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Gary Edwards

Space storm alert: 90 seconds from catastrophe - space - 23 March 2009 - New Scientist - 0 views

www.newscientist.com/...-seconds-from-catastrophe.html

nuclear-power power-grid solar-flares

shared by Gary Edwards on 28 Mar 09 - Cached
  • Gary Edwards on 28 Mar 09
     
    Interesting article from New Science describing how a "coronal mass ejection" from the Sun could melt down the electrical power gird. ".... Over the last few decades, western civilisations have busily sown the seeds of their own destruction. Our modern way of life, with its reliance on technology, has unwittingly exposed us to an extraordinary danger: plasma balls spewed from the surface of the sun could wipe out our power grids, with catastrophic consequences..." The article does offer a solution: upgrade the ACE solar satellite, to detect an electro magnetic surge and provide power grid operators with about 15 minutes to shut down their systems. The article does not discuss another possible option: stop building centralized power sources that demand increasingly massive power grids. Instead, concentrate on meeting energy needs using localized sources of power; like the highly portable Hyperion Power Module.
Hans De Keulenaer

Grid Power Quality Improvements Using Grid-Coupled Hybrid Electric Vehicles with a Dual... - 0 views

www.leonardo-energy.org/...3251

hybrids kuleuven power quality supercapacitors lithium

shared by Hans De Keulenaer on 10 Jun 08 - Cached
  • The paper discusses the use of a dual energy storage system based on batteries and supercapacitors in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). The battery has a large energy density, enabling an all-electric driving range of 100 km, while the supercapacitor has a large power density and provides peak power during acceleration and regenerative breaking. The paper discusses the benefits and drawbacks of both storage systems and the specific requirements imposed by the hybrid drive train. Coupling such a HEV to the grid allows interaction between grid and HEV, providing the grid with a controllable load. Depending on the communication between the hybrid fleet and the grid, this load can be controlled by adjusting the electricity price in order to allow a higher penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind parks in the grid and if the communication allows the transmission system operator to reduce the load imposed on the grid by the hybrid fleet, the hybrid fleet can become part of the secondary frequency control reserve. In case of sudden demand or supply fluctuations, the hybrid fleet can assist in primary control of the grid. Due to the dual energy storage system the HEVs can also provide fast load tracking to keep the voltage in microgrids at the desired set point. An experimental setup with a battery, grid coupling and induction machine proves the feasibility of the concept.
Hans De Keulenaer

Grid-scale energy storage applications in renewable energy integration: A survey - 2 views

www.sciencedirect.com/...S0196890414007018

storage renewables

shared by Hans De Keulenaer on 26 Aug 14 - No Cached
  • This paper examines both the potential of and barriers to grid-scale energy storage playing a substantive role in transitioning to an efficient, reliable and cost-effective power system with a high penetration of renewable energy sources. Grid-scale storage is a term that describes a number of different technologies with a wide range of characteristics. This versatility leads to the use of storage to perform a number of grid-services. We first enumerate these services, with an emphasize on those that are best suited to mitigate the effects of uncertainty and variability associated with intermittent, non-dispatchable renewable energy sources. We then provide an overview of the current methods to evaluate grid-integrated storage, summarize key findings, and highlight ongoing challenges to large-scale adoption of grid-scale energy storage. We focus on one particular area that is critical to both the efficient use of energy storage in the power grid and its long-term economic viability: the conflict between the technical benefits of this resource, which can provide both power and energy related grid-services (in some cases simultaneously), and the economic challenges of compensating these services within the current market structures. We then examine recent progress in addressing these issues through regulatory changes and other initiatives designed to mitigate previous market failures. This discussion is followed by some remarks about ongoing regulatory and market design challenges. The paper closes with a summary of the ideas presented and a discussion of critical research needs.
Hans De Keulenaer

