-
1. Cisco to FCC: 5 Suggestions for the Smart Grid
-
2. Daily Sprout
-
3. Boston-Power Plowing "Full Steam Ahead" on Saab EV Project
-
4. Home Energy Efficiency to Get Its Day in the Sun by 2014
-
5. Smart Grid 101: It's About Relationships, Not Technology
Cisco to FCC: 5 Suggestions for the Smart Grid
Katie Fehrenbacher - Green IT
First, Cisco’s “shoulds”: The National Broadband Plan should embrace broadband for the smart grid, it should look to the IT industry for smart grid security, and it should focus on correcting the problems with incentivizing utilities around energy efficiency, says Cisco. And the “should nots”: The plan should not pay much attention to calls for separate spectrum for the smart grid, and the concerns over interference of unlicensed spectrum are overblown, says Cisco. Here are five suggestions that Cisco has for the FCC when it comes to the smart grid:
1). Broadband Smart Grid: It’s not just about Internet Protocol (IP), which Cisco has been stongly promoting, but Cisco says the smart grid will be fundamentally tied to broadband. Cisco writes “not only will the new smart grid largely depend upon broadband technologies, but the extension of broadband to all end users is critical to delivering on the power and promise of a broadband-enabled electric system. We will not be able to achieve the full effect of a smart grid without a robust broadband network that connects the supply side with the demand side of the electric industry ubiquitously.” That’s a huge contrast to the jaw-droppingly awful crawling speeds of current utility networks which Cisco says “generally transmit only 256 bytes of data and can operate with a latency approaching two seconds.”
2). More Spectrum for Utilities? Meh: Some utilities and telecom trade groups have been calling for the FCC to allocate separate wireless spectrum just for the smart grid. The FCC’s new Energy and Environmental Director, Nick Sinai said recently that one of the ways to promote the use of commercial networks over proprietary networks for the smart grid could be working with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to look at available federal spectrum bands.
Cisco says “it appears that advanced wireless technology platforms available today or in the near future are likely to have sufficient bandwidth and quality-of-service to support evolving smart grid needs for the foreseeable future. Thus, additional spectrum is not needed to deploy technology that is unique or specific to smart grid applications, per se.”
3). Interference Concerns Misplaced: There has been a debate over whether or not smart grid services should run over licensed spectrum, which is owned by one entity and can be used for a single purpose, or unlicensed spectrum, which is shared and doesn't require an expensive license to access it. Some have raised concerns (including the group that created a report for NIST) that unlicensed spectrum could have issues with interference for utilities’ services. Cisco says: not so much:
“In Cisco's view, interference concerns are misplaced. The 802.11 [WiFi] standard is a ‘contention-based’ protocol, which means that, if packets are missed as a result of simultaneous use of a channel by different devices, they are simply requested by the receiving device and re-sent. Thus, an increase in simultaneous users does not fundamentally affect the reliability of the data transfer.”
4). Look to the IT Industry for Smart Grid Security: Cisco says concerns over security for the smart grid are real, but that the industry and regulators should look to the companies that have already built security applications and tools based on Internet Protocol. And yes, that means look to Cisco.
5). There’s Still A Regulatory Incentive Problem: Despite all the standards work done by NIST, and the injection of the $4 billion in smart grid stimulus funds, Cisco says there’s still a fundamental issue with how to incentivize utilities to sell less electricity. Specifically Cisco asks the National Broadband Plan to ask the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency to update a report on a rolling basis that looks at the most successful cost recovery practices and efficiency projects. Cisco says: “The real work of deploying a smart grid will come from 'smart regulation' and even 'smarter deregulation' by state utility commissions.”
Daily Sprout
Josie Garthwaite - Misc
Red Planet to Green Building: “Aspen Aerogels, which makes insulating material for industrial applications, has started selling its air-filled aerogel blankets to make existing buildings more energy efficient.” Previously, aerogel manufacturers have focused on higher-end industrial applications, such as insulating oil and gas pipelines and the Mars Rover. — CNET’s Green Tech
Smith Electric Partners Up With Proton Power: Fleet van maker Smith Electric Vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell developer Proton Power Systems have agreed to collaborate on a new battery-powered vehicle using Proton’s fuel cell technology “to substantially extend the range of Smith’s previous models to nearly 200 miles.” — VentureBeat’s GreenBeat
Obama vs. Obama: The $54 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear power plants in President Obama’s 2011 budget proposal is not “exactly an about-face from the talk that once emanated from Candidate Obama, but it does represent a significant shift from his once-cautious stance.” — Greentech Media
White Roofs for Climate Cooling: A forthcoming study suggests that “if every roof in every city were painted white, it would reduce demand for air conditioning and ultimately cool every city by an average of about 0.7 degrees Fahrenheit.” — NYT’s Green Inc.
Next Chapter for UN Climate Accord: As of today, 55 countries have submitted their greenhouse gas emissions reduction plans to the United Nations, including the U.S., Canada, the 27 members of the European Union, India and China. — UPI
Boston-Power Plowing "Full Steam Ahead" on Saab EV Project
Josie Garthwaite - Automotive
Spyker, which agreed to pay GM at least $74 million in cash for the brand, released plans today to operate Saab as,”an independent performance-oriented niche car company with an industry-leading environmental strategy,” and announced the goal of making it profitable by 2012. Lampe-Onnerud told us in an interview yesterday that the Massachusetts-based startup now has “people deployed on the ground” in Sweden (she declined to specify how many), and Saab is still engaged in the project.
