From: Spudboy100@aol.com
Date: Thu Mar 06 2003 - 01:30:09 MST
<A HREF="http://enews.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/EETD-microgrids.html">http://enews.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/EETD-microgrids.html>
Is this Lovins-esque, or what?
<<Microgrids: reliable power in a small package
<<In 1996, a sagging power line in Oregon brushed against a tree, and within
To address this weakness, Berkeley Lab scientists are helping to develop a
"Catastrophic loss of power to all systems like the 1996 blackout should be
This microgrid appears to the larger grid as if it's any other customer. And
"Everything is interdependent. For example, if vital communications go down,
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5
: Thu Mar 06 2003 - 01:37:24 MST
minutes 12 million customers in eight states lost power. Such is the
vulnerability of today's power grid.
new approach to power generation in which a cluster of small, on-site
generators serves office buildings, industrial parks, and homes. Called a
microgrid, the system could help shoulder the nation's growing thirst for
electricity — estimated to jump by almost 400 gigawatts by 2025 — without
overburdening aging transmission lines or building the 1,000 new power plants
required to meet this demand. And it may make statewide blackouts a thing of
the past, or at least ensure that service to critical equipment is
maintained.
impossible," says Chris Marnay, an energy scientist in Berkeley Lab's
Environmental Energy Technologies Division. "If we sat down today to devise a
power system from scratch, our design wouldn't resemble the one we have."
Chris Marnay (left) and Ryan Firestone of Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy
Technologies Division stand in front of generators that power and heat a
laboratory at BD Biosciences in San Diego, Calif. The Consortium for Electric
Reliability Technology Solutions (CERTS) is studying this project as an early
example of on-site power generation.
Instead of relying solely on large power plants, a portion of the nation's
electricity needs could be met by small generators such as ordinary
reciprocating engines, microturbines, fuel cells, and photovoltaic systems. A
small network of these generators, each of which typically produce no more
than 500 kilowatts, would provide reliable power to anything from a postal
sorting facility to a neighborhood.
it can quickly switch between operating on and off the grid: when the grid
offers cheap electricity, the microgrid can purchase it, but if prices rise
or there's a power failure, the microgrid can isolate itself. It can also
temporarily shed unimportant equipment such as refrigerators during power
shortages. This ensures uninterrupted power to the critical computers,
communications infrastructure, and control systems that drive today's
economy.
other sectors falter," Marnay says. "But if sensitive equipment is powered
locally, our vulnerable, centralized power system becomes much less critical,
and is a less attractive terrorist target"....>>