Department of Energy - Interactive Grid - 0 views

www.oe.energy.gov/interactive_grid.htm

education tools simulation e-learning

shared by Hans De Keulenaer on 10 Jan 09 - Cached
  • Each time you flick a light switch or press a power button, you enjoy the benefits of the nation's incredible electric grid. The grid is a complex network of people and machinery working around the clock to produce and deliver electricity to millions of homes across the nation. The electric grid works so well, Americans often think about it only when they receive their electric bills, or in those rare instances when there is a power outage. By taking the time to learn more about the grid, you can learn how we as consumers fit into the big picture, and how we can reduce our own home energy costs. These interactive animations were created to explain the basics of the grid in a fun and informative way. You'll learn about electricity generation, transmission, and distribution, and see how various factors affect the reliability and pricing of electricity.
Hans De Keulenaer

Superconductor Uses - 0 views

www.superconductors.org/Uses.htm

superconductors transmission

shared by Hans De Keulenaer on 22 Jun 08 - Cached
  • An idealized application for superconductors is to employ them in the transmission of commercial power to cities. However, due to the high cost and impracticality of cooling miles of superconducting wire to cryogenic temperatures, this has only happened with short "test runs". In May of 2001 some 150,000 residents of Copenhagen, Denmark, began receiving their electricity through HTS (high-temperature superconducting) material. That cable was only 30 meters long, but proved adequate for testing purposes. In the summer of 2001 Pirelli completed installation of three 400-foot HTS cables for Detroit Edison at the Frisbie Substation capable of delivering 100 million watts of power. This marked the first time commercial power has been delivered to customers of a US power utility through superconducting wire. Intermagnetics General has announced that its IGC-SuperPower subsidiary has joined with BOC and Sumitomo Electric in a $26 million project to install an underground, HTS power cable in Albany, New York, in Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation's power grid. Sumitomo Electric's DI-BSCCO cable was employed in the first in-grid power cable demonstration project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and New York Energy Research & Development Authority. After connecting to the grid successfully on July 2006, the DI-BSCCO cable has been supplying the power to approximately 70,000 households without any problems. The long-term test will be completed in the 2007-2008 timeframe.
Colin Bennett

Clean Break :: Grid neglect will undermine other efforts - 0 views

tyler.blogware.com/...3533052.html

renewables networks

shared by Colin Bennett on 20 Feb 08 - Cached
  • we put so much focus on new power generation, arguably a more sexy topic when we talk about wind and solar, and seem to forget that maximizing renewable output means improving the way the grid operates and expanding its reach.
  • Colin Bennett on 20 Feb 08
     
    Electrical grids worldwide vary in age and range, but overrall, electrical grid systems are seen as requiring urgent upgrades to meet growing demand. Of course, items such as transformers and power lines are maintained and upgraded by utility companies. However, utitility companies must feel confident about long-term financial terms as well as increasing demand in order to invest. With a now sensitive economy, and perhaps a looming world recession, utility companies are hesitatnt to invest. With, for example, large transformers being ordered years in advance, delaying decisions to invest for too long may lead to a less well performing grid.
Colin Bennett

How to unplug yourself from the grid - 0 views

www.newscientist.com/...ug-yourself-from-the-grid.html

electricity

shared by Colin Bennett on 04 Dec 08 - Cached
  • "I HAVEN'T paid an electricity bill since 1970," says Richard Perez with noticeable glee. He can afford to be smug. While most of us fretted over soaring utility bills this year, he barely noticed. Nor is he particularly concerned about forecast price hikes of 30 to 50 per cent in 2009. Perez, a renewable-energy researcher at the University at Albany, State University of New York, lives "off-grid" - unconnected to the power grid and the water, gas and sewerage supplies that most of us rely on. He generates his own electricity, sources his own water and manages his own waste disposal - and prefers it that way. "There are times when the grid blacks out," he says. "I like the security of having my own electricity company."
Hans De Keulenaer

