From PESWiki

The role of the grid, transmission losses, accident and sabotage vulnerability, other issues and applications.

Grid

High Power Worker - stunts like these will become obsolete as energy becomes distributed through new energy technology advances, making the grid unnecessary.

Ambient Energy

• Pylon Ambient Energy Lights Fluorescent Bulbs (http://pesn.com/exclusive/2004/pylon_ambience/) - Hundreds in UK flock each night to see artistic display of 1300 fluorescent bulbs lit by overhead high-power lines. Lights ebb as a person walks near them. Tubes give a shock when held while jumping off the ground. (PESN; March 6, 2004)
  

• Shocking Experience Walking Under High-Power Lines with Umbrella (http://pesn.com/2005/06/14/9600112_High_Power_Lines_Shock_Umbrella/) - Discovered: umbrella tines act as an antenna, turning the umbrella holder into a mini transformer. Moist weather seems to accentuate the effect. (PESN; June 14, 2005)
  

As Broadband Carrier

• Electrifying Internet Access (http://www.cbsnews.com/track/sumhtml2005081515/stories/2005/08/15/tech/main779132.shtml?cmp=EM8707) - A broadband connection could be as close as — and in — your wall outlet. Several communities are trying Broadband over Power Lines, which could some day be an alternative to cable and DSL. (CBS; Aug. 15, 2005)
  

• Downsides to Power Grid as Internet (http://pesn.com/2005/08/19/9600151_PowerGrid_Internet/) - Daniel Jackson editorial cites concerns about interference, eavesdropping. (PESN; April 19) (See also related story and discussion at Slashdot)
  

Case for DC Power

• Big Steps In Building: Change Our Wiring to 12 Volt DC (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/09/big_steps_in_bu_3.php) - Though Tesla may have been right about long-distance transmission of power via alternating current, Edison may yet have a case for local distribution. 12VDC power needs no childproofing, no wall warts, creates no EMF and makes adding incremental sources like solar and wind much easier. (TreeHugger; Sept. 4, 2007)
  

• Off Goes the Power Current Started by Thomas Edison (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/off-goes-the-power-current-started-by-thomas-edison/) - Wednesday, Con Edison ended 125 years of direct current electricity service that began when Thomas Edison opened his Pearl Street power station. Con Ed will now only provide alternating current, in a final, vestigial triumph by Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse. (NY Times Blog; Nov. 14, 2007) (See also Slashdot (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/225213))

Distributed Energy

• Neighborhood network energy startup looks to peer-out electricity (http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/neighborhood-network-energy-startup-looks-to-peer-out-electricity/2008/01/18) - Dutch startup Qurrent[ provides a device called a [http://www.qurrent.com/ENG/prodQBox.aspx Qbox (http://www.qurrent.com/) which, linked to a central computer, enables a group of energy independent homes to form a mini grid exchanging energy among the participants before buying from or selling to the main grid. (P2P Foundation; Jan. 18, 2008)
  

• Distributed Generation Technologies: Applications and Challenges (http://www.energybusinessreports.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=1349&affillink=NEC) - The practice of installing and operating electric generating equipment at or near the site of where the power is used is known as "distributed generation". Distributed generation technologies include engines, small (and micro) turbines, fuel cells, and photovoltaic systems. (Energy Business Report; Aug. 2007)
  

• Lessons from the Grid (http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/steve_bosserman/2007/02/07/lessons_from_the_grid.htm) - The centralized power grid model is essentially resistant to change. Fully de-centralized power generation has its own drawbacks. Author argues for an integrated model of power production and distribution. (NewMediaExplorer; Feb. 7, 2007)
  

• The Case for Decentralized Generation of Electricity (http://www.zpenergy.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1105) - Decentralized generation could save $5 trillion in a capital investment, reduce power costs by 40 percent, reduce vulnerabilities, and cut greenhouse gas emissions in half. (Skeptical Inquirer, Volume 29; Issue 1; excerpt from ZPEnergy; Jan. 7, 2005)
  

