Essentially, the decoupling issue (as I’ve come to understand it) centers around the profits of utility companies. Utilities make profits by producing electricity and selling it (duh). In the future, as more homeowners put solar panels on their roof, this creates a point of contention. Utilities would love to have increased power, but unless they actually are the ones providing it, they’re left with reduced profits. So how can we have a distributed electric grid while simultaneously supporting the pre-existing utility industry structure?

Hopefully this white paper can help me figure that one out. Download the full report for yourself at SEPA’s website: solarelectricpower.org. I’ve also archived a copy of it right here: Decoupling Utility Profits from Sales.

I’ll post my thoughts once I’ve had the chance to read it.

According to the article cited above, 14 states in total are interested in pushing up their environmental requirements - which is fortunately a significant enough number that we will likely see the effect be a nationwide ripple on better efficiency standards. Were it just one state - California for instance which has been lobbying for this ability for quite a while - a clear argument might be made that the burdens placed by that one state outweigh the economies of scale that the auto industry needs to build vehicles affordably. But with 14 states all trying to boost their emissions standards together, this may be the equivalent of a national rollout of increased pressure to reduce our environmental impact.

On the upside, California and other states may now be able to really put pressure on the auto companies to increase their citizens’ ability to purchase attractive, affordable, lower-emissions vehicles. On the downside, the automakers will now face increased complexity in ensuring that they meet the appropriate standards on a state-by-state basis (assuming that they don’t simply adopt the most stringent standards as their norm). From the latest Detroit auto show, it appears that many new models are already in the pipeline featuring hybrid systems and plug-in electrical capabilities. The increase in demands on the power grid might need to be addressed in the near future, but for the time being we may be seeing a boost to power needs, a reduction in emissions, and some additional progress in advancing efficiency standards.

And to Jim Cramer, you’re great “booyah!” but frankly, this industry is anything but “done.” Stay tuned…

So what ailed OptiSolar? Its strong contracts and deals with California’s PG&E utility appear sound, but future growth opportunities are apparently stunted by frustrations in the credit markets.

This situation, unfortunately, is indicative of the times that we are all living in right now. This is the perfect time for investments in to renewable, scaled utility-grade systems like solar since the economy is not booming… Older plants using older technologies like coal and natural gas will be slowly coming off-line as they reach their life-span peaks, and distributed, scalable systems like utility-grade solar ought to be able to fill the void during this downturned economy (when proposing a full, 500+ megawatt facility might be cost prohibitive).

My hope is that this is just a minor setback for companies like OptiSolar and others in the utility-grade field, since that is truly where the solar industry will be able to compete in the long run. Rooftop solar in residential and commercial applications is vitally important, but utility installations will make a much greater impact on the overall power consumption choices that customers receive in the future. My best wishes go to the nearly 300 OptiSolar employees that were laid off during this cutback, and I hope we can all find successful positions in the coming weeks and months ahead.

With this in mind, I set about trying to find a good book or research source to learn more about the grid: It’s past, it’s present, and the challenges we may all face in upgrading it for the future. Distributed electricity sources will be coming on line in much greater numbers in the future as rooftop solar and backyard wind becomes part of the electricity landscape, not to mention the promises of millions of plug-in hybrid cars that will be on the road in the next decade. Each major car company seemed to have something in the works during the latest Detroit auto show. If the grid has been taxed in today’s landscape, imagine when we’re using it for not only our lights and air conditioning but also our transportation solutions.

With all this in mind, I have begun a search for a good, non-engineering oriented book on the nature of our current grid electrical system. I’d like to understand better all the features of this unique system, and learn where growth is possible and/or constrained, where new technologies must advance to make an impact on both our energy generation as well as our ability to use what we’re using efficiently. I have scoured Amazon with little success, and a recent trip to the Stanford University Bookstore - arguably one of the best places to visit for a robust selection of engineering and hard-to-find titles - turned up nothing that was explicitly about the grid itself (without being filled with calculations, tables, and engineering jargon).

