In This Issue
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THE KEY TO UNLOCKING AN ENERGY REVOLUTION
I READ BILL GATES' OBSERVATION about batteries in a book review of Daniel Yergin's new opus, The Quest.Gates has pointed out that all the batteries in the world can store no more than 10 minutes of the world's energy needs. Increase that capacity exponentially and renewables will become pervasive - and a source of baseload generation. In addition, improved energy storage capabilities would... -
WHAT WOULD REPLACE THE NUCLEAR PLANT?
OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS, critics have clamored for the closing of Entergy's Indian Point nuclear plant, located in Buchanan, N.Y., only 26 miles from densely populated New York City. Indian Point has been deemed a potential disaster site whose safety could be disrupted by an earthquake, hurricane or terrorist attack. When an earthquake rocked Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant this year, emitting...1 -
THE PURSUIT OF EFFICIENCY
ELECTRICITY IS THE HEART of the U.S. energy economy. And the numbers say so.A report by the Manhattan Institute cites this fascinating statistic: In 1950, 20 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product was directly dependent on electricity. By 2008, that number had tripled to 60 percent. Additionally, the report states that over 85 percent of the U.S. energy growth since 1980 was met by... -
SOFTWARE BUILDING BLOCKS NEEDED
ACROSS THE NATION, energy providers are forging ahead with various initiatives to increase the volume of renewable energy flowing over their networks, and these programs are changing the energy mix. Market research firm The NPD Group found that renewable energy has already become a more popular option than nuclear energy, and wind power will triple from 2011 to 2017, according to market research... -
LOOK TO THE LONG-TERM VALUE
NOW MORE THAN EVER, electric utilities need to be able to accurately evaluate the long-term return on investment in solar energy. Utilities are currently planning large investments in solar generation that will, by some estimates, double annual solar energy capacity in the United States through 2015. Though solar component costs are falling, the concern among utility decision-makers remains: Can... -
SPRAY-ON ELECTRICITY
IF SEVERAL NEW technology developments prove out, one day utilities, commercial building owners and homeowners may be able to spray a solar paint onto a surface such as a building's roof or glass windows to convert the sun's rays into electricity.Long envisioned as a way to cut the cost of solar cells, researchers have looked for materials that could be sprayed onto different surfaces to produce... -
THE MAGIC OF PEER PRESSURE
THE OLD ADAGE, "You can lead a horse to water ." seems to apply to utility customers with respect to their use of smart meter information and their actions to more prudently use energy. If managers believe their utilities can simply install smart meters and customers will automatically change the way they use energy, the findings of a 2011 IBM consumer study provide eye-opening evidence to the... -
THERE IS STILL HOPE
THE PAST THREE YEARS under the Obama administration have seen a lot of disappointment for supporters of renewable energy and climate policy, and in an honest assessment of how renewable energy and climate change policy will fare over the next year, it still looks pretty grim. Besides the stimulus, a few pro-green policies have slipped through, but advocates saw the door slammed hard on a...1 -
DEALING WITH AN ILLINOIS VETO
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA may be a big backer of smart grid technology, but top officials of his adopted home state, Illinois, put the kibosh on an ambitious program in September when Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed legislation authorizing Commonwealth Edison to change its rate structure as part of a deployment of smart grid technology."I want to make it clear to the public that they should not be gouged by... -
ON THE RAMPARTS OF CHANGE
UTILITIES ARE READY TO LAUNCH an unprecedented wave of capital investments as they deploy a smart grid and a new era of generation. Trillions of dollars will be spent making natural gas lines safer and wringing ever greater efficiency from the energy sector. State utility regulators will be in the hot seat as the companies they regulate attempt to secure the revenue to cover their investments....
