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Smart Grid

Decarbonizing California requires relying more on electricity, once it's low carbon

February 4, 2012 by Karen Street
with 102 views
4

A 2006 California law, Assembly Bill 32, obligates the state to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 (30% below business as usual), and to 80% below that level by 2050 (90% below business as usual). How is it to done? A team from UC, Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, and elsewhere examines this... [read more]

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The Value of Government Involvement in Standards Development

February 1, 2012 by Dick DeBlasio
with 83 views
0

Very early on, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized the direct, cause-and-effect linkages among consensus-based standards development, seamless interoperability across the interstate electricity grid and the historic, far-ranging potential benefits of the Smart Grid: By enabling two-way power flow and communications and control... [read more]

Smart Grid 2012 - Making Sense of All the Predictions

January 31, 2012 by Gerry Runte
with 208 views
0

Over the last few days I collected 8 different sets of predictions for the smart grid market in 2012.  No doubt there are more out there.  These sets incorporate 51 different trends, some similar and some unique.  I’ve identified the various authors at the bottom of this piece.  Distilling these entries into more... [read more]

Siemens to acquire Canada’s RuggedCom for $382 million, a 50% premium to Belden’s hostile offer

January 30, 2012 by Tyler Hamilton
with 127 views
0

Good news for shareholders of Toronto-based RuggedCom, one of the world’s leading makers of ruggedized networking gear for the smart grid. Facing a hostile takeover from St. Louis-based Belden Inc., RuggedCom has found a white knight in Siemens Canada Ltd., the Canadian subsidiary of German industrial giant Siemens AG. Siemens has agreed... [read more]

The Environmental State of the Union

January 24, 2012 by Frances Beinecke
with 143 views
0

The annual State of the Union Address is a time for taking stock.  Tonight President Obama will assess our nation's progress on a range of urgent issues of urgent issues, but today I want to look closely at one critical indicator of America's well being: the health of our environment. Is America's air getting safer to breathe than... [read more]

Scotland, Abu Dhabi Team Up On Clean Energy

January 22, 2012 by Nino Marchetti
with 148 views
0

The company responsible for the “city in the desert” is partnering with the most renewable-energy focused country in Europe: Scotland. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond traveled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last week to sign an agreement with the Abu Dhabi-based Masdar corporation to formally collaborate on developing “green... [read more]

New Privacy Guidelines for Electricity Data Will Help Protect Consumers

January 10, 2012 by Christine Hertzog
with 186 views
0

It’s difficult to imagine life without electricity.  Our lives and lifestyles are so thoroughly intertwined with electricity that any disruptions in power can rapidly transform from minor inconveniences into life-threatening situations.  Thus the need for grid modernization – the Smart Grid – is vital to ensure that we continue... [read more]

What Consumers Don’t Know About Electricity Deregulation Can Hurt Them

January 3, 2012 by Christine Hertzog
with 469 views
0

Pennsylvania has one year of experience with deregulation of its electricity markets.  Residential, commercial, and industrial customers can now switch to alternative electricity suppliers in a quest to manage the generation and transmission costs on their electricity bills.  With some suppliers, they can even get energy from... [read more]

5 Things US Congressional Representatives Need to Hear About the Smart Grid

December 28, 2011 by Christine Hertzog
with 199 views
0

As the US Congressional representatives head home to their respective districts, some of which defy all logic in terms of that contortionist geography called gerrymandering, it’s a perfect opportunity to attend their town hall meetings to offer advice in support of Smart Grid initiatives.   Support a national energy policy... [read more]

Renewables, Energy Storage & Data Analytics: The 3 Sisters of the Smart Grid

December 19, 2011 by Christine Hertzog
with 504 views
0

American history buffs and foodies know the story of the three sisters of agriculture, a brilliant combinatorial planting technique practiced by Native Americans.  This uniquely American agricultural invention elegantly illustrates the concept of synergy.  Synergy is defined as the interactions of two or more things combined to... [read more]

Software Applications Poised for Growth in the Smart Grid

December 13, 2011 by Christine Hertzog
with 278 views
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Intermittent renewables, energy storage, and management and analytics software applications are a triad of synergistic technologies.  Synergy happens when two or more things combined produce more than their separate efforts could produce.  The combination of these three technologies can deliver more reliable electricity and... [read more]

Toward 2 Way Powerflow on the Smartgrid

December 6, 2011 by Dick DeBlasio
with 250 views
0

Through Smart Grid rollout over decades, the world could bring reliable electricity delivery to more regions, create new economic opportunities, reduce carbon footprint andcreate a more cost-efficient facility for power delivery. But all of those potential benefits,to varying degree, are predicated on enabling an end-to-end system of two-way powerflow in which consumers would not only draw from the grid but also store and feed energy back to it. [read more]

How The Smart Grid Can Solve Climate Change

December 5, 2011 by Christine Hertzog
with 292 views
0

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change begins its latest meeting today in Durban, South Africa.  Only the sunniest of optimists expect real progress in forging a global agreement as developing and developed nations argue about voluntary versus legally binding emissions reductions and funding measures. ... [read more]

The Smart Grid's Problem May Be Storage's Opportunity

November 28, 2011 by James Greenberger
with 506 views
4

Energy storage advocates have a different story to tell and by many measures a more compelling one. With energy storage, a utility or electricity service provider manages the challenge (and, yes, the cost) of drawing electricity from the grid in the most efficient way possible. The electricity is then stored locally, by means of a distributed energy storage system, which the consumer draws from when and as the consumer wants. Peak electricity usage on the grid is reduced and greater energy efficiency is achieved through the utility’s management of the storage resource without involving the consumer. [read more]

How Smart Grid Keeps You Safe in Winter Storms

November 28, 2011 by Christine Hertzog
with 283 views
2

On October 29, a significant portion of the population of the Northeast USA was inconvenienced by a loss of power caused by an unusually early winter storm.  As the worst case scenario played out, overburdened trees created multiple breaks in the transmission and distribution networks, toppling poles and lines.  The state of... [read more]