Electric grid meets Web 2.0, savings results - 0 views

arstechnica.com/...s-web-2-0-savings-results.html

costs demand management distribution economics real-time pricing responsive load smart grid

shared by Hans De Keulenaer on 13 Jan 08 - Cached
  • The Department of Energy has just wrapped up a fascinating experiment in Washington State in which it provided both homeowners and their appliances with tools that can sense stress on the power grid. Homeowners who made use of the tools saved money—approximately 10 percent on their electric bills—and the grid was more stable, too.
Hans De Keulenaer

Microgrids: So Much More than Backup Energy | Renewable Energy News Article - 0 views

www.renewableenergyworld.com/...o-much-more-than-backup-energy

microgrids

shared by Hans De Keulenaer on 03 Sep 12 - No Cached
  • Hans De Keulenaer on 03 Sep 12
     
    A microgrid senses the quality of the power flowing through the grid. In the event of an outage, it can disconnect from the grid at a moment's notice. It can also leverage solar, wind, or stored energy to supplement a dip in the current power sup...
davidchapman

Technology Review: Fixing the Power Grid - 0 views

www.technologyreview.com/...19584

storage

shared by davidchapman on 17 Oct 07 - Cached
  • Large-scale power storage is crucial to our energy future: the Electric Power Research Institute, the U.S. utility industry's leading R&D consortium, says that storage would enable the widespread use of renewable power and make the grid more reliable and efficient.
  • davidchapman on 23 Oct 07
     
    Large-scale power storage is crucial to our energy future: the Electric Power Research Institute, the U.S. utility industry's leading R&D consortium, says that storage would enable the widespread use of renewable power and make the grid more reliable and efficient.
Hans De Keulenaer

Railway Gazette: UltraCaps win out in energy storage - 0 views

www.railwaygazette.com/...n_out_in_energy_storage-1.html

public transport supercapacitors

shared by Hans De Keulenaer on 31 Mar 08 - Cached
  • Hans De Keulenaer on 31 Mar 08
     
    REGENERATIVE BRAKING is widely practised, but there have to be other trains around to absorb the surplus power being fed back into the catenary or third rail. Processing the output from trains and pushing it back into the local grid is possible with an AC power supply, but very expensive with DC traction. Too often, power produced by traction motors in braking mode ends up heating resistor banks. The elegant alternative is to store the braking energy on the train. This not only avoids the electrical complications of regenerating through the traction power supply network. It reduces the rated power requirement of that network by lopping demand peaks during acceleration, saves energy by reducing losses in the catenary or conductor rail, and by limiting voltage drop it allows substations to be further apart. NiMH batteries have the necessary energy storage density in terms of kWh/kg, and are slightly more expensive, but their life in terms of charge/discharge cycles in no way matches the LRV requirement for 2million cycles over 10 years. Flywheels have been tried but never caught on for several reasons.
Energy Net

Smart grid and renewables interconnection (Part 4 of 5) - 0 views

theenergycollective.com/...36081

smart smart grid renewables networks

shared by Energy Net on 09 Mar 09 - Cached
  • Energy Net on 09 Mar 09
     
    One of the reasons why smart grid is generating so much interest right now is its ability to enable the integration of renewable energy into the electric power network, leading to a broader generation portfolio and potentially beneficial carbon implications. Lots of the discussion of smart grid in policy and media (including places like Greentech Media, Cleantech, EcoGeek, GreenMonk, and the New York Times blogs Dot Earth and Green Inc.) has emphasized the potential economic and environmental value from having investments in the electric power network that make the accommodation of renewables easier, reducing transaction costs and shifting the margin at which investing in renewables is profitable.
Hans De Keulenaer

Virtual power plants could tame coming grid chaos - tech - 11 June 2009 - New Scientist - 0 views

www.newscientist.com/...ld-tame-coming-grid-chaos.html

virtual power plants intermittency renewables

shared by Hans De Keulenaer on 15 Jun 09 - Cached
  • Fears over energy security and climate change have led to record investment in renewable energy. But a major problem threatens to stall progress towards a more sustainable future: national electricity grids are far from ready to cope with the variable output from the new technologies. A solution might be at hand, though, and would not involve radical changes to the existing infrastructure. Treating groups of dispersed power sources, such as solar and wind generators, as a single entity could solve the problem, creating the virtual equivalent of a single large power station.
Hans De Keulenaer

