By Zachary Shahan •
October 27, 2009
Obama discussed a big project long overdo and sorely needed today — modernizing the US electric grid. But it is more than discussion. $3.4 billion in Recovery Act funding is going towards this new project.
This is the most money ever awarded for clean energy in a single day from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act!
Obama spoke at the opening of the Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center (the nation’s largest PV electricity center) to announce and discuss the various benefits of this project.
By Jeffrey Berlin •
June 5, 2009
Where is the grid going, big or small?
By Alex Felsinger •
April 5, 2009
Scientists at Pennsylvania State University have discovered a solution to the problem of reliable storage for alternative energy: a bacteria that can convert electricity to methane when combined with CO2.
Any surplus power from wind, solar, or tidal sources is fed into the bacteria and combined with CO2 from the atmosphere to create methane for storage. Methane is a clean-burning gas and 80% of energy fed into the process was retained at the end.
By Isa Cann •
April 4, 2009
Legacy electricity grids, the current distribution systems used for a century in the US, are highly inefficient…7%, never makes it to the user, lost at the transmission and distribution levels…..Environmentalists and others have been pushing for smart-grid technology for over a decade because it will enable consumers to use less electricity and benefit the environment.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
February 5, 2009
Spending in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on environmental projects being debated in Congress right now already includes $100 billion in ‘green stimulus.’ But because of the stated preference for so-called ’shovel-ready’ infrastructure projects, long-term infrastructure projects like mass transit and a smart grid may suffer.
By Ariel Schwartz •
February 5, 2009
PG&E may be installing millions of smart meters in Northern California, but the nation of Malta (pop. 400,000) is about to become the world’s first smart grid island. IBM is building the island’s national smart grid network, which will consist of 250,000 smart meters placed in homes around the country.
By Jerry James Stone •
December 7, 2008
GreenSmith Energy Management Systems has unveiled technology it claims can
solve the peak demand issues experienced by U.S. utilities.
The company has created a battery control-management system, that when paired with a lithium ion battery, can store up to 20 kilowatt-hours. The system can then deliver a full 4,000 discharge cycles.
By Andrew Williams •
September 4, 2008
European Union officials are studying plans for an international wind power grid in the North Sea that could provide energy generated from renewable sources to 70 million European homes. The proposed offshore grid would be more than 3850 miles long, and connect more than 100 wind farms, containing a total of 10,000 turbines to seven countries.
By Jennifer Lance •
October 11, 2007
I have been living off the grid for 15 years now, and there are certain parts of my daily energy use practices I take for granted as normal. Yet, when I visit friends or relatives living on the grid, I become aware of how differently I use electricity. While watching last week’s PBS NOW program about families living off the grid in Iowa, I began to wonder if the principles of
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Global warming concerns, government policies, and money-saving efficiency benefits have spurred clean energy systems to spring up all over the world. But a giant wind farm in the middle-of-nowhere North Dakota doesn’t do much good if there aren’t transmission lines to connect the power with the more populated areas that need it.
Europeans are facing similar distribution and reliability issues with their burgeoning renewable energy growth, and some see a continent-wide grid as
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