Efficiency

• A Power Grid Smartens Up (http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/20442/?nlid=952) - A $100 million project launched in Boulder, Colorado, by Xcel Energy (http://www.xcelenergy.com/XLWEB/CDA/0,3080,1-1-1_15531_43141_46932-39884-0_0_0-0,00.html), will equip homes with smart power meters that help people reduce demand when electricity is most expensive; and will allow the utility to reroute power and take better advantage of renewable power sources. (MIT Technology Review; Mar. 20, 2008)
  

Government & Politics

• Cheney Suppressed Evidence in California Energy Crisis (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/071907J.shtml) - In-depth investigation by Jason Leopold shows how Vice President Dick Cheney pressured federal energy regulators to conceal evidence of widespread market manipulation by energy companies during the California electricity crisis in 2001. (Truthout; July 19, 2007)
  

Green Transmission Methods

• Hydraulics > Hydristor > Transmission of Grid Power Using Pressurized Air (http://pesn.com/2008/01/23/9500469_Hydristor_Pneumatic_Grid_Transmission/) - Instead of transmitting electricity over high-voltage cables, Kasmer suggests transmitting power via high-pressure air, which would be pressurized and depressurized via his infinitely variable pneumatic conversion technology, which would serve as the transformers in the system. (PESN; Jan. 23, 2008)
  

• Clean Power from Deserts for Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (http://newsblaze.com/story/20071122210827nnnn.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Stories.html) - The White Paper "Clean Power from Deserts (http://www.trec-uk.org.uk/press.htm#press_nov_2007) - The DESERTEC Concept for Energy, Water and Climate Security" is to be presented to the European Parliament in Brussels on November 28, by Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan. (NewsBlaze; Nov. 22, 2007) [Comment: Now the Club of Rome wants to control renewable energy.]
  

Grid Connect

• GridPoint Inc Unveils First Intelligent Energy Management Appliance for Renewable Energy Customers (http://pesn.com/2005/09/23/9600174_GridPoints_Intelligent_Energy_Management_Appliance/) - To provide instant, automatic, silent back-up power during outages. Claims to be the first energy management and backup power appliances to seamlessly combine advanced battery storage with power electronics into a single "plug-and-play" cabinet. (PESN; Sept. 23, 2005)
  

Integration

• Assessment of Integration of Wind into Utility Power Systems (http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/?epi_menuItemID=989a6827590d7dda9cdf6023a0908a0c&epi_menuID=c791260db682611740b28e347a808a0c&epi_baseMenuID=384979e8cc48c441ef0130f5c6908a0c&ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&div=428291328&newsId=20060522005433) - The Utility Wind Integration Group report says "we don't see any fundamental technical barriers at the present time to wind penetrations of up to 20 percent of system peak demand, which is far beyond where we are today." (BusinessWire; May 22, 2006)
  

Microgrid

• Microgrids as Peer-to-Peer Energy (http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=37063) - Small networks of power generators in "microgrids" could transform the electricity network in the way that the net changed distributed communication. (PESWiki index)

Storage

• Beacon Power > Making Electrical Grids More Efficient (http://www.techreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17285&ch=biztech) - Rather than marketing its flywheel-based energy storage systems to utilities, which move notoriously slow in adopting such innovations, Beacon Power Corp plans to build its own merchant flywheel plants that move power on and off a power line to stabilize the grid. (MIT Technology Review; Aug. 10, 2006)
  

• PG&E Demonstrates Vehicle-to-Grid Technology (http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/04/pge_demonstrate.html) - Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology allows for the bi-directional sharing of electricity between Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), and the electric power grid. The technology turns each vehicle into a power storage system, increasing power reliability and the amount of renewable energy available to the grid during peak power usage. (Green Car Congress; Apr. 9, 2007)
  

