One of the most discussed benefits of smart grid technology is increased visibility into energy consumption and its ability to decrease energy use. But behavioral change is only part of the path to a greener future. Increasingly, we’ll have to consider the energy consumption of devices as we purchase them. Just as today the fuel economy of a vehicle is an important specification, perhaps even the primary consideration, when in the market for a new car, energy prices and financial opportunities (e.g. DR programs) may elevate the importance of efficiency when we shop for new appliances and technology.
While dimmable lighting ballasts and intelligent refrigerators encourage conservation through increased access to demand response opportunities, there are simpler and cheaper things we can all buy to reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions: stop buying energy hogs. But when is the last time you compared the energy consumption of two coffee machines, stereos, or refrigerators?
I considered this question as I recently stumbled across what I believe is a new feature on the technology website CNET - their product reviews now include statistics on energy consumption. Perhaps this is a result of the increased awareness of electricity-gobbling TVs or general consumer consciousness about climate change, but regardless of the reason(s), it’s good news.
“We use a lengthened version of our multimedia multitasking (MMT) benchmark to judge a PC’s power consumption under load, and while it’s not designed to overwhelm a quad-core CPU like the one in the Gateway, the Gateway’s efficiency is no less impressive. Consider that the Gateway outperformed every other system in this category on the MMT benchmark by a large margin, but that it also used the second lowest amount of power on that same test. If you were to consistently run programs on this Gateway that ran on all four processing cores, its annual power consumption cost would likely increase, but for mainstream tasks, the more common work scenario for a PC in this price range, the Gateway demonstrates commendable efficiency.”
Microsoft’s residential energy management software, Hohm, went live at 9am this morning. My utility isn’t a Hohm partner, so I’ll need to input my own energy data, but the software is surprisingly accurate - it came pretty close to guessing my annual energy spend just based on the questions about my home.
Last night Better Place broadcasted a live video feed of their first battery “switch station.” As promised, the station does appear to switch a spent EV battery for a new one in just a couple minutes - it’s quite impressive:
NPR’s Morning Edition has been looking at the future of the grid recently in a new 10-part series called “Power Hungry: Reinventing the US Electric Grid.” They also developed some cool web-specific content on the topic, like this interactive map of the US that shows existing and planned transmission lines, power plants, and renewable capacity. While the whole series is worth checking out, here are the must-listen “episodes” if you’re interested in the smart grid:
I first heard about space-based solar power (SBSP) when I worked with a gentleman named John Mankins back when I was doing consulting work for the Department of Energy. A former NASA employee, he is now CTO of Managed Energy Technologies, and was recently featured on the Discovery Channel for his work furthering wireless power transmission - a crucial element of SBSP. Like other proponents of SBSP, John was frustrated that the concept wasn’t receiving more attention.
So why look to space? Not only does the sun shine 24×7, it shines at a much stronger intensity (or insolation) - if it could be captured and transmitted back to earth, we’d have more energy than we could use. A 2007 Pentagon report that examined the topic put it this way:
“A single kilometer‐wide band of geosynchronous earth orbit experiences enough solar flux in one year (approximately 212 terawatt‐years) to nearly equal the amount of energy contained within all known recoverable conventional oil reserves on Earth today (approximately 250 TW‐yrs). The enormous potential of this resource demands an examination of mankind’s ability to successfully capture and utilize this energy within the context of today’s technology, economic, and policy realities, as well as the expected environment within the next 25 years. Study of space‐based solar power (SBSP) indicates that there is enormous potential for energy security, economic development, advancement of general space faring, improved environmental stewardship, and overall national security for those nations who construct and possess such a capability.”
As the concept of a smart grid builds momentum, a disconnect in its public persona slowly emerges: while the most prominent challenge associated with our existing grid centers on transmission and distribution (T&D - the system that physically connects supply resources to customers), the highest profile solutions focus instead on supply (integration of renewables, vehicle-to-grid) and end-user (smart meters communicating with smart appliances) technologies. How will the smart grid impact the T&D system?
I attended last week’s EUCI conference, Implementation of the Smart Grid for Electric Utilities, and two presentations helped answer this question by detailing utility initiatives to leverage technology as a means of controlling voltage on the T&D system.
One of the common misconceptions about the “smart grid” is that advanced metering infrastructure is inherently “smart.” But the truth is that AMI only becomes “smart” when applications leverage the technological capabilities of this new infrastructure, like two-way communication, to create new solutions like next-generation energy-efficiency and demand response. Proprietary communication protocols and closed systems will make the development of such applications difficult, if not impossible. This is why standards like OpenADR have emerged and why smart meter companies like Silver Spring Networks and are building standards-based networks. Now residential energy management firm Tendril has joined the fray, not just signing on to the OpenADR bandwagon, but also opening up their application programming interface(API) to partners so that third-parties can interface with its software and devices. So far, partners include major meter vendors like Silver Spring Networks, Itron, Landis+Gyr, and in-home device companies like Energate and Onzo.
The internet is abuzz with the results from a report by a Harvard physicist showing that a typical Google search generates ~7 grams of carbon dioxide (something the search giant disputes). But the fact that Google owns data centers full of servers that consume electricity, and consequently contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.
However, the increasing focus on “cloud” computing and its reliance on such server farms raises an important question - how will expanded server-based computing affect overall power consumption?
I recently wrote a post about devices that harvest the kinetic energy of moving water, and noted how technologies that capture such energy are finding their way into doors, turnstiles, and dancefloors. Well, an Israeli company called Innowattech seems to have taken this concept of capturing wasted mechanical energy further than anyone else, and is pitching energy-harvesting roadways, runways, and railways.
How do they do this? Using a network of piezoelectric generators that are embedded into the surface of the roadway (or runway or railroad) which can harvest energy from weight, motion, vibration, and temperature changes. In addition, the company claims to have developed an energy storage system to attach to their piezoelectric generators.
Innowattech says one kilometer of roadway can produce up to 500 kW of electricity every hour, and the faster and heavier the vehicles, the more energy the roadways can generate - sounds perfect for the driving habits of Americans.
Welcome to EnerBlog. We’re here to cover the future of energy and the technologies and policies that will take us there, all through the prism of those within the energy industry. EnerBlog is managed and edited by Jim Hutton Johnson and Phil Martin, who also write for EnerBlog along with a team of our colleagues. We both work for EnerNOC, a leading demand response and energy management firm that is changing the energy landscape by producing and selling negawatts instead of megawatts. In our roles at EnerNOC, we work with utilities to deploy virtual power plants in place of traditional supply-side resources, giving us rare insights into the needs and desires of America’s electric utilities. We’re also familiar with electric market design and energy policy from our involvement in regulatory efforts around the country.
Sitting at the intersection of technology, markets, and policy, energy issues are fascinating but complex. Through EnerBlog, we hope to analyze developments that others can only report on, and provide a resource that doesn’t require a PhD to understand. We’re excited to have this opportunity to cover such an important and interesting topic and we hope that you’ll join us as we follow the future of energy.