Wind Power Need Not Be Backed Up By An Equal Amount Of Reserve Power - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...071207000819.htm

electricity iea wind networks future

shared by Hans De Keulenaer on 07 Dec 07 - Cached
  • The production of wind power varies and is harder to forecast than the fluctuations in electricity demand.
  • The results indicate that the frequently stated claim of wind power requiring an equal amount of reserve power for back-up is not correct. A substantial adjustment tolerance is already built in to our power network, and the impacts of wind power fluctuations can be further balanced through a variety of measures.
  • The impact of a large share of wind power can be controlled by appropriate grid connection requirements, extension and enforcement of transmission networks as well as integration of wind power production and production forecasts into system and market operation. The state-of-the-art report presents the assessments of the impact of wind power on the reliability and costs of the power system conducted in different countries.
Hans De Keulenaer

Department of Energy - Smart Grid - 0 views

www.oe.energy.gov/smartgrid.htm

smart grid usa doe electricity reliability power quality quality of supply

shared by Hans De Keulenaer on 26 Oct 08 - Cached
  • “The Smart Grid: An Introduction ” is a publication sponsored by DOE’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. It is the first book of its kind to explore – in layman’s terms – the nature, challenges, opportunities and necessity of Smart Grid implementation.
Hans De Keulenaer

GridWise trial finds 'smart grids' cut electricity bills | Green Tech blog - CNET News.com - 0 views

www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9847236-54.html

costs electricity gridwise smart grid usa

shared by Hans De Keulenaer on 05 Feb 08 - Cached
  • Results from a year-long study on high-tech electricity meters found smart grid technology performed as intended, saving consumers about 10 percent on their bills while easing strain on the power grid.
Hans De Keulenaer

Off grid passive solar monolithic dome home Off Grid Passive Solar Monolithic Dome - 0 views

solardomehome.blogspot.com

canada case studies buildings offgrid zero energy passive

shared by Hans De Keulenaer on 30 May 08 - Cached
  • This blog describes the building of an off grid passive solar monolithic dome. After the building of the dome is finished, I will write about living off the grid, wind and solar power, energy efficiency, sustainable living and growing organic food. Start at the bottom for the chronological story.
Sergio Ferreira

Clean Break :: Preparing for a car-2-grid world - 0 views

tyler.blogware.com/...3275471.html

hybrid plug-in hybrids

shared by Sergio Ferreira on 08 Oct 07 - Cached
  • Okay, maybe the idea of having plug-in hybrids and electric cars that interact with the grid is far off in the future. But we all have to admit that it's an attractive future. It means as the grid gets cleaner, so do vehicle emissions. It means millions of cars collectively act as a huge battery storage system, drawing power when it's cheap and selling it back to the grid at a premium.
Colin Bennett

IBM, EDF Team Up for Smart Grid Research « Earth2Tech - 0 views

earth2tech.com/...eam-up-for-smart-grid-research

smart ibm edf smart grid research networks

shared by Colin Bennett on 24 Nov 08 - Cached
  • Colin Bennett on 24 Nov 08
     
    Computing giant IBM and French electric utility EDF will together research ways to boost the efficiency of power plants and modernize electricity infrastructure, IBM announced today. The collaboration puts them in the thick of what's known as the smart grid industry,
Colin Bennett

Will Grid Parity Change Everything For The Solar Industry? - 0 views

www.engineerlive.com/...21807

grid parity photovoltaics networks

shared by Colin Bennett on 04 Jun 09 - Cached
  • Colin Bennett on 04 Jun 09
     
    However, even when true grid parity arrives, it's unlikely to generate an abrupt rise in solar system installations due to the high upfront costs and the long-term return of investing in a rooftop photovoltaic system, according to iSuppli Corp. In fact, growth is set to moderate during the years when grid parity arrives for various regions of the world as the industry enters a more mature phase.
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