Group items tagged

Focus on European Smart Grids by Michael Setters, Smart Electric News London, UK [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] A host of initiatives across Europe has led to an explosion in interest into how -- and where -- smart grids will be implemented and deployed. According to Jose Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio, a leading voice in the Electricity industry, "It is clear that dramatic change is coming in the future for the electric utility industry...the way energy is generated, delivered and consumed [is] substantially changing the whole business model. This change is coming to a piece of the industry that hasn't been known for radical change over its 120 plus year history... Implementation of the Smart Grid will require a complete rethinking of the utility business model and business processes."

This week, GE announced that in the first quarter of next year the company will "introduce" energy management-enabled appliances that can be controlled remotely by the local utility. GE says it is working on smart refrigerators, ranges, washer and dryers, dishwashers and microwave ovens, and it will use some of the first smart appliances in select homes in a pilot program in Louisville, Ky., with Louisville Gas and Electric Company.

"Donald Sadoway: The missing link to renewable energy Tweet this talk! (we'll add the headline and the URL) Post to: Share on Twitter Email This Favorite Download inShare Share on StumbleUpon Share on Reddit Share on Facebook TED Conversations Got an idea, question, or debate inspired by this talk? Start a TED Conversation, or join one of these: Green Home Energy=Hydrogen Generators-alternative sources Started by Kathleen Gilligan-Smith 1 Comment What is the real missing link in renewable energy? Started by Enrico Petrucco 8 Comments Comment on this Talk 60 total comments Sign in to add comments or Join (It's free and fast!) Sort By: smily raichel 0 Reply Less than 5 minutes ago: Nice smily raichel 0 Reply Less than 5 minutes ago: Good David Mackey 0 Reply 3 hours ago: Superb invention, but I would suggest one more standard mantra that they should move on from and that is the idea of power being supplied by a centralised grid. This technology seems to me to be much more beneficial on a local scale, what if every home had its own battery, then home power generation becomes economically more viable for everyone. If you could show that a system like this could pay for itself in say 5 years then every home would want one. Plus for this to be implemented on a large scale requires massive investment that could be decades away. Share the technology and lets get it in homes by next year. Great ted talk. Jon Senior 0 Reply 1 hour ago: I agree 100%. Localised energy production would also make energy consumers more conscious of their consumption and encourage efforts to reduce it. We can invent and invent all we want, but the fast solution to allowing renewable energies to take centre stage is to reduce the base energy draw. With lower baseline consumption, smaller "always on" generators are required to keep the grid operational. Town and house-l

The EU energy package has officially come into force with two Directives and three Regulations aimed at creating an integrated Europe-wide energy market that will drive the first steps toward a smart grid. The gas and electricity market Directives require that EU member states implement "intelligent metering systems that shall assist the active participation of consumers". By 2020, the Directive targets that 80% of households in Europe should be equipped with smart electricity meters and that a complete rollout should be achieved by 2022.

"The smart city concept is a framing device for many of society's most important conversations about globalization, technology, and the environment, which is driving investment across a range of city services and infrastructure. As the supplier ecosystem for smart cities continues to expand, established suppliers are moving into the market from the energy, transport, buildings, and government sectors, while startups are addressing a range of emerging opportunities. "

A Cemig (MG) firmou acordo de cooperação com a Agência Norte-Americana para o Comércio e Desenvolvimento, do Governo dos Estados Unidos, garantindo um financiamento a fundo perdido de US$ 710 mil em investimentos. Os recursos serão aplicados no estudo de viabilidade de implementação de redes inteligentes de energia da Cemig e da Light (RJ), em complemento a seu programa de smart grid.

"Geographic regions will vary significantly in their rates of investment. Emerging markets will represent the largest growth in T&D spending, with Africa and Southeast Asia the fastest growing regions as they build out new infrastructure to boost their electrification rates. However, North America and Europe will see lackluster growth in traditional T&D infrastructure spending of around 1%, but will account for the majority of smart grid spending. The individual country with the largest amount of traditional T&D spending will be India, which will outpace China by 2024. Smart grid annual spending on distribution automation will be concentrated in Europe ($11.5bn per year), followed by North America ($7.5bn) and East Asia ($6.1bn), as these regions modernize their existing electric infrastructure."

"Today, the parking industry is being transformed by new technologies that are enabling cities to reduce levels of congestion significantly. Sensor networks that detect vehicle occupancy are providing the basic intelligence behind smart parking systems, which provide real-time parking availability information to make it easier for drivers to find a parking space."

BLYTH, NORTHUMBERLAND, UK, August 4, 2008. The New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) in the UK and CENER, National Renewable Energy Centre of Spain are working together to find new ways of generating and distributing power from small-scale renewables within communities. The one year project will investigate ways to allow communities to generate and use their own power from renewable energy resources, in a reliable and cost-effective way. With increasing use of renewable energy sources, a significant amount of interest has developed across Europe in so-called 'smart-grid' systems better capable of transmitting and distributing power from different renewable resources in a reliable, flexible electrical network. The team is currently identifying existing communities within Spain and the UK with populations of between 10 and 25 000 which can be used as test subjects for 'smart-grid' renewable systems. The project aims to demonstrate the most appropriate technical solutions for integrating low carbon power generation technologies into a localised, community-based electrical system.