Energy | October 08, 2008 |
Live From PDX: Blogging the PHEV/Grid Workshop
Today is day one of the Rocky Mountain Institute's Smart Garage charrette, a three-day workshop where leaders from energy, grid and automotive industries will be hashing through the various challenges of getting plug-in hybrid electric vehicles onto the grid as an asset rather than a liability.
For a great backgrounder on all of the complex issues about finance, infrastructure and power demand, check out this hefty PDF from RMI that outlines both sides of the major issues, particularly on pages 15-20.
I spoke with Felix Kramer of Calcars.org and Cam Burns of RMI this morning about just how huge this could be for future generations. Clean transportation, a stronger grid, and the slow scaling back of reliance on petroleum could change the world as we know it in too many ways to contemplate. This should be fun.
I found it interesting that the sector that has the most to lose -- the petroleum folks -- aren't attending today's event. If people no longer have to go to the gas station once or twice a week, what becomes of the ubiquitous mini-marts? Kramer said petroleum companies have been slow to embrace an opportunity that also poses considerable risk to their livelihood. They could be in for a rude awakening.
I'll be posting throughout the day on the subject, so stay tuned.
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Comments By Readers
Increasing the overall demand on the U.S. electricity grid by using power for automobiles is not at all the least cost method of reducing the nation's carbon footprint. The existing excess demand during off-peak comes from coal-fired power plants, that are polluting pigs from any perspective. Increasing electricity supply necessary to significantly input to the transportation system will come from supply expansion that is MUCH more expensive than gasoline of diesel at any expected crude oil price. The first investment dollars should go to demand management or demand reduction because the infrastructure cost of displaced demand per KWH is the lowest cost method of decommissioning coal fired power plants, which is priority number one. Under the current and foreseeable future, the availability of capital for any large scale purpose now competes with medical care, social security funding, debt repayment and others. We have entered a new and greatly different financial and economic era that will be difficult to understand and will be painful. It is not comparable with any time in the U.S. history. PHEV is fine as a narrowly marginal part of the transportation infrastructure, but that is all. PHEV or PEV seems like the magic bullet, but it is not. Being smart is recognizing these facts and getting on with electricity demand reduction to decommission hydrocarbon sourced power plants. PHEV's and EV's do not scale with global commodity demand and global capital outlays. If this were 1925, that scenario would work. Not any more.
Increasing the overall demand on the U.S. electricity grid by using power for automobiles is not at all the least cost method of reducing the nation's carbon footprint. The existing excess demand during off-peak comes from coal-fired power plants, that are polluting pigs from any perspective. Increasing electricity supply necessary to significantly input to the transportation system will come from supply expansion that is MUCH more expensive than gasoline of diesel at any expected crude oil price. The first investment dollars should go to demand management or demand reduction because the infrastructure cost of displaced demand per KWH is the lowest cost method of decommissioning coal fired power plants, which is priority number one. Under the current and foreseeable future, the availability of capital for any large scale purpose now competes with medical care, social security funding, debt repayment and others. We have entered a new and greatly different financial and economic era that will be difficult to understand and will be painful. It is not comparable with any time in the U.S. history. PHEV is fine as a narrowly marginal part of the transportation infrastructure, but that is all. PHEV or PEV seems like the magic bullet, but it is not. Being smart is recognizing these facts and getting on with electricity demand reduction to decommission hydrocarbon sourced power plants. PHEV's and EV's do not scale with global commodity demand and global capital outlays. If this were 1925, that scenario would work. Not any more.
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