Hair-thin, ribbon-shaped HTS (high temperature superconductor) wires can conduct 150 times the electricity of similar sized copper wires. This power density advantage enables transmission-voltage HTS cables to utilize far less wire and yet conduct up to five times more power – in a smaller right of way – than traditional copper-based cables. When operated at full capacity, the new HTS cable system is capable of transmitting up to 574 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power300,000 homes. (See more about HTS half way through the blog post below.)
You may remember the National Clean Energy Project: Building the New Economy Roundtable held in Washington D.C. Feb. 24th, attended by Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu, Harry Reid, and T. Boone Pickens, among others.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/02/us-interior-secretary-says-department-will-play-large-role-in-transmission
Notable quotes:
Ken Salazar, Interior Secretary: “The Department of the Interior can play some significant roles--first with respect to siting and second with respect to transmission. . . "
Highlighting the importance of the public lands and offshore areas under the Department of the Interior’s jurisdiction, the Secretary pointed to “. . . a whole host of other items in the portfolio of renewable energy.”
Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker: "We are also hopeful that this year we will be able to pass a renewable electricity standard - President Obama is proposing 25 percent by 2025. We can build a superconducting smart grid . . . "
Whether you like them or not, Renewable Portfolio Standards, mentioned in an earlier blog post, require a certain percentage of a utility’s power plant capacity or generation to come from renewable sources by a given date. EPA maps of states in compliance: http://epa.gov/CHP/state-policy/renewable_fs.html
Energy's Broadband: High Temperature Superconductors (HTS)
An article from April 2008 in the Wall Street Journal discusses HTS, or High Temperature Superconductors, as a possible solution to the NIMBY problem with giant transmission structures:
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/04/30/live-wires-can-new-high-voltage-cables-help-renewables-beat-back-nimby/
We’ve noted before that electricity transmission is one of the big hurdles to adding more power to the electric system, especially for renewable energy. Micro-generation and distributed power, like personal wind turbines and small solar panels, work in isolation. But utility-scale generation projects need a way to carry the juice to where people live and work. But building new transmission lines is often a source of friction between utilities and environmentalists . . .
Long Island Power Authority unveiled last (year) a half-mile pilot project using (liquid nitrogen-cooled, high-temperature) superconducting transmission cable. It packs three to five times more electricity in the same amount of cable, doesn’t lose as much electricity as traditional copper cables do, and could make it easier for utilities to secure permits to build transmission lines in densely-populated areas.
The wires, made by Massachusetts-based American Superconductor Corp., could become to transmission what broadband was to the Internet. (Much more info here.) Notes Clean Tech Investor:
“This will be a way to move massive amount of power without disturbing the surrounding environment,” said Greg Yurek, chief executive officer of American Superconductor, in an interview. “It’s like putting an energy superhighway in the middle of a city.”
But there’s always a ‘but.’ Superconducting cables cost more than traditional transmission systems. The Long Island project was half-funded by the U.S. Department of Energy as part of a program to help modernize the electricity grid. The DOE has been researching superconducting transmission systems for 20 years. . . http://oe.energy.gov/hts.htm
See some HTS animations: http://www.amsc.com/products/hydra.html
Distributed Generation
Renewable energy is dependent on the concept of "Distributed Generation," which refers to smaller-scale energy generation in locations close to consumers. These include technologies such as photovoltaic arrays, wind turbines, microturbines, reciprocating engines, fuel cells, combustion turbines, and steam turbines; energy storage devices (e.g., batteries and flywheels); and combined heat and power systems (CHP). http://oe.energy.gov/de.htm
Large electrical generation plants may have economies of scale, but usually transmit electricity long distances. Distributed generation is another approach. It reduces the amount of energy lost in transmitting electricity because the electricity (between 3 kW and 10,000 kW) is generated very near where it is used, perhaps even in the same building. This also reduces the size and number of power lines that must be constructed. The usual problem with distributed generators are their high costs.
Oregon's PUC wrote a report in response to the 2005 Federal energy legislation, outlining how Oregon could overcome regulatory barriers to the development of distributed generation. The question now is what funding may come from promised federal energy legislation, since at present the costs outweigh the potential of distributed energy generation.
