Friday, 1 May 2009
Test drive: All-electric Mini and Ford Fusion Hybrid
It's not every day that you get to drive an all-electric car and a brand new gas-electric hybrid. But that's just what I did last week when I took both the Electric Mini Cooper and 2010 Ford Fusion for a spin. The two cars represent two technical approaches to gaining fuel efficiency through bigger car batteries. Like the Toyota Prius, the newly released Ford Fusion is a gas-electric hybrid that drives primarily on the gas engine, supplemented by a nickel-metal hydride battery. By contrast, the Mini Electric, which will start to be leased to drivers next month as part of a trial, runs entirely on lithium-ion batteries, the latest battery technology. The Ford's dashboard LCD shows when you're using the gas motor and when you're running on battery. The way to optimize for efficiency is to get to cruising speed and then tap the brakes to charge the battery. The car also has an on-dash rating system that displays a plant sprout. More leaves distinguishes the hypermilers from the lead-foots. The Electric Mini feedback system is pretty simple: how much juice you have left is on the front dash while another meter shows whether you're drawing from or charging the battery.
Energy Risk: Renewables Challenge Utility Interconnections
When wind farm developers lined up at a grid operator's or utility's door a few years ago, plans to add a new project didn't cause undue concern. After all, 10 megawatts here, 50 megawatts there, weren't going to significantly change the scheduling. Now that wind projects are measuring in the hundreds of megawatts in recent years, they are not only creating interconnection issues on their own, but are also occupying a more prominent place in the overall resource mix in large or multi-state regions. And while utilities are still adding smaller projects, they present their own challenges as many are even smaller than the original wind projects, like solar PV installations on a warehouse roof or hundreds of individual homes. While wind can't be expected to provide on-demand or base-load power, a larger share of generation is being counted on in the states and by an expected federal mandate for renewal energy over the coming decade. However, with many states mandating increased use of renewable energy, wind generation is often given priority when it is available and traditional forms of power sources have to be backed off to accommodate it.
Various Scenarios
Various scenarios have been created by wind energy advocates and the U.S. Department of Energy under which up to 20 percent of U.S. electric generation could be supplied by wind by 2030, so this is no longer just an academic exercise. Texas is the national leader in wind nameplate capacity, by far, with more than 7,000 megawatts, with another 52,000 megawatts under review. The grid operator for most of the state, the ERCOT or Electric Reliability Corporation of Texas, manages the flow of electricity from the sparsely populated West Texas wind region to the populated load centers of Dallas and other eastern cities. The state has recently adopted a transmission development plan with a funding mechanism, competitive renewable energy zones, with a $5 billion price tag that will accommodate up to 18,000 megawatts of wind when it is completed. A similar plan to create National Renewable Energy Zones was introduced into Congress last year. Bonneville Power Administration in the Pacific Northwest states also has an exploding growth curve, with 1,600 megawatts of wind currently it its territory, with the potential for 10,000 megawatts by 2016, counting projects under development or in the transmission interconnection queue. Never was the need for plans for integrating large quantities of wind more evident than on Feb. 26, 2008, when dying wind caused a sudden drop-off in generation and forced ERCOT to use its plans for interruptible customers to balance the system during the event. The grid operator blamed inaccurate wind forecasts and a fast ramp-up in demand for the shortage.Confronting Issues
What the event did was expedite work already started by ERCOT to more smoothly integrate large quantities of wind generation, said Dottie Roark, ERCOT's communication manager."There is a stakeholders' committee with ERCOT reviewing protocol changes that would involve all the participants."These initiatives include developing more forecasting tools with a wind assessment company, improving control room operator awareness through automated tools and developing a risk based management program. The BPA has different issues to confront, with Oregon and Washington State among the national leaders in wind capacity. While seemingly blessed with copious amounts of hydropower that can supplement wind, nuclear and fossil fuel generation sources when needed, there are limitations. While true, the process isn't always as simple as ramping up hydro assets as soon as wind speeds appear to be declining.
"An example is when we need generation it's not just a matter of spilling runoff because there are fish management issues, especially during spawning season."Solar power presents its own set of challenges, not only by its smaller scale than most commercial operations, but because of the more gradual appearance and retreat it makes on the power grid. But the challenges solar power presents no less daunting, as many commercial sites may generate one to two megawatts at peak, while home systems are measured in a few kilowatts.
