The 21st Century Smart Grid
What is the Smart Grid and how will it impact U.S. energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions? What major projects are underway and how much will they cost? The B-Green Collaborative investigates and provides you the answers.
Residential Heating Efficiency – Furnaces, Boiler, & Heat Pumps
This article discusses various heating systems and the opportunities to reduce fossil fuel consumption for residential heating. The discussion will review heating system efficiency, costs of different energy sources, and the GHG emissions from these sources. It will also help you compare your existing heating system efficiency to the best currently available systems to determine if it’s replacement is economically justifiable.
Week in Review: March 7, 2010 to March 14, 2010
- On Monday, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced an award of approximately $40 million to two teams led by Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse Electric Co. and San Diego-based General Atomics for conceptual design and planning of the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) capable of producing electricity as well as process heat for industrial applications. About 16% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from industrial process heat applications. The process heat or steam generated by the high-temperature nuclear reactors has the potential to help energy-intensive industries, such as petrochemical producers, reduce carbon dioxide emissions (Read more).
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a report called “Assessing the Multiple Benefits of Clean Energy: A Resource for States”. The report is designed to help state energy, environmental, and economic policy makers identify and quantify the many benefits of clean energy to support the development and implementation of cost-effective clean energy initiatives (Read the report).
- A-Power Energy Generation Systems Ltd., the U.S. Renewable Energy Group and American Nevada Group have announced they will jointly develop a wind turbine production and assembly plant in Nevada with an annual turbine production capacity of 1.1 Gigawatts. The proposed plant, which will be about 320,000 square feet, will supply wind energy turbines to renewable energy projects throughout North and South America (Read more).
- On Tuesday, around 120 wind industry lobbyists and wind industry chiefs arrived on Capitol Hill, calling for a long-term national target for utilities to source 25% of their electricity supplies from renewable energy by 2025. As well as forcing states without a RES in place to catch up, industry experts suggest a nationwide standard would encourage more regional, inter-state co-operation in renewable energy projects, such as transmission system upgrades. According to Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), “A national RES will result not just in new installations, but also in new manufacturing. The RES is the most important buy-American policy we can do” (Read more).
- On Thursday, the European Commission announced that new forecasts suggest the European Union will exceed its target of getting 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources in 2020. The latest national projections submitted by governments to the EU suggest the 27-nation bloc could reach an overall renewable share of 20.3 percent by the end of the decade. According to EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, “These forecasts show that member states take renewable energy very seriously and are really dedicated to pushing their domestic production” (Read more).
- On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced that NRG Energy has been selected to receive up to $154 million under the third round of the Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI), a cost-shared collaboration between the federal government and private industry to demonstrate low-emission carbon capture and storage technologies in advanced coal-based, power generation. NRG will construct a 60 megawatt carbon capture demonstration facility at the company’s W.A. Parish Unit 7 in Thompsons, Texas (Read more).
- On Thursday, Sun Edison announced that it has received final approval from the Italian government to develop and construct a 72 Megawatt (MW) photovoltaic solar power plant in Northeastern Italy. When completed, this is expected to be the largest photovoltaic (PV) solar power plant in Europe. Currently, the largest facility is a 60MW solar farm in Olmedilla, Spain, followed by a 50 MW in Strasskirchen, Germany. Power generation at the Sun Edison plant will begin in the second half of 2010 with final completion expected by year end (Read more).
Articles
Educating For A Greener Future!
Current and future green energy initiatives will have a significant impact on U.S. career opportunities going forward, and individuals planning to benefit from this transformation will need to be educated and trained in emerging energy technologies and new areas of energy expertise.
Residential Energy Efficiency – Heating Losses
Residential heating requires about 55% of residential energy consumption. This article will discuss a variety of methods to reduce your heating costs that generally can be accomplished quickly and at a low cost.
Energy Efficiency – Greenhouse Gas Reduction
It’s well documented that a reduction of greenhouse gases will require a multi-pronged approach, involving a combination of new technologies along with some existing but not often popular clean energy technologies.
Geothermal Your Home?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Geothermal Heat Pumps are “the most energy-efficient, environmentally clean, and cost-effective space conditioning systems available”.
Models of Our Future Electricity Supply: Power Sources and Costs
The sources of our power, the technology behind its generation and the costs we pay for using it are going to change dramatically. In this report, we discuss models of likely changes in our electric generation sources to achieve reduced emission goals.
Interviews
Comments on Regulatory Issues Affecting the Smart Grid, in an Interview with Laura Manz, Managing Director, L. J. Manz Consulting
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), charged with ensuring a reliable electric grid, will have a major impact on the operational standards and the pace of implementation of the Smart Grid. The B-Green Collaborative spoke to Laura Manz, an expert on regulatory issues affecting the Smart Grid.
Comments on U.S. Department of Energy Funding for the Smart Grid in an Interview with Srini Krishnamurthy
The U.S. Department of Energy is funneling huge amounts of money to begin the transformation of our electric grid to a Smart Grid. Srini Krishnamurthy, a consultant for the DoE’s Office of Electric Delivery and Energy Reliability, discusses how much money is being invested, how it is being leveraged and what program areas are being selected for funding.
Interview with Gregg Dixon, Senior V.P. of Marketing at EnerNOC
EnerNOC is a new, fast-growing company in the business of saving its customers money while reducing electricity peak loading demands. As an early purveyor of smart grid technology, we spoke to EnerNOC’s Gregg Dixon, Sr. VP of Marketing, to understand their business model and how the need to reduce greenhouse gases is impacting them.
Interview with Melissa Aho, President of Ultra Geothermal, Inc.
The B-GC spoke with Melissa Aho, President of Ultra Geothermal, Inc., a leading residential geothermal installer in New England. Read what she has to say about using a geothermal system to more efficiently condition the living space of your home.
Interview with Rich Richels, Economist at Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Co-Author of the MERGE Model
Recently, the B-GC reviewed the results of an EPRI-developed model called MERGE (model for estimating the regional and global effects of greenhouse gas reductions). To further understand and appreciate this model, we spoke to its principal developer, Rich Richels, an economist at EPRI. In this interview, he explains the basis of the model and its principal insights.
Latest Guest Column
VSATS Takes First Step Toward Greener Airports
The Commonwealth of Virginia’s Aviation Department and Virginia SATS (Small Aircraft Transportation System) took Governor Kaine’s “Green” challenge seriously with the environmental assessment of Virginia’s community airports.
