
The recently established Electrification Coalition, a group of business leaders committed to promoting the deployment of electric vehicles though a variety of policies and actions, has published its Electrification Roadmap: a sweeping report outlining a vision for the deployment of a fully-integrated electric drive network.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-10-27 06:30
California stimulating middle-scale renewable energy projects
California regulators have designed a new market system for stimulating middle-scale renewable energy projects in a competitive way. The main idea is to create a reverse auction market where renewable energy companies can offer their services for green energy projects. The company that offers to sell electricity at the lowest rate wins a particular purchase agreement. Subsequently, the state will pay the developers the feed-in tariff that is sufficient to bring that particular project online.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-10-06 05:30
Focus on PV, CCS, nuclear, hydrogen, biomass, and energy storage
In August, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the delivery of $377 million in funding for 46 new Energy Frontier Research Centres. The centres will be hosted by universities, national laboratories, non-profit organisations, and private companies. The research domains that were chosen offer a good sampling of those technologies the US Department of Energy (DOE) sees as potentially important in the energy landscape of the future. The funded projects are focussed on:
- Improving the efficiency of photovoltaic systems; with particular projects dedicated to hybrid inorganic/organic PV cells and nanometre-sized PV cells
- Advanced nuclear techniques
- Carbon capture and geological storage (CCS)
- Hydrogen, including the production of hydrogen as well as hydrogen fuel cells
- Biomass, including energy-rich plants and the conversion of biomass into chemicals and fuels
- Energy storage systems
- Superconductivity (1 project)
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-09-29 05:30
Car makers collaborate with utility companies
A successful transition to electric vehicle (EV) transport will require more than electric cars that perform well on the road. It will also require charging systems that fulfil the consumer’s needs.
The development of such systems can only be accomplished through collaboration between car makers and utility companies. The latter have to ensure that the appropriate charging technology is in place and that the national electric grid can support the increased demand.
Since drivers will need to be able to charge their vehicles wherever they are, smart charging meters will have to be installed in large numbers. Moreover, car makers and utility companies will have to agree on an industry standard to ensure that those meters communicate with all the EVs.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-09-15 05:30
Integrating road networks and power networks
The US Department of Transportation has awarded funding for building a 'solar highway' prototype. A solar highway contains photovoltaic (PV) modules covered with bulletproof glass as a road surface. The surface also contains a grid of LEDs that can light the roadway, draw lines, and flash warnings that react to traffic sensors. Apart from supplying power for the LEDs and sensors, the energy generated by the PV modules will also be used to heat the highway when required. The remaining energy can be used for houses and businesses alongside the road. If this systems works as projected, it could well make power stations and power lines superfluous. According to an article on Matter Network, covering all American roads with this system would produce an annual yield of energy three times as large as the entire U.S. energy consumption in 2006.
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By HDK / Published on Tue, 2009-08-25 14:29
ISO New England, which oversees New England’s bulk electric power system and wholesale electricity markets, recently established a Forward Capacity Market (FCM) that will pay suppliers to ensure sufficient capacity is available to meet future peak loads. Under the FCM, ISO New England projects the needs of the power system three years in advance and then holds an annual auction to purchase the resources necessary to satisfy the future regional requirements. This market is unique in that it allows energy efficiency and other demand resources to compete directly with generators.
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By Roman Targosz / Published on Mon, 2009-07-13 19:43
Commercial, or in other words non-technical losses account for more than 1% of electricity use around the world. The dominant component of these losses is electricity theft. In the largest extent, electricity theft is a problem related to residential customers. In some countries, electricity theft is in the range of, or far exceeding, technical losses in the transmission and distribution sector.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-06-02 05:30
Provided by the NRDC and Google Earth
Google Earth recently started a new service targeting renewable energy project developers in the U.S. It consists of maps showing restricted lands and wildlife areas in the western U.S. that have to be avoided. The service was developed in collaboration with the National Audubon Society and the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC).
On its website, the NRDC also provides other kinds of maps developed for the same target group. These include maps of the entire U.S. showing the potential for wind, solar, and biomass projects, as well as the existing and planned projects in those technologies.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-05-26 05:30
A Scientific American article provokes a lot of reaction
An article in the recent April edition of Scientific American discusses the statement of Jon Wellinghoff that the U.S. will never need to build another coal or nuclear power plant. He claims that all of the new capacity that is required could be delivered by new wind, solar, and biomass plants and — in a transition period — new natural gas plants. 'Nuclear and coal plants are too expensive,' he claims.
