Environment Forum
Global environmental challenges
The race for U.S. smart-grid cash
Utilities across the United States are rushing to a federal stimulus program that is doling out money to create a “smart grid” — systems that will upgrade the electricity grid.******In this story, Reuters correspondent Eileen O’Grady looks at the tough job facing the U.S. Department of Energy: They have to divvy up $4.5 billion in smart-grid money among some 565 applications.******Smart grid technology measures and modifies power usage in homes and businesses and improves grid reliability. Experts envision that it will open the door to a new era with “smart” appliances that turn themselves on and off, electric cars, more renewable energy and more efficiency on power lines.******San Diego Gas & Electric is one of the utilities hoping to launch a smart grid through the federal program and has applied for $100 million in stimulus funds.******Their plan would build micro smart grids at the University of California, San Diego and a residential community in San Diego County. They would work with companies like IBM, Cisco and Itron on the system technologies, software and hardware.******”They not only have to talk with each other but we have to make sure the entire network is secure. So from an intellectual security standpoint, we’ll ensure that we have that set-up, that we have the ability to communicate from one device and we make it seamless for the customer,” said Michael Niggli, chief operations officer at San Diego Gas & Electric.******Another major issue the utility hopes to solve is what happens when energy from renewable resources is intermittent, with its power generated fading or spiking.******”If the wind stops blowing or if the sun has clouds that intervene, so you can be in a situation where the power supply is affected,” Niggli said in a phone interview with Reuters.******”That’s a lot different than what we have today … where it’s like driving a car. If you want to go faster, you push the accelerator.”******Niggli envisions a system where customers can control their home energy use remotely, turning on the air-conditioning from a computer through the Internet or even on their handset.******Some companies that are partnering with utilities are not putting all their eggs in one basket in the race for the smart-grid stimulus funds.******IBM is working as a vendor with a dozen utilities that have applied for money.******If the smart grid is done right, then customers won’t even notice a difference, said IBM’s Stephen Callahan, who leads the company’s Intelligent Utility Network unit for the Americas.******”Those customers shouldn’t see anything but improvement in cost, reliability, all those things,” Callahan said.******We wanted to know what readers think about the federal program to jump-start smart grid projects. What should the DOE prioritize? What kind of projects would you like to see?******(Photo: The sun is shown as it rises between power transmission lines in Burbank, California. Photo credit: Fred Prouser/Reuters)*********************
PG&E takes smart meter lead in U.S.
California utility PG&E is at the head of the class when it comes to smart meters in North America, having installed 2.3 million of them. It is on track to have nearly 10 million working by 2011, according to figures gathered by the utility and a survey of smart metering programs by the Energy Retail Association, of Britain.Smart meters are in their infancy but their numbers are expanding rapidly in the United States and around the world. After PG&E, PECO in Pennsylvania has installed 2.2 million meters — all of its power and natural gas customers. Even at 2.3 million, PG&E and North American utilities lag behind Italy and it biggest utility, Enel, which installed 30 million smart meters nationwide in four years.The digital meters allow for near real-time readings by customer and utility, allowing better informed decisions on cutting demand as well as getting a better handle on whether new power plants and lines are needed. Smart metering also offers the chance for customers to voluntarily set limits so that appliance turn off automatically if prices rise to high.It will cost PG&E customers — the cost is passed through to them — about $2.2 billion to install the 5.3 million electricity and 4.8 million natural gas meters.
I have a PG&E gas smart meter.How does a gas smart meter get power to transmit the information?How can I track my gas utilization.Is there any advantage other than eliminating meter readers?
Electric cars to help solve riddle of storing power
Since the days of Thomas Edison, finding a way to effectively store electricity has been one of the “Holy Grails” for power companies.
While it won’t be an overnight revolution for electricity, eventually plug-in electric cars and trucks will be a step toward the elusive goal, said Ted Craver, chief executive officer of Edison International.
Edison International is the parent of Southern California Edison (SCE), which is the biggest utilty in the United States in terms of power delivered to customers.
”They are effectively storage units on wheels,” Craver said of electric cars and trucks.
Vehicles batteries charged during off-peak periods could feed power back to the grid during periods of peak demand, said Craver in a telephone interview on Thursday.
California like other states requires that power utilities have enough power plant generation to serve the highest demand day of the year. This means that more than half of the state’s power generation sits unused most of the time.
The idea of using the installed power base to supply of-peak energy (especially for transportation) is one quickest ways to reduce emission and increase societal efficiencies known. A significant part of our energy comes from nuclear (20%) and hydroelectric(approx 10%) These sources cannot be turned down, and also produce energy carbon free. Because they cannot be turned down, we would in essence be charging up automobiles for free. The capital costs of installation are already made, with the baseline power output used for daytime peak loading. In principal wind energy could also be stored in mobile systems.
The environment is a growing issue that the united states needs to face full on. The way some people are making excuses and saying they dont “believe” in global warming is only making it worse and killing off the rest of us as well as those non-believers. Just because somebody says they dont believe in it doesnt make it okay for them to continue to emit greenhouse gases in the way that americans are so dead set on doing. Just like if you were told somebody was a murderer and you gave them a gun, not believing what you were told, you are still an accessory to that murder. Because you had been told. We need to unite together and work as one unit toward saving our environment. Is killing off our earth, that has given us everything from the food on our tables to the tables themselves to the clothes on our backs, worth the quick trips to the store that is only 5 minutes away. We can walk, we can ride bikes, and we can use more effective lightbulbs, which in the long run cut your electric bill by 10%. Save our planet.