• Excess Nightime Energy Could Fuel Over 158 Million Plug-in Hybrids (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/09/excess_nightime.php) - One common critique of an electric car revolution is that the increased energy demand might just lead to the generation of new power plants, negating some of the cars' positive environmental benefits. Not so, according to a new study by the U.S. Department of Energy. (TreeHugger; Sept. 4, 2007)
  

Synchronization

• Gadgets to Spur Energy Conservation by Peter Fairley (http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/19700/?nlid=665) - This winter, about a thousand participants in Manhattan-based ConsumerPowerline's (http://www.consumerpowerline.com/) energy-conservation program will receive small plug-in boxes that glow red when power demand peaks, urging them to turn off space heaters, defer dishwasher runs, or otherwise save electricity. (MIT Technology Review; Nov. 14, 2007)
  

• Making the Power Grid Smarter (http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=16843) - Gridwise is networking home appliances and thermostats to electricity grids, lowering utility costs and electricity loads. (MIT Technology Review; May 12, 2006)
  

Vulnerability

• US Video Shows Hacker Hit on Power Grid (http://www.physorg.com/news110104929.html) - A government video shows the potential destruction caused by hackers seizing control of a crucial part of the U.S. electrical grid: an industrial turbine spinning wildly out of control until it becomes a smoking hulk and power shuts down. (PhysOrg; Sept. 27, 2007)
  

• Avantis - "You’re in the midst of a world-class power struggle (http://resource.invensys.com/avantis/guarantee/power/home.htm) - a decisive fight to streamline processes, reduce costs, and manage assets better to come out on top. Whether you are maintaining Generating or T&D assets, Avantis is the only asset management solution that can reduce risk of implementation with pre-defined work processes and best practices. Avantis, today’s most effective enterprise asset management solution, is specifically tailored to help power companies do more with less - one already proven across the globe and one guaranteed to help you:
  • Gain a competitive advantage
  • Achieve regulatory compliance
  • Reduce forced outages
  • Improve work processes
  • Reduce safety and environmental incidents"

• Electric Power Industry Technology Scenarios (http://zpenergy.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1671) - Report by the Electric Power Research Institute looks at various future scenarios of the U.S. electrical grid. (ZPEnergy; Dec. 28, 2005)
  

• Near repeat of massive 2003 blackout last month (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1119440963227_21/?hub=TopStories) - Ontario and large areas of the United States were about 20 seconds away from being plunged into darkness on May 27, according to American union officials. (CTV, Canada; June 22, 2005)

• Ill-fated squirrel leaves thousands without electricity (http://enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2004/08/31/news/news/news03.txt) - It might sound a little nutty, but the sudden loss of electricity to 13,000 customers on a sweltering day was caused by a squirrel that got into a substation, shorting out circuits. (Brockton Enterprise, Massachusetts; Sept. 1, 2004)

[This kind of thing happens all the time. Reported here as a sampling.]

• UniSource Energy Services Offering Solar Incentives (http://www.energyinfosource.com/dg/news.cfm?id=22374) - U.S. energy supplier offering rebate for installations, and gives customer's a chance to add $2.00 to their bill to support green energy. (EnergyInfoSource; Aug. 18, 2005)

Other Grids

• Fire the Grid (.com) (http://www.firethegrid.com) - Rather than approaching the problem of what humans have done to the earth from a perspective of becoming independent from the power grid man has made, this site calls for sending a surge of energy through prayer/meditation and other such expressions to the earth for renewal on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 11:11 Greenich Mean Time.
  

• Vehicle -to-Grid (V2G) Car Generates Electricity, and Cash (http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/535841/?sc=dwhp) - University of Delaware researchers have created a system that enables vehicles to not only run on electricity alone, but also to generate revenue by storing and providing electricity for utilities. The technology--known as V2G, for vehicle-to-grid--lets electricity flow from the car’s battery to power lines and back. (NewsWise; Dec. 3, 2007)
  

See also

• Grid (http://www.freeenergynews.com/Directory/Grid/)
• Directory:Oil

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