Took long enough. I remember punting this idea about back with SERA in
'74 or '75, tho' within the context of "when we have the controllers
able to manage it", which we knew would be available within a decade or
so of that date.
Depressing really, an entire generational time utterly wasted. So now we
probably do need nukes as an interim. Although with "dictatorship power"
which is really what nuclear power is, once its in nothing else will be
allowed to become established to break the corporate police and total
security state that is utterly necessary with such materials in such
abundance... its a one way street.
Which of course is why the rich are advocating it so vigourously again.
-------- Forwarded Message --------
From: Dave Cull <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: Dave Cull <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Dave Cull <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Microgrids as Peer-to-Peer Energy
Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2005 18:34:54 -0700 (PDT)
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/100405EC.shtml
Microgrids as Peer-to-Peer Energy
BBC News
Sunday 25 September 2005
Small networks of power generators in "microgrids" could transform the
electricity network in the
way that the net changed distributed communication.
That is one of the conclusions of a Southampton University project scoping
out the feasibility of
microgrids for power generation and distribution.
Microgrids are small community networks that supply electricity and heat.
They could make substantial savings, and emissions cuts with no major
changes to lifestyles,
researchers say.
Electricity suppliers are aiming to meet the UK government's Renewables
Obligation, requiring
them to generate 15% of electricity from renewable sources by 2015.
Microgrids, say the researchers, could easily integrate alternative energy
production, such as wind
or solar, into the electricity network.
They could also make substantial savings and cuts to emissions without
major changes to
lifestyles, according to lead researcher, Dr. Tom Markvart.
"This would save something like 20 to 30% of our emissions with hardly
anyone knowing it," he told
the BBC News website.
"A microgrid is a collection of small generators for a collection of users
in close proximity,"
explained Dr. Markvart, whose research appears in the Royal Academy of
Engineering's Ingenia
magazine.
"It supplies heat through the household, but you already have cables in the
ground, so it is easy to
construct an electricity network. Then you create some sort of control network."
That network could be made into a smart grid using more sophisticated
software and grid
computing technologies.
As an analogy, the microgrids could work like peer-to-peer file-sharing
technologies, such as
BitTorrents, where demand is split up and shared around the network of "users".
Microgrids could exist as stand alone power networks within small
communities, or be owned and
operated by existing power suppliers.
Campaign groups such as the Green Alliance have been pushing for micropower
generation
technologies, such as micro-CHP (combined heat and power) boilers - a vital
part of microgrids -
mini-wind turbines and photovoltaic (PV) solar arrays.
Micro-CHP units work by turning heat which would normally escape through
flues into electricity.
Homeowners then sell any surplus electricity back to the national grid.
The Green Alliance says the government should take micro-generation more
seriously.
Putting just six panels of solar PVs on a typical new three-bedroom house
would reduce that
household's carbon emissions by over 20%, according to the group.
Power Pressures
Microgrids are designed for a smallish community - a typical UK housing
estate for example. They
deal much more efficiently with fluctuating power demands which the national
grid is not flexible
enough to cope with.
Dr. Markvart's project was initiated in recognition that the UK's current
electricity distribution system
was built around the availability of fossil fuels.
But the 21st Century throws up some pressing questions about the use of
fossil fuels.
"We wanted to look at what kind of energy system we would ideally construct
today, in the 21st
Century, in response to current pressures for higher energy use," Dr. Markvart
said.
"We looked at something to which the technology energy sector could evolve
in response to the
need to reduce emissions."
Dr. Markvart and his team at Southampton University built a computer model
to test out the viability
of such small scale networks, combining micro-CHP units with PV solar arrays to
convert sunlight into
electricity.
"It is a little bit like comparing the old style telephone network with the
network today," said Dr.
Markvart.
Installing a microgrid would not need an entirely new network to be built,
as some broadband
networks have dictated.
For developing countries, buildings could provide electricity without the
need for vast
infrastructures to be put in place.
Close to Home
As the cost of alternative technologies falls and their efficiencies rise,
they become much more of a
viable option.
Greenhouse gas emissions could also be reduced if micro generators were
powered by
hydrogen, sunlight or small wind turbines, said Dr. Markvart.
Having generators close to demand also cuts down the cost of getting power
from a remote power
station to the household.
Generator sizes are similar to loads - which is very different to
traditional systems with huge power
stations serving lots of small users.
Smaller networks mean ways to store unused power can be introduced,
something that does not
happen in large networks.
"In a traditional system, you have the power station and electricity flows
from power station to users
- it is unidirectional. The whole network is constructed around that
unidirectional power flow.
"There is also a tremendous amount of heat generated during the process.
The heat is just waste
and it is disposed of," explained Dr. Markvart.
The huge "chimneys" that have become a familiar part of many areas of the
UK are the towers that
cool down and then expel the heat waste.
"Only about 30 to 40% of the primary energy ends up as electricity; 60 to
70% goes up the chimney.
You don't have any use for it because there is no one located around the
station that needs heat."
Increasingly, micro-CHP units are being tested out in small communities to
potentially replace
conventional central-heating boiler units.
According to estimates, eight million micro-CHP units could be in homes by
2020, supplying a third
of a household's power.
But renewable power groups have called for clearer government policy
targets for alternative
power strategies.
"We could have microgrids tomorrow; it can be done now. The technology is
there," said Dr.
Markvart.
The main barriers however, are institutional and regulatory. There are some
moves afoot by
regulators Ofgem, which is working on a registered power zones concept to
convince the electricity
companies of their potential.
The cost of renewable energy devices has been recognised by the government,
according to the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). It wants to excite the industry so that
the cost of individual
units falls.
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