Analysis Shows Transmission Upgrades, Offshore Wind, and Operational Changes Needed to Incorporate 20 to 30 Percent Wind
January 20, 2010
Today, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released the Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study (EWITS). This unprecedented two-and-a-half year technical study of future high-penetration wind scenarios was designed to analyze the economic, operational, and technical implications of shifting 20 percent or more of the Eastern Interconnection’s electrical load to wind energy by the year 2024.
“Twenty percent wind is an ambitious goal, but this study shows that there are multiple scenarios through which it can be achieved,” said David Corbus, NREL project manager for the study. “Whether we’re talking about using land-based wind in the Midwest, offshore wind in the East or any combination of wind power resources, any plausible scenario requires transmission infrastructure upgrades and we need to start planning for that immediately.”
http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2010/801.html
Plus, other good studies in here. http://www.nrel.gov/wind/systemsintegration/ewits.html
Energy Data Available Anywhere, Any Time
(NREL news feature) – Having rapidly established itself as a “go to” site for transportation and other related energy information, the Virtual Information Bridge to Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (VIBE) is expanding its reach to attract new users across the widest range of energy issues. A sister site to VIBE, called Open Energy Information, has been launched to allow organizations around the world to both post their own energy data and download data, for free.
At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), VIBE is known as a state-of-the art presentation studio on the third floor of Building 16. Its walls are covered with flat-screen monitors aglow with widgets, home pages, Web links and sundry visual cues of the virtual world, all smattered among scores of more conventional pie charts, myriad bar graphs and a plethora of energy data sets.
To the world beyond the Laboratory, VIBE and Open Energy Information (OpenEI) contain that same treasure trove of information and a lot more — with every tidbit of data just a mouse click away from any internet-connected device, anywhere.
http://www.nrel.gov/features/20100108_vibe.html
August 3, 2009
Huge parabolic mirrors catching the sun’s rays could crisscross America’s deserts soon, thanks to a breakthrough that may greatly lower the cost of solar power.
A small solar company has teamed with scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to develop massive curved sheets of metal that have the potential to be 30 percent less expensive than today’s best collectors of concentrated solar power.
The SkyTrough Parabolic Trough Solar Concentrating Collectors will be longer than football fields and look like fun-house mirrors, but could be the game-changers in solar energy’s bid to out-muscle gas and coal in providing electricity for America’s homes.
The rest of the article can be read here http://www.nrel.gov/features/20090803_skytrough.html
On the Road with Alternative Fuels
July 24, 2009
Drivers now can take a popular tool on the road thanks to staff at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The Mobile Alternative Fueling Station Locator (MAFSL) helps on-the-go drivers find the five closest biodiesel, electricity, E85 (ethanol), hydrogen, natural gas, and propane fueling sites using any mobile device with Internet access. The rest of this article can be read here http://www.nrel.gov/features/20090724_locator.html
July 10, 2009
NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) has installed its first Atmospheric Processing Platform to prototype lower-cost thin film solar cells from inks and other solutions.
Thin film technologies are spurring innovative new solar applications, such as modules that double as roof shingles, and semi-transparent modules that can be integrated into building walls or roofs. It has the potential to dramatically increase the generation of clean electricity.
But to become commercially successful, thin film manufacturing costs must be significantly reduced. The uniquely configured platform enables NREL scientists to work directly with industry partners to test novel designs and manufacturing methods using precise digital printing technologies under controlled conditions.
For more details on the platform, please see http://www.nrel.gov/features/20090710_pv.html
