Can the so-called smart energy help improve the efficiency, reliability, economics and sustainability of the production and distribution of energy?
Your insights are highly appreciated!
Clearly, renewable energy resources will play an increasingly vital role in the power generation mix over the next century. I agree with the Union of Concerned Scientists suggestion:
“No single solution can meet our society’s future energy needs. The solution instead will come from a family of diverse energy technologies (solar, wind, geothermal, ..) that share a common thread:
they do not deplete our natural resources or destroy our environment.”
By the year 2020, world energy consumption is projected to increase by 50 percent, or an additional 207 quadrillion BTUs. If the global consumption of renewable energy sources remains constant, the world’s available fossil fuel reserves will be consumed in 104 years or early in the 22nd century.(Source: US Department of Energy)
http://www.ecology.com/2011/09/06/fossil-fuels-renewable-energy-resources/
Clearly, renewable energy resources will play an increasingly vital role in the power generation mix over the next century. I agree with the Union of Concerned Scientists suggestion:
“No single solution can meet our society’s future energy needs. The solution instead will come from a family of diverse energy technologies (solar, wind, geothermal, ..) that share a common thread:
they do not deplete our natural resources or destroy our environment.”
By the year 2020, world energy consumption is projected to increase by 50 percent, or an additional 207 quadrillion BTUs. If the global consumption of renewable energy sources remains constant, the world’s available fossil fuel reserves will be consumed in 104 years or early in the 22nd century.(Source: US Department of Energy)
http://www.ecology.com/2011/09/06/fossil-fuels-renewable-energy-resources/
I think that the best plan for energy is to construct a king of internet-like for energy. Every one may produce some energy using, wind, sun, etc. He can use as much energy as he needs, and the remaining goes to energy-net for somebody else to use, and it is registered to your account. In this way you do not have to construct expensive means for storage the excess energy.
Smart energy helps optimize energy consumption, but i am not sûre such optimisation is enough to address all of thé issues you have mentioned. I can certainly sée it improve thé efficiency of the energy production system. But in terms of économics, i believe a study on future demand in relation to current production working coherently with some policy initiatives would help answer thé question.
The aim of smart energy (grid) is to involve smart users to make life easier and come up with technologies for optimizing energy efficiency. For instance, IBM is helping utilities add a layer of digital intelligence to their grids. These smart grids use sensors, meters, digital controls and analytic tools to automate, monitor and control the two-way flow of energy across operations — from power plant to plug. A power company can optimize grid performance, prevent outages, restore outages faster and allow consumers to manage energy usage right down to the individual networked appliance.
N.B> Smart grids can also incorporate new renewable energies such as solar and wind power, and interact locally with distributed power sources, or plug-in electric vehicles.
Smart Energy Solutions provide a wide range of quality home insulation, heating, ventilation and other energy efficiency products.
The benefits may include:
* Simple graphs and charts show you where you use your energy and where money goes.
* Your gas and electricity consumption is broken down, so you get an at a glance view of your spending.
* See what your consumption looks like each month or billing period and compare it against other similar households.
* View the history of your energy spending to keep track of the impact of energy efficiency measures over time.
More information, you may look at the following link:
http://www.britishgas.co.uk/smarter-living/control-energy/smart-meters/smart-energy-reports.html
Yes indeed it is much better and essential not only to the cases indicated including sustaining production and distribution but to sustain the health and livability of our planet earth as well. The over increasing human population and extremely increasing consumerism of resources will have a negative effect on the continuity of earth's resources and degradation and damage on nature, unless such pollutant free and as you said, smart energy are widely used.
Dear All,
Many thanks for your insightful contributions as usual! I agree with all of you. What is needed to be done is 1. develop greater awareness of energy and its limited (but increasingly very expensive) resources 2. greater use of the smart grid to benefit the world's economy.
I have no comments except would like you all to see this site and video
http://www.newslook.com/videos/679777-old-batteries-power-new-lights-in-gaza
http://uk.reuters.com/video/2014/03/19/old-batteries-power-new-lights-in-gaza?videoId=296143132
Many remediation systems, such as pump-and - treat, may operate for many years, demanding electricity from fossil fuel-powered utilities. Heavy-duty equipment used in construction during site remediation is usually diesel powered. Opportunities to
reduce these emissions exist through innovative approaches and new technologies. The purpose of the Smart Energy Resources Guide (SERG) is to provide information on available mechanisms to reduce emissions from energy use at cleanup sites. Examples include energy efficiency upgrades, implementing on-site renewable energy projects, and carbon sequestration
http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/grants/sap/pdfs/Green-Grant-Practices.pdf
Smart energy technology aims at reducing energy use, limiting energy waste, and increasing overall energy efficiency. Energy efficiency (which differs from energy conservation) means using less energy to perform a certain function.
However, there is a difference between the aims & the realization of these aims.
Most of the equipment & machines waste more than 2/3 of the energy input. For example, power plants typically only turn about 30% of the energy input into usable electricity. An average car consumes lot of energy & emits nearly 3 times its weight of CO2 per year. Airplanes are extremely inefficient, consuming lot of energy even for short flies and emitting much higher CO2 than any other means of transportation.
Cheap & abundant fossil fuels have cemented bad energy habits, especially in rich countries, which has meant producing, distributing and using energy in a massively inefficient way.
The facts are grim, at the moment, despite the “sensational” news. Moving into “real” smart energy is not easy unless the influential countries become more keen in this respect.
A brownfield is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or the potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Here the activities are clean up contamination, preserve existing open space, reduce carbon footprints, reuse existing infrastructure, and revitalize communities.
