Smart Energy

A smart electrical power grid could decrease annual electric energy use and utility sector carbon emissions at least 12 percent by 2030, according to a new report from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

The report, The Smart Grid: An Estimation of the Energy and CO2 Benefits, shows a direct link between the smart grid and carbon emissions. It evaluates how different functions of the smart grid could provide substantial reduction in energy use and carbon emissions – both directly by using new technology and indirectly by making renewable energy and efficiency programs more affordable and potentially larger.

via News – Clean Edge – The Clean-Tech Market Authority.

See also: Pullman to become Smart Grid Community

WIth all the stimulus money going into the smart grid [including here in Pullman], you’d better hope that it would have an impact not only on energy efficiency but on reducing carbon emissions. And fast. Well, there’s a new report out from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory exploring just what those benefits might be: overall, a 12 percent reduction in carbon emissions in 2030.

The report with the scintillating title, “The Smart Grid: An Estimation of the Energy and CO2 Benefits, was prepared by the laboratory on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy.

via In case you were wondering: New report quantifies smart grid benefits – SmartPlanet.

A group of Washington State University researchers will be working with Avista utility company on a demonstration project that hopes to make the city of Pullman the region’s first smart grid community. The Pullman project is part of a Department of Energy regional smart grid demonstration project throughout the Northwest that is designed to expand upon existing electric infrastructure and test new smart grid technology.

Using smart grid technologies, the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project, announced by DOE today, will test new combinations of devices, software and advanced analytical tools that enhance the power grid’s reliability and performance. The total estimated cost for the project is $178 million with DOE providing half the funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The project’s participants, primarily utilities and industry team members, will provide the remaining funds.

The $38-million Pullman project involves automation of many parts of the electric distribution system using advanced metering technology, enhanced communication, and other elements of the smart grid. The project is intended to show how smart grid technology can enhance the safety, reliability, and efficiency of energy delivery on a regional and national level.

As part of the project WSU, along with Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, is set to serve as a “micro-grid,” a locally based, electricity-producing power grid, said Anjan Bose, Regents Professor in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). Serving as a micro-grid, WSU will communicate with Avista to improve electric power efficiency throughout the community.

“The micro-grid provides a local way of controlling electricity production and distribution and should make the whole system more responsive to people’s needs,” said Bose. “This is a good demonstration project of one of the ways that we can make the grid smarter.”

Adapted from a press release published in WSU Today.

Over on Curled Up with a Good Book (for which I frequently write reviews) is a good review of Wind Energy Basics by Paul Gipe. The review is by Deborah Adams, who writes:

in a plain-spoken style, Wind Energy Basics spells out the pertinent facts without any effort to sell readers on a system that, while environmentally friendly, may not be the ideal power source for a particular individual or community. Gipe includes a thoughtful and eminently practical chapter on the technology of wind turbines, complete with a warning about scams, frauds, and flakes. Gipe is even so upfront that he lists specific brands of wind power generators to avoid.