California clean tech open

Hello,

California Clean Tech Open is an organization of leading entrepreneurs, academics, investors and companies, working together to accelerate the development of clean technology startups.  They are based out of Palo Alto, CA. Each year they sponsor a contest for clean tech startups.

-jk

A wind farm with batteries.

Hello,

Scientific American reports on Xcel Energy's plan for a wind farm in Minnesota. This initiative will use batteries to store the electricity. This is interesting. Our current system doesn't use electric storage. Once energy is generated it must be used immediately. With nuclear or fossil fuel, we can burn it on demand. Mother nature controls the winds. They are strongest at night. Yet, we want to use the power during the day.

Storage is very desirable but it most cost a lot of money. With many technologies, improvements are breathtaking. For example, Moore's law states cpu performance doubles every two years. Unfortunately, batteries are basically improving in a linear fashion. On the other hand, there will be a lot of research in this area. If there are huge improvements in battery technologies, this pioneering effort may not be economical.

-John

Bob Metcalfe on energy

Hello, 

Bob Metcalfe is a legend in computer networks. He is best known for packet switching, ethernet and metcalfe's law. These days he is a VC with an interest in applying technology to solve energy problems. In this video, he is presenting a lecture at Ember entitled Enernet. He uses term to draw in analogy between his experience with the internet over the last few decades and how he foresees solving the energy problems of today. 

-jk 

Green:Net 09: applying IT to climate change

Hello,

Om Malik's GigaOm Network has announced the Green:Net 09 conference in San Francisco at the end of March. The topic fits nicely with my direction. It considers how to apply IT to address climate change. So, I plan to attend.  Caveat emptor: the topic is timely but GigaOm conferences trend to celebrate the VC/CEO at the expense of the topic at hand. Om, if you're out there, more intellectual discipline, please! 

-jk

HOMER - Analysis of micropower systems options

Hello,

HOMER "is a computer model that simplifies the task of evaluating design options for both off-grid and grid-connected power systems for remote, stand-alone, and distributed generation (DG) applications". If you take the time to provide the government with proprietary data every six months, NREL will allow you to download their windows application without payment.

-jk

Renewable Energy classes @ CSM

Hello,

At the moment, I'm learning everything I can about energy and how to apply IT to it. I noticed the Tom Diskin, professor of Electronics Technology at the College of San Mateo, is teaching two courses on Renewable energy . 

• ELEC 680: Power for the Future - Introduces students to the current environment challenges and surveys energy options.
• ELEC 144: Solar Energy Fundamentals - Introduction to solar fundamentals include both thermal and photovoltaic. It also has a hands on lab!

-jk

Galvin Electricity Initiative

Hello,

The bibliography and references are broad and touches on many interesting organizations. The first one that caught my eye is the Galvin Electricity Initiative.   Bob Galvin, the retired CEO of Motorola, formed this Institute in response to the 2003 blackout on the eastern seaboard of the US. Kurt Yeager, former president of EPRI, is the executive director of the Institute. In his 2007 congressional testimony, he outlines his vision for the smart grid both technically and from a policy point of view.

-jk

SEGIS-Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems

Hello,

Last night I attended the Silicon Valley Photovoltaics Society meeting at PARC. John Benner of NREL examined how NREL could assist companies trying to bring Photovoltaics to market. I wanted to learn about what special requirements industrial solar installation would have from the grid. He provided a point to a paper at Sandia National Labs entitled Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems - "SEGIS". Here is the link to it.

-jk

Cal Energy Commission: Load Management Standards

Hello,

Today the California Energy Commission released Proposed Load Management Standards draft. The executive summary is a nice primer for both energy efficiency with respect to the power grid and California's efforts over the years.

-jk

Steven Chu for Energy Secertary

Hello,

Today Obama nominated Professor Steven Chu for US Secretary of Energy. I am very pleased with this select. He is currently the director of the Lawrence Berkeley Lab. There is a lot of research with respect to solar, biofuels and the smart grid ( see Demand Response Research Center).

-jk

SVPVS: Making a Federal case for Photovoltaics.

Hello,

The Silicon Valley Photovoltaic Society will be meeting at PARC on Dec 10th. Click here for details. John Benner is the Manager PV Industry Partnerships with National Center for Photovoltaics at National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

-jk

California establishing standard for load management.

Hello,

The California Energy Commision is establishing a standard for load management.

-jk