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/sustain_plts/reports/sustain_report_web_final.pdf
My dear @Marwan, smart energy is an ideal solution for today’s world very limited energy resources problems! "To satisfy both the increasing demand for power and the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, we need an electric system that can handle these challenges in a sustainable, reliable and economic way....A smart grid is an evolved grid system that manages electricity demand in a sustainable, reliable and economic manner, built on advanced infrastructure and tuned to facilitate the integration of all involved."
http://new.abb.com/smartgrids/what-is-a-smart-grid
http://www.hitachi.com/environment/showcase/solution/energy/smartgrid.html
My dear Ljubomir,
Meeting the high demand for power and the need for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, is one such big issue we need to consider as we look at this subject at large. Thank you.
From buildings to communities
http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/SVC/fla/2013.NATF/NATFPanelSession1SmartEnergy.pdf
Virtual power plants (VPPs), which employ software and IT innovations to achieve the optimum usage of grid assets while maintaining the proper balance of the electricity grid, are expected to play an increasingly important role in the future of the power sector.
As energy markets accelerate in the direction of a greater reliance upon distributed energy resources (DER), VPPs can help create an “energy cloud” business model in which anyone, anywhere can buy and sell energy services on an open market. Click to tweet:
According to a recent report from Navigant Research, the total worldwide capacity of virtual power plants is expected to more than quintuple in the next 9 years, growing from 4,800 megawatts (MW) in 2014 to nearly 28,000 MW by 2023.
“Combining a rich diversity of independent resources into a network via sophisticated planning, scheduling, and bidding of distributed generation-based services, virtual power plants have the potential to harness and distribute electricity in ways hardly envisioned just a few years ago,” says Peter Asmus, principal research analyst with Navigant Research.
I have also attached a link to a related book.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20141013005929/en/Capacity-Virtual-Power-Plants-Worldwide-Expected-Quintuple#.VECUu_mSxpo
http://www.smartpowerbook.com/
I agree with what you suggest, dear Behrouz, that software, IT innovations and the electricity grid can play a vital and important role in making the power sector more economic and efficient.
Smart grids promise to facilitate the performance of the grid system. The power industry has adopted “smart” grids that use information and communication technologies, which may make electric power systems more reliable and efficient.
Renewable technology enhances the available energy resources. These technologies also enable integration of higher levels of renewable energy and conventional energy sources. The renewable sources are not “dispatch-able”—the power output cannot be controlled. Future energy sustainability depends heavily on how the renewable energy problem is addressed in the next few decades
http://rexjournal.org.managewebsiteportal.com/files/documents/System-Integration-Smart-Grid-with-Renewable-Energy---Mrs.-N.-V.-Vader.pdf
Thanks so much for the informative feedback, dear Krishnan and Roland!
Words cannot thank you enough, my dear friend, Roland. My indebtedness is honestly beyond words!
Energy Conservation
Legal requirements are in place to affect the building shell and the technical facilities. The requirements relate to: 1.The transmission heat requirement [W/m²K]; 2. The specific primary energy requirement [kWh/m²a]. Both requirements are assessed by comparison with a reference building of the same building geometry constructed according to the Standard. The primary energy requirement is shown in the buildings energy certificate in the form of a comparative scale. The coloured representation and the simultaneous application of various energy standards enable the energy quality of a building to be classified quickly and easily. The EnEV procedure for residential buildings balances the annual heating requirement and energy needed to heat water. When assessing non-residential buildings in accordance with the EnEV, the cooling requirement and electricity needed for lighting are also balanced.
http://www.bmvbs-india.com/BMVBS-India-Broshure.pdf
Dear @Marwan and friends, some latest news on "Climate Change and Green Economy" conference" , Belgrade, November 20th, 2014.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/comments.php?nav_id=92314
Renewable energy represents a truly long-term alternative compared to finite, environmentally unfriendly fossil energy sources. The inexhaustible power of the sun is not the only way to fulfill our responsibility to future generations; wind, water and renewable bioenergy can be used as well
Dear Professor Marwan M. Obeidat,
Energy management is equally important as much as its generation. Smart grid, multi-facet energy source exploitation for generation and energy crisis and saving education may provide an optimal solution.
For innovative small/medium venture, aiming to grow in the new connected world, Clean Energy and Smart Energy sectors, there is Inspiralia, a product developer that helps SMEs bring innovative technology to the market, will present its unique process using the funding offered through the EU Horizon 2020 SME Instrument . Inspiralia’s unique approach has had one of the highest rates of success in obtaining funding for SMEs ( 30% success rate Vs. 6% average in Europe)
http://www.inspiralia.com/
OK, MY DEAR FRIEND, ROLAND, LET US NOT LOSE HOPE TOWARDS BEING SMART IN ANYTHING WE DO OR THINK OF DOING!
Millennials: new challenges and opportunities in smart energy!
A new report from the US-based Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative considers how millennials’ differing attitude to energy and technology will, and already is, affecting the power generation sector...
From the relatively small survey sample, the study found that, overall, millennials are ‘ambidextrous’, inquisitive, information hungry and enthusiastic about energy and sustainability.
They are more likely to be champions of green energy, and 38%-28% are mostly concerned with saving money, while 23% are happy with the status quo. And they generally demonstrate an affinity with technology – so much so that 50% of survey respondents said they are more likely to invest in energy-saving technologies and programmes if their utility supplier endorses them.
The report also finds that this age group tends to engage more with energy providers and prefer to do so via digital communication; 59% have used digital channels in the last six months to speak with their provider. Respondents also expressed an interest in all but one of 18 energy-saving programmes and offers, which far exceeded the interest of non-millennials...
https://www.power-technology.com/features/millennials-new-challenges-opportunities-smart-energy/
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