Green Technology

Can your car - or your hybrid - help power the grid?

" ... exploring plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) that not only use grid electricity to meet their power needs, but also the car's potential to store electricity from the wind or sun, or even feed electricity back into the grid, earning money for the owner."

" ... vehicle-to-grid (V2G) integration ... improve the sustainability and resilience of the transportation and electric power infrastructures ... new era in which vehicles and electric "fuel" infrastructure become a system."

" electric cars become "distributed" storage, doubling as mobile holding tanks for electricity, ready to serve in their down time."

Via:  University of Michigan LINK
 

Posted by Green Dude at 05:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

... "It hopes to start dissolving the first cavern within a year. Later, the company is looking to dig other caverns at the site for compressed air, which could store excess energy generated by a nearby wind farm ... " ..

Posted by Green Tech at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Via: United Technologies Corp. LINK

Posted by Green Dude at 06:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As both wind and solar power are intermittent - unlike gas, coal, oil or nuclear fired power plants - there is a need for an effective way to store these energy sources until they are needed.  The ability to smooth the supply with the demand is becoming more important as solar and wind start to power the grid.

Compressed Air Energy Storage - CAES " ... stores off-peak energy, in the form of compressed air in an underground reservoir, and releases this energy during peak hours. ... used for load management of intermittent renewable energy resources or as a stand-alone intermediate generation source for capturing energy arbitrage, capacity payments and ancillary services. ..."

"Renewable power sources are critical to addressing climate change. CAES greatly enhances the value of renewable power sources by (1) storing energy produced by renewables when demand is low and releasing it when it is needed, and by (2) rapidly providing power in the event of a sudden loss of renewables generation. ..."

Posted by Green Dude at 04:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Imaging a ZERO energy home.  Sound realistic? GE thinks so !

GE's “Net Zero Energy Home” ..." ... combines GE’s most efficient appliances and lighting, GE’s new energy management systems, and GE power generating and storing technologies. ... together, the system will enable a homeowner to achieve net zero energy costs by 2015."

" ... the Home Energy Manager, the central nervous system for the Net Zero Energy Home. ... smart thermostats will also be introduced ... to work in tandem with the energy manager. ... plans to develop residential power generation products like solar PV and residential wind products that will also contribute to the net zero concept."

" ... respondents in the U.S. and ... in the U.K. say they are willing to pay an increased monthly rate for smart grid technology if there is a corresponding reduction in overall energy costs by 15 percent."

Via:  GE  LINK

Posted by Green Dude at 05:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

... "The project will reinforce the fundamental objectives of the SEGIS program to optimize interconnections across the full range of emerging PV module technologies through innovative systems integration. " ...

Posted by Green Tech at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)