Nonlinear Thinking

Smart Grid

I have been having conversations regarding how advanced information technology will eventually be the key component of next generation energy management solutions.  Smart meters, the smart grid, the intelligent home, distributed generation and the myriad sustainable energy solutions will all be part of active demand management.  So, it was nice to see this story on the smart grid on MarketWatch recently.

The smart grid is the modern electricity network, where sensors and computers will aid in providing constant information on electricity consumption. Some features include signaling to consumers real-time pricing of electricity and predicting places where demand surges.

In order to implement a smart grid, the first step is a smart meter. A smart meter will replace your current electric meter. The new meter is able to send back information on your electricity usage to the utility. Through digital reading, utilities will be able to gauge how much power you are using throughout the day and introduce different rates for different times.
The goal will be to reduce electricity usage during peak times, allowing for energy conservation.
Already some utilities have begun to install smart meters. The states of California and Texas have seen the most development. Southern California Edison plans to replace 5.3 million standard meters by 2012. Another California utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, began installing smart meters in 2006 and plans to put in 6 million meters by the end of 2011. In Texas, Austin Energy is another utility that has initiated a smart meter program.

Pilots installations of smart metering have already delivered on their promised value proposition.  With increasing energy costs, the slow pace of alternative energy development and a fragile transmission and distribution infrastructure, the smart grid can't get here soon enough.

Solar Energy Storage Breakthrough

The most critical challenge that solar energy technology must overcome to begin to achieve mainstream adoption is storage for use during the night.  So it is very exciting that MIT has announced the discovery of a process that can remove this challenge.  

In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.

Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With today's announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.

Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. "This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said MIT's Daniel Nocera the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon."

Sunlight has the greatest potential of any power source to solve the world's energy problems, said Nocera. In one hour, enough sunlight strikes the Earth to provide the entire planet's energy needs for one year.

Nocera hopes that within 10 years, homeowners will be able to power their homes in daylight through photovoltaic cells, while using excess solar energy to produce hydrogen and oxygen to power their own household fuel cell. Electricity-by-wire from a central source could be a thing of the past.

You can read the press release here and read more in the MIT Technology Review.