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distributed energy

Catastrophe and Grid Resiliency

March 13, 2011 by Christine Hertzog
with 337 views
2

The devastating earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan offer horrifying visuals of a geologic worst case scenario.   It may also deliver a worst case disaster scenario for their national electrical system as some nuclear plants are beyond repair.  According to the Department of Energy’s global statistics,  in... [read more]

Do We Need a Smart Grid, A Strong Grid, Or Less Grid?

January 19, 2010 by Rod Adams
with 527 views
12

One of the reasons that I am a strong advocate of smaller nuclear energy plants is that I resist the notion of the inevitability of greater interconnectedness and dependence. I like systems that have firewalls, circuit breakers, and air gaps to ensure that a failure in one location can be isolated. I do not like tightly integrated... [read more]

Taking distributed energy seriously

January 15, 2010 by Big Gav
with 212 views
10

Dave Roberts has a post at Grist outlining his take on the debate about building large power plants on sensitive land — specifically a solar thermal power plant in the Mojave desert - Taking distributed energy seriously. Many folks are conflicted over the seeming clash between conserving America’s remaining wild landscapes and... [read more]

Wellinghoff is a Dangerous Man

April 23, 2009 by Rod Adams
with 116 views
8

On Earth Day 2009, Jon Wellinghoff, the newly appointed chairman of the U. S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission declared that "baseload capacity is going to become an anachronism." He went on to compare power plants to computers, further exposing the limits of his technical knowledge "People talk about, 'Oh, we need baseload.' It's... [read more]