I did pick up a new book, a textbook actually titled Energy for Sustainability, which is arguably the longest book I’ve ever owned (at a mere 790 pages). It has a chapter on centralized electricity, but frankly it’ll probably take me a few weeks to reach it so until then I’ll keep looking. I’m pretty confident a lot of my posts in the next few weeks will be derived from things I learn from this book, so please stay tuned. And, if you happen to have a suggestion for a good book to read on the topic of the Electricity Grid, I heartily encourage you to leave a comment or send me an email (dave (at) altentoday (dot) com). Thanks!

 

The Obama-Biden comprehensive New Energy for America plan will:

• Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
• Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
• Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars — cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon — on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
• Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Energy Plan Overview

Provide Short-term Relief to American Families

• Crack Down on Excessive Energy Speculation.
• Swap Oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Cut Prices.

Eliminate Our Current Imports from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 Years

• Increase Fuel Economy Standards.
• Get 1 Million Plug-In Hybrid Cars on the Road by 2015.
• Create a New $7,000 Tax Credit for Purchasing Advanced Vehicles.
• Establish a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
• A “Use it or Lose It” Approach to Existing Oil and Gas Leases.
• Promote the Responsible Domestic Production of Oil and Natural Gas.

Create Millions of New Green Jobs

• Ensure 10 percent of Our Electricity Comes from Renewable Sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
• Deploy the Cheapest, Cleanest, Fastest Energy Source – Energy Efficiency.
• Weatherize One Million Homes Annually.
• Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology.
• Prioritize the Construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline.

Reduce our Greenhouse Gas Emissions 80 Percent by 2050

• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.
• Make the U.S. a Leader on Climate Change.

 

We are at an exciting precipice in time. Our 20th century challenges are now evolving in to 21st century opportunities, and climate change, environmental consciousness, energy independence, and technology achievements may culminate in to a tide change in how we treat energy and our economy as a whole. I wish the Obama administration my best wishes, and I look forward to seeing if we can all change the world for the better, together.

Thomas Friedman : Author of the latest book I’ve read, Hot, Flat and Crowded, Friedman was the one who really shined a light on the triumphs and challenges of globalization. Now he’s perhaps the most vocally outspoken author on the tangible reality of tomorrow’s energy and sociopolitical landscape.

Robert Reich : Former labor secretary under the Clinton administration and now a lecturer / professor at UC Berkeley, Mr. Reich’s book Supercapitalism was thought provoking and a worthwhile read. I particularly enjoy the regularity he updates his blog (damn near daily). Always something worth thinking about.

Francis Vanek : Author of Energy Systems Engineering, Mr. Vanek is a new blogger but posts some interesting facts and thoughts in his first few posts. I hope he keeps it up and I encourage you to take a read at what he’s stated so far.

A recent news event has gone by the news cycle bizarrely nearly completely ignored - a massive spillage of toxic coal ash mixed with water that has created an environmental disaster right in peoples’ back yards. The culprit? Tennessee Valley Authority: Roosevelt’s TVA; part of the new deal. As we watch the new government come in to power, they’re also promising TVA & New Deal-like activities… But perhaps that’s best left for another discussion. No, where I’d rather steer this particular monologue is in the fact that these spills and environmental disasters are a reality when facing these (as Friedman calls them) Dirty Fuels. 

When considering the future, wouldn’t it be great to imagine when toxic spills become a thing of the past? The only way that we can really start developing that future is to start thinking about ways to internalize these external costs that traditional energy sources are involved in… From the pollution of CO2 to the likelihood of a toxic and devastating spill like the one in Tennessee, these are all external costs that often do not get passed to the producer. They AREN’T part of the cost of doing business, and therefore aren’t calculated in the price of energy when the competition comes to bear. 

In order to really invest in the next stage of clean electrons (again, as Friedman calls them) we should seriously consider developing market mechanisms that account for all those external, publicly-rendered costs, and force companies to internalize them. This is not for the sake of putting them directly out of business, but simply to recognize that there are economic burdens that society is bearing; but we should bear them no longer.

In the meantime, I’ll be resuming my regular updating of the site, so please stay tuned for more! Thanks again for visiting, and of course I welcome and encourage your feedback. Also, I’m just finishing Thomas Freidman’s Hot, Flat and Crowded, so I’ll have a writeup on my thoughts on his work in the next couple of days.