"When you're thinking about a landfill topped with a solar array, that's quite a different scenario from a homeowner's roof. There's a whole different loading considerations, instrumentation, and there's a different sort of marketing issues."The state is now expanding eligibility for net metering that allows such users to sell back into the grid. Dan Zaweski, assistant vice president for energy efficiency and distributed generation at the LIPA or Long Island Power Authority, said the home- and business-based generation systems do not yet create operational challenges for the public utility that serves Long Island, N.Y. There are about 1,600 residential solar systems out of a customer base of about 990,000, and 83 commercial customers out of a base of 1.1 million. For a utility that operates with megawatts as its crucial unit measure, smaller generating stations present new issues. Its operations strategy is running one to two megawatts on a distribution feeder.
"An average homeowner with a solar PV system might generate six kilowatts at peak, so there has to be 333 of them operating before you really see any grid impact."Business operations are also impacted on Long Island, as elsewhere, when smaller renewable energy systems are added. Utility systems are geared toward the amount of revenue gathered from retail sales, but savings from reduced demand don't create income for the utility. Billing is the most obvious area affected both in terms of the potential impact on the utility's bottom line, but also the upfront costs of meters and any other operational expenses and customer care processes needed to accommodate these energy sources.
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Future Power Generation Has Joined Google Subscribed Links
Future Power Generation Uses Google Subscribed Links
Future Power Generation has created a subscribed link through the Google Co-op program. You will find Future Power Generation on Google Subscribed links on clicking here! You will find more subscribed links on clicking the Google Subscribed Links Directory! Google Coop allows you to submit an XML document that visitors can subscribe to. Once subscribed, your site will always appear first in their search results and be highlighted. This means that your site is always first and highlighted - no matter what its PageRank.
Monday, 27 April 2009
The Energy Ecosystem And The Energy Risk
The Energy Ecosystem
A vision of the Smart Grid that focuses on the importance of energy efficiency, demand response and distributed generation, including viewpoints from: Acterra, Ausra Inc., Hydro One Networks, National Resource Defense Council, Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric, Stanford University and The Brattle Group.Energy Risk - Marked Shift in Policy
Carbon constraints are coming to the United States. But the key question is whether Congress or the Environmental Protection Agency compels them. EPA now officially considers carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to be harmful to human health, which is the legal prerequisite to regulate those releases under the Clean Air Act. That designation is a marked shift in U.S. environmental policy and signifies a clear move toward regulating the heat-trapping emissions from all sources. But while EPA says that it is prepared to draft the official rules, it would rather defer to Congress."This finding confirms that greenhouse gas pollution is a serious problem now and for future generations. This pollution problem has a solution, one that will create millions of green jobs and end our country's dependence on foreign oil. In both magnitude and probability, climate change is an enormous problem. The greenhouse gases that are responsible for it endanger public health and welfare within the meaning of the Clean Air Act."The pronouncement in mid-April begins a 60-day comment period in which all sides have a right to weigh in. At the end of that time period, the agency will release its regulations that all parties, once again, will be given time to respond. The pending regulations will pressure Congress to come up with its own laws by year-end. Limiting the level of greenhouse gases will assuredly affect the U.S. economy, touching everything that consumes fossil fuels from automobiles to power plants to manufacturing facilities. And while environmental organizations applaud the announcement, business groups remain cautious but say that they are willing to work with policymakers to arrive at an optimal solution. EPA's action comes amidst a U.S. Supreme Court decision rendered two years ago. That ruling said that the agency had the authority to regulate all greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act if they were deemed to be harmful to human health or the public welfare. EPA now concludes man-made greenhouse gas emissions lead to global warming, which causes increased droughts and flooding as well as to poorer water quality. Even though the state of Massachusetts initiated the case and it pertains strictly to automobile emissions, EPA's position will apply to power plants as well. The move runs counter to that of the Bush administration, which had vigorously opposed regulating greenhouse gases. As such, the Bush White House never moved to make any formal declarations on the issue, although its own EPA scientists had determined that greenhouse gases were detrimental to human health.
"This proposal will cost jobs. It is the worst possible time to be proposing rules that will drive up the cost of energy to no valid purpose."
