Electricity Grid

energy storage the holy grail?

Energy storage is often called the holy grail of renewable energy. The problem with the "grail" language is that the grail was never located. At least not with a compelling business case.[read more]

Google acquires Makani

It’s been a long time since we covered Makani Power, the company developing kite-like wind turbines. In fact, it has just been bought by Google, for development under its Google[x] division.[read more]

Robert Gubbins / Shutterstock.com

Tesla used the DOE loan to transition its business model from building high-end roadsters to accelerate the development of its relatively affordable Tesla Model S sedan.[read more]

energy storage

A host of startups are working on software to optimize on-site energy storage systems to avoid peak demand charges, meet demand response calls, or keep the lights on during emergencies.[read more]

renewable energy storage/shutterstock

 

Wind and solar power generated 3.5% and about 0.1%, respectively, of US electricity last year. To what extent could more and cheaper storage enable wind and solar to function as the equivalent of high-utilization, baseload generation?[read more]

power of the Web

The internet cannot climb onto your roof to install a solar panel. But there is a movement afoot where social media, IT, big data and mobile communications could upend how we use limited resources in the future.[read more]

solar energy in UK/shutterstock

In last week’s Guardian Jeremy Leggett had a post that seems to argue that solar energy is the UK’s best option for keeping the lights on. Well, how about solar?[read more]

new AES energy storage

AES’s new software platform isn’t the first to address the energy storage and energy markets nexus. Projects around the globe are testing value propositions to be derived from storage, as stand-alone or linked to renewable power.[read more]

new energy efficient glass

China’s building sector accounts for more than 25 percent of China’s energy use. Improving the efficiency of its buildings, new and old, is a key part of China’s strategy to reduce energy demand.[read more]

Philly's Naval Shipyard/wikimedia commons

Philadelphia's new GridSTAR Center will serve as a "hub for workforce training, building performance testing, energy management research and ‘smart’ microgrid modernization deployments.”[read more]

wind energy and the grid

Wind only sets the market price if it is the most expensive resource on the system, and that almost never happens because wind has a zero fuel cost. If wind is setting the price, everything else in the area has been turned off.[read more]

reducing wireless energy demand

The GreenTouch consortium outlines energy efficiency measures that could reduce the net energy consumption of global data and communications networks up to 90% by 2020, compared to 2010 levels.[read more]

buildings and the smart grid/shutterstock

The Smart Grid will transform roles from consumption to prosumption – producing electricity as well as consuming it. One of the most prominent enablers to engage as prosumers are the buildings where we live and work.[read more]

 

nuclear energy back on track?

 

Reconstructing nuclear confidence in a post-Fukushima world is a long and painful process. Russian experience in this field can offer some interesting solutions to decision-makers.[read more]

energy choices/shutterstock

It’s time we stopped wasting time with brain dead energy saving mantras and got on with the real task of building a clean energy infrastructure so we can use far, far more electricity.[read more]