Jon Wellinghoff is the new chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. With this statement, he goes beyond those of other Obama administration officials, who have strongly endorsed renewables and energy efficiency, but also say nuclear and fossil energies will continue to play a major role.
Scientific American noted that Wellinghof’s statement generated some sceptical reactions from leading experts at universities, research institutes, and energy associations. A lively debate on this topic has also taken off on the Power Globe expert forum (see April 2009 - Week 4).
Is baseload an anachronism?
Jay Apt, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, reacted to Wellinghoff by saying renewables are not suitable for delivering baseload because of their intermittent character. This provoked Wellinghoff to respond that 'Baseload is an anachronism'.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Thu, 2009-05-14 07:53
This PhD Thesis Report is courtesy of Joseph Michael Marriott, Carnegie Mellon University
The electricity industry is extremely important to both our economy and our environment: we would like to examine the economic, environmental and policy implications of both future electricity technologies and the interaction of this industry with the rest of the economy. However, the tools which currently exist to analyse the potential impacts are either too complex or too aggregated to provide this type of information.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Fri, 2009-05-08 05:30
A YouTube video of the National Fire Protection Association
In the past on this blog, we have shown many pictures of unsafe electrical wiring in the slums of developing countries like Senegal or emerging economies like Brazil. This does not mean however that electrical safety ceased to be an issue in OECD countries. In the USA, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recently launched a campaign to show the risk of an inappropriate electrical installation and to promote correct electrical wiring. The campaign includes a Home Wiring guide and a ten minute YouTube video. The video explains how electrical faults can lead to fatal fires and enumerates attention points to make a residential electrical installation safe:
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Fri, 2009-04-24 04:26
Climate Policy in the US is beggining to gain momentum. Any effective climate policy will need to achieve large reductions in both the amount of energy used and the carbon intensity of energy in each of the following sectors: transportation, electricity production and heat for homes, businesses and industries!
The Department of Engineering and Public Policy of the Carnegie Mellon University has a long track record on Sustainability issues and has issued a Briefing Note aimed at improving US Climate Policy... or glare some light over it!
Your comments are also welcome!
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Mon, 2009-04-13 10:36
The evolutionary path of the U.S. electricity grid is at an historical crossroad. Decisions are going to be made about the direction of grid development so that it can meet extraordinary economic challenges, critical needs for energy security, and essential requirements for a sustainable way of life. This is a defining moment in terms of our nation’s commitment to providing an electric energy system, including the bulk transmission network, that meets societal needs of the 21st century and beyond.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Fri, 2009-03-06 20:45
Paul Hines, Jay Apt, and Sarosh Talukdar , Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Thu, 2009-02-05 06:30
Cheaper or more expensive than conventional cars?
When the cost of a plug-in vehicle is mentioned, it mostly refers to the purchasing and maintenance expenses. Sometimes, tax reductions given to electric vehicles (EVs) are taken into account, but the insurance cost is rarely discussed. This is somewhat strange, since the insurance on a conventionally fuelled car accounts for roughly one quarter of its fixed cost of ownership. So, what happens to this cost when switching from a conventional car to an EV?
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By Fernando Nuno / Published on Fri, 2009-01-30 11:15
Leonardo ENERGY has launched a Spanish website aimed at providing information to the Spanish-speaking community of professionals.
More than 440 million people speak Spanish. It is the official language in 21 countries, and is also widely spoken in the US and Brazil. This language represents an enormous cultural, social and economic value. The growing environmental requirements for a sustainable world place these countries in a very relevant position thanks to their natural and renewable resources.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Sat, 2009-01-17 12:06
The Department of Energy's (DOE) Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC) has released three reports prepared for the Secretary of Energy's consideration. These reports review challenges facing DOE and the Nation in many important electricity areas, and include recommendations for policy and program initiatives. They address issues surrounding generation and transmission adequacy, energy efficiency and demand response, deployment of energy storage technologies, and deployment of smart grid technologies. The EAC was chartered by Secretary Samuel W.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Thu, 2009-01-15 14:13
Mark Ellis and Nigel Jollands, International Energy Agency,
France Lloyd Harrington, Energy Efficient Strategies, Australia
Alan Meier, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, US
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Thu, 2009-01-15 06:30
A toolkit by the US Environment Protection Agency
The US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has published 'The Lean and Energy Toolkit' elaborating on the relationship between the Lean philosophy and energy efficiency and discussing Lean manufacturing tools for assessing and reducing energy use. The Lean manufacturing concept was derived from the Toyota Production System (TPS) in the nineties. It is a management philosophy with a bottom-up approach that is dedicated to eliminating all types of 'waste', including unnecessary actions.
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