Official Recognition
EPA's decision will clearly put the focus on congressional efforts, where utilities and other industrials might have more sway. Those groups, in fact, have said that they would rather work with lawmakers so as to ensure any future bill makes gradual advances in an effort contain costs. That is unlikely to satisfy green groups, but they will nonetheless agree to such compromises. The practical effect of carbon limitations would be the setting of performance standards for all coal-fired power plants that are estimated to contribute about a third of all such releases. They would have to use the modern equipment that presumably would include both advanced coal generation and carbon sequestration tools. The ultimate goal is to capture all pollutants and then bury the carbon before it would leave the smokestack. Emitting carbon, meanwhile, will come at a cost. That is, industrials will either have to eventually buy allowances or pay taxes on such releases. That would force those businesses to shift to cleaner burning alternatives so as to bring down the level of carbon emissions -- a move that pits business and green groups against one another. The former is saying such policies will add to energy costs and thereby eliminate jobs while the latter is maintaining it will lead to a new era of innovation and job creation. Specifically, the notable draft now floating on the Hill has been authored by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman of California and his environmental subcommittee chair, Edward Markey of Massachusetts. Their joint measure would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and by 83 percent by 2050. The Waxman-Markey bill endorses cap-and-trade but is silent on the issue of whether the credits should be auctioned or initially given away. The measure furthermore requires each utility to meet a renewable portfolio standard of 25 percent by 2025. Such a mandate is necessary if the country is to reverse warming trends, the bill's sponsors say. In an effort to placate lawmakers from coal states, the measure would also give $10 billion in financing to commercialize carbon capture and sequestration technologies. The two sponsors say that EPA's actions give its legislative initiative new momentum. The Pew Center on Global Climate Change agrees, noting that any future delays would only prove more costly for the environment and the economy."I applaud the EPA for officially recognizing that greenhouse gas emissions are a danger to our public health and welfare that, if unchecked, could have potentially serious impacts to our environment and well-being."EPA's position now forces the industrial sector to get on board. And it will, recognizing that the agency would then go forward with its own carbon rules. By participating in the process, skeptics can influence an eventual bill -- one that they hope would slow down timetables and add financial assurances. That's the kind of measure that utilities will back and the type that can pass the full Congress.
Saturday, 25 April 2009
Future Power Generation Has Joined Webrings
What Is A Webrings?
A webring in general is a collection of websites from around the Internet joined together in a circular structure. When used to improve search engine rankings, webrings can be considered a search engine optimization technique.To be a part of the webring, each site has a common navigation bar; it contains links to the previous and next site. By clicking next (or previous) repeatedly, the surfer will eventually reach the site they started at; this is the origin of the term webring. However, the click-through route around the ring is usually supplemented by a central site with links to all member-sites; this prevents the ring from breaking completely if a member site goes offline.
Webrings are usually organized around a specific theme, often educational or social. Web rings usually have a moderator who decides which pages to include in the web ring. After approval, webmasters add their pages to the ring by 'linking in' to the ring; this requires adding the necessary HTML or JavaScript to their site.
At www.webringworld.org the webring concept is further explained and discussed.
Thursday, 23 April 2009
Obama Talks About Wind Power On Earth Day
Offshore Wind Gets Major Boost
Just in time for Earth Day, the administration has issued a long-awaited set of rules that will significantly boost the development of offshore wind farms along the nation’s coastlines.The regulations for the government to lease offshore acreage for wind and wave power (PDF) had been highly anticipated since Congress passed the 2005 energy bill. They will provide the main framework to develop offshore wind by giving the lead authority to the Minerals Management Service, the federal agency also in charge of offshore oil and gas development. The announcement was made by President Obama during a visit to a wind turbine tower manufacturing plant in Iowa, underscoring the administration’s commitment to developing clean energy sources. The visit also allowed the president to deliver a wide-ranging speech on energy and stump up support for a clean-energy and climate bill.
"It’s a win-win. It’s good for the environment, it’s great for the economy."Jim Gordon, the president of Cape Wind, a company that has struggled for nearly a decade to build the nation’s first offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound, said.
"This is going to open up the whole industry.”Offshore wind has yet to take off in the United States, in part because it is more expensive than traditional wind power on land. Offshore wind power is more widely developed in Europe, including in places like Denmark, Holland and Britain. Taken together, wind and solar currently only account for 3 percent of power generation in the United States, but industry advocates point out that American offshore potential could be significant. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, for example, has estimated that offshore resources located between 5 and 50 nautical miles off the nation’s coasts could provide 900 gigawatts of generation capacity, which is roughly equal to the United States’ total current electrical capacity (PDF). The Department of Energy has laid out a more realistic scenario, in which wind power could account for 20 percent of the nation’s power generation by 2030. Offshore wind could reach 54 gigawatts of power, the energy department suggests, out of 300 gigawatts of total wind power expected in the United States by then. Several states, including New Jersey and Rhode Island, have already begun competitive bidding processes to develop wind power off their coasts.
"I think it is a Herculean step forward. What will happen now is that all the projects in design right now, off the shores of Delaware, of New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, will move forward because they will know the rules of the game."Laurie Jodziewicz, who manages siting policy at the American Wind Energy Association, said that the new rules were necessary. But she also highlighted the need for a stable and consistent policy for wind, including the renewable energy production tax credit, and the adoption of a renewable energy standard which would mandate a share of alternative power for the nation’s grid.
"We’re quite excited to see this hurdle cleared. It’s been something we’ve been awaiting for quite some time now.
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