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The PNNL Smart Grid View of 2020

February 23, 2010 in Uncategorized by mmiller | No comments

Dr. Michael Kintner-Meyer is a Staff Scientist at PNNL, leading the Laboratory’s research area for energy storage and electric transportation systems analysis. Today he spoke at CU-Boulder — his simple comparisons of where we are and where we’re moving:

Now: 6-second view of high-voltageover limited area, minimal view of distribution and customer
2020: Sub-second view of entire system in real time (<1 sec) across entire interconnection area

Today: Less than 2% intermittent supply
2020: Greater than 15% intermittent supply

Today: Less than 5% price-responsive loads
2020: Greater than 15% price-responsive loads

Today: Centralized generation and investment inertia
2020: More DG, storage, demand control

Today: End use relatively simple resistance, predictable
2020: Substantial new high-efficiency loads, hard to predict

Today: Conservatively rated to avoid blackouts
2020: Higher asset utilization and adaptive control

Today: No transportation interoperability
2020: Interoperability and ~25% electric vehicles

And the big claim of the day: 73% of current transportation demand could be met with the currently installed renewable resource, if PHEV’s were abundant and charged during off-peak hours.

My Thoughts on US DOE Renewable Energy Collaboration with Latin America

April 30, 2009 in International Development, cleantech, finance by mmiller | No comments

President Obama proposed a “Clean Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas” during his time at the Summit of the Americas.  Typical Barack MO: big, broad, ambitious.  The existing Latin America approach in the US Department of Energy is on country-by-country proposals and grants.  This is fine, but  the office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) could be providing other, more overarching support to this worthy goal of international RE partnership.  A couple of proposals:

**On the finance front, EERE should consider launching a collaboration with the Interamerican Development Bank to begin ‘greening’ the IDB project finance arm. See this link for good background.   There is some indication that the IDB is just beginning [pdf] to consider this type of change in the biofuels sector.   EERE should advise the IDB in finance concerns re solar, wind, and energy efficiency, too. Such a collaboration would help break the project finance logjam, and would also ensure scale, duration, and breadth of impact, far beyond EERE acting on its own.  (See also the “Green Bank” legislation just introduced in the US.)

**Since we’re trying to seriously achieve Market Transformation in Latin America, we want to get big, robust, private RE markets going within 3-5 years, no?  As far as I can tell, in any country where private markets have actually taken off, significant subsidies (PTC + ITC, Feed-in Tariffs) and “policy certainty” have been critical.  Do we expect the LatAm experience to be different?  If we’re realistic, then, we should acknowledge that public subsidies are important in spurring private $$ and the US should be trying to leverage aid dollars (from its own aid budgets and those of the IDB, IMF, WB, etc) to help LatAm countries put these policy measures in place.  EERE c/should be advocating for and supporting green development to take an increasingly larger share of the international aid budget.

**Promoting early and sustained partnerships with established utilities & infrastructure companies seems to be important. See PG&E, Xcel, FPL, if ye doubt the role of utilities.   EERE should be promoting these types of partnerships via any and all RFPs it issues in the international sphere.

**Let’s get EERE/NREL involved in supporting high-level R&D / business / policy partnerships.  Why don’t we have serious renewable energy scientific researcher exchanges with Latin America?  Sustainable RE growth comes through technical excellence and entrepreneurship.  EERE could help coordinate relevant and useful technical exchanges, R&D partnerships, etc.
My 2cents.

Tom Konrad Breaks it Down

April 20, 2009 in Uncategorized by mmiller | No comments

From the Altenergystocks blog, Tom Konrad puts the costs in real-world terms:

FUEL /   Price/Terawatt

  • 1 TW Coal   =  1 planet+ $0.7 trillion
  • 1 TW N. Gas =  1 ecosystem + $1 trillion
  • 1 TW Nuclear  = $3 Trillion + 25% chance of 1 planet
  • 1 TW “Clean Coal” = 2 ecosystems + $4 Trillion
  • 1 TW Solar PV  = $4 Trillion
  • 1 TW Wind =  $1 Trillion
  • 1 TW CSP =  $3 Trillion

This simplifies the cost calculations.  Try not to spend any planets; you’ve only got one.”

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