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Regional Transmission Efforts Good for Re-routing Information Flows to Regulators

January 18, 2012 by Michael Giberson
with 112 views
0

Peter Behr, at ClimateWire, describes the U.S. Department of Energy’s efforts to rework its electric transmission study processes, created in the 2005 Energy Policy Act but stalled by adverse court decisions and political missteps. I’m not so sure that the new approaches will be any better received than the old, but I noticed in the... [read more]

The Wave Disk Generator

December 29, 2011 by Lou Grinzo
with 1,786 views
1

OK, now this is intriguing, even if the article is from April(!?)… New Car Engine Sends Shock Waves Through Auto Industry: researchers at Michigan State University have built a prototype gasoline engine that requires no transmission, crankshaft, pistons, valves, fuel compression, cooling systems or fluids. Their so-called Wave Disk... [read more]

Wind Industry Just Hot Air? The Green Skeptic on FOX Business

December 28, 2011 by Scott Edward Anderson
with 298 views
1

On Tuesday I sat down with Stuart Varney & Company on FOX Business to talk about wind power and the relative merits of distributed generation versus big wind farms, including the need for transmission and grid infrastructure improvements to make big wind viable. Here's the video: Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com... [read more]

An Atlantic Wind Project: Big, Bold and Risky

December 2, 2011 by Marc Gunther
with 463 views
9

Building a low-carbon economy requires bold ideas and long-term thinking on a scale that matters. Ideas like The Atlantic Wind Connection. The Atlantic Wind Connection,  you may recall, is a company that has embarked on a multi-billion dollar, decade-long project to build an undersea transmission cable stretching about 350 miles... [read more]

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China Thinking Big on Smartgrid, Invested $7 Billion in 2010

November 1, 2011 by Christine Hertzog
with 492 views
0

China is the most active investor in Smart Grid infrastructure today.  According to a 2010 report from Zpryme, the State Grid Corporation - the largest utility in China - was projected to spend $7.3 billion in that year alone on Smart Grid projects.  Their focus is on a concept called the Strong Smart Grid.  Like other... [read more]

Aesthetic Energy- Beautiful Transmission and Glamorous Turbines

October 29, 2011 by Michael Giberson
with 446 views
0

We talk a bit about the economics of electric power transmission and wind power here, but there is more to understanding the world than economics. Previously we have noted Virginia Postrel writing on the techno-glamour of, among other things, wind turbines. Now we take note of the Pylon Design Competition and its recently announced... [read more]

Interstate Commerce in Electric Power – Arizona Policymaker’s 2-Faced View

September 16, 2011 by Michael Giberson
with 210 views
0

Yesterday the staff of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Az) conducted a “Solar Summit” in Washington, D.C. You can watch all three hours of the program here, or maybe you’d rather read the overview provided by Phil Riske at the Rose Law Group Blog, “Mayes, Spitzer bemoan congressional Republicans ‘retrenching’ against renewable energy funding... [read more]

Guarding the Grid

August 17, 2011 by Silvio Marcacci
with 234 views
0

In 2003, an overheated power line near Cleveland, Ohio sagged into a tree and shorted out. It started a cascade of power line failures across the Midwest, Northeast and parts of Canada, and causing the worst blackout in U.S. history. Since then, utilities and grid operators have used new technology and procedures to prevent another major blackout – but can they compete with an aging grid and estimated $1 trillion in required new investment? [read more]

Widespread Energy and Environment Fallout Expected from U.S. Debt Deal

August 4, 2011 by Silvio Marcacci
with 341 views
0

When President Obama signed into law a compromise plan to increase the $14.3 trillion U.S. debt ceiling this week, he authorized nearly $2.5 trillion in cuts over the next decade. This massive budget reduction means numerous government agencies and funding programs are the chopping block, but what will it mean for energy and environment funding? energyNOW! interviewed National Journal reporter Coral Davenport to discuss the new reality of environmental and energy-related cuts. [read more]

Utilities Must Step Up Communications To Recoup Smart Grid Investments

June 8, 2011 by Tom Raftery
with 323 views
2

Tweet    Smart grids don’t come cheap. They are typically projects costing in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars (or Euro’s, or pounds or whatever your currency of choice). Just think, the most fundamental piece of the smart grid, the smart meter, alone costs in the order of $100. When you factor in the costs of... [read more]

Boulder City to Get Fifth Solar Plant

February 23, 2011 by Taylen Peterson
with 586 views
0

In Boulder City, Nevada, the city council has paved the way for a fifth solar power array on 1,500 acres of land in an area called the Black Hills site, located in the Eldorado Valley Energy Zone. It did so by forging a development agreement between the city and the company behind the project. Boulder City is a superb spot to locate... [read more]

Ulrich Decher - Fitting wind onto the electricity grid

December 9, 2010 by Joseph Koblich
with 1,669 views
0

By Ulrich DecherWind turbines are now a politically popular way for generating emission-free electricity for the grid. There are now windmills operating in many parts of the United States and more of them are proposed.There are advantages and disadvantages to any method of providing electricity. I will attempt to provide a short summary... [read more]

Scientists: Innovation Needed on Energy Storage, Grid

November 17, 2010 by Jesse Jenkins
with 1,397 views
6

New innovations in energy storage, transmission, and the integration of variable electricity sources are necessary to enable renewable energy sources to contribute significantly to the U.S. energy supply, according to a new report from the American Physical Society.Establishing national policies to spur the deployment and adoption of... [read more]

Western States Could Reach 35% Renewable Power by 2017

May 24, 2010 by Taylen Peterson
with 422 views
3

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) says the western US electric grid could harness up to 35 percent of its energy from wind and solar power within seven years — and without any major upgrades to the existing electric network. All it would take, says NREL’s Western Wind and Solar Integration Study, is a change in... [read more]

Building a North Sea Supergrid

May 15, 2010 by Big Gav
with 400 views
0

REW has an article on a new proposal for a north sea supergrid - Stakeholders Team Up To Expand Europe's Super-Grid. Europe has plenty of grid initiatives to help meets its ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions with the help of renewable energies, such as wind and solar. Now it just needs an action plan. All the talk... [read more]