Heading into the Swedish EV project, Lampe-Onnerud said, “We knew there was some business risk.” But the potential gains and opportunity to learn about deploying its batteries — currently used as premium upgrade batteries for Hewlett-Packard laptops — in electric vehicles and figuring out “the ideal handshake” between the battery and the drive train, made the collaboration a “no brainer” for Boston-Power. She said the startup is “thrilled with Spyker coming in.”
Other partners in the EV coalition, which is receiving funding from the Swedish government, include electric powertrain developer Electroengine, project incubator and manager Innovatum Technology Park, and Swedish power industry trade group Power Circle. According to the coalition’s December 2009 announcement, the group has built a small number of demo models and plans to produce more than 100 vehicles in 2010.
According to Lampe-Onnerud, Boston-Power has other auto projects in the works. While the company is “trying to be very humble with our customers,” and let them make any announcements about planned plug-in vehicles and battery suppliers under consideration, Lampe-Onnerud said Boston-Power is involved with automakers that are testing vehicles at various scales and stages — from tens to thousands of cars per month. “This is not a real market, it’s an emerging market,” she said. “So every project is one-off.”
Despite the supply contracts automakers ranging from General Motors to Fisker Automotive have recently handed to LG Chem, A123Systems and other battery makers (and the battery ventures that companies like Nissan and Daimler have established) to support upcoming plug-in vehicle lineups, Lampe-Onnerud sees the very nascent electric vehicle market as still fairly open for battery makers. There’s a common perception that “all automotive companies have picked their batteries. Not in our experience,” she said. “Everybody will need multiple sources.”
There’s room for “large, competent battery players” that are “very likeminded” with legacy automakers, said Lampe-Onnerud, but also for “agile battery players able to respond” quickly to an evolving market. For now, low-volume projects are the name of the game for Boston-Power in the EV space. Running up against capacity constraints, Lampe-Onnerud said, “20,000 cars would sell out our capacity…We have to be careful in allocation of cells.”
For the foreseeable future, any expansion in production capacity will most likely take place overseas. After the Department of Energy denied Boston-Power’s request for $100 million to set up manufacturing operations in the U.S. last year, Lampe-Onnerud said, “We went right back to China.”
Home Energy Efficiency to Get Its Day in the Sun by 2014
Josie Garthwaite - green building
In particular, Pike forecasts that the home energy auditing market will nearly triple to $23 billion by 2014, up from $8.1 billion last year. The market for efficiency improvements along the lines of roofing and window replacements and upgrades for HVAC systems and appliances will increase to $50.2 billion by 2014, up from $38.3 billion in 2009, the firm predicts. And Energy Star refrigerators and clothes washers could generate revenues of $21.9 billion to $33.2 billion between 2009 and 2014.
After what Pike describes as “a long period of obscurity” for energy efficiency — not to mention a major slowdown in new home sales and remodeling — what’s driving this growth? A big part of it comes from federal, state and local governments offering incentives, tightening building codes (one of our 4 Green Building Trends to Watch in 2010) and developing new green building requirements.
But there’s more to it, says Pike managing director Clint Wheelock. “A number of factors are converging to make energy efficient residential products and services a hot sector over the next several years,” he notes in today’s release, including environmental awareness among consumers and new offerings and rebates from product makers. And As Geoff Chapin, chief executive for home energy retrofitter Next Step Living, told us recently, rebates from utilities for homeowners to get energy audits, install insulation or take other steps to reduce their energy use are also helping to boost business for energy efficiency companies.
But Pike voices concern that the residential efficiency market could see short-lived growth if government programs like President Obama’s so-called “cash for caulkers” initiative supporting home energy retrofits comes to an end at some point. However, regulations like California’s new green building code, adopted last month and taking effect next year, have staying power. And there’s nothing like the simple progression of time to spur interest in some of these technologies and services: Pike anticipates that the aging U.S. housing stock, along with rising utility prices in coming years, will help buoy demand for energy efficiency products.
Photos courtesy of Flickr user O b s k u r a
Smart Grid 101: It's About Relationships, Not Technology
Katie Fehrenbacher - smart grid
That’s likely because the smart grid is made up of technology that’s already well-established: wireless networks, software applications, computing. Being fairly mature, this tech leaves less room for differentiation than say next-gen biofuels. Instead the key to moving ahead or falling behind in the market has to do largely with getting utility customers and being able to scale your technology. “Competitors unable to establish early commercial relationships with utilities will likely get squeezed out of the market before long,” says Lux.
For a new startup, scoring that utility deal can often be about partnering with one of the bigger industry players (IBM, Cisco, Accenture, Silver Spring Networks) for a utility project. Utilities would prefer to do deals with larger companies, given that they’re pretty risk averse, slow-moving and need “mission-critical” electrical gear. As Warren Weiss, partner at Foundation Capital, put it during our smart grid bunker event last week, the next generation of smart grid startups will be wise to stand on the backs of giants in this industry. Pulse Energy, a Vancouver-based startup we profiled this morning, has followed that strategy closely.
And Lux points out, it will be a big ol’ race to grab those utility deals. "The most successful players will be those who can navigate a shifting landscape of market segments, and partner with companies able to capitalize on opportunities before their competition,” says Grose. That’s particularly true with the injection of $4 billion in smart grid stimulus funds. Utilities that were allocated funding under the stimulus package will soon have to spend it on projects and that means there is currently an uptick in utility deals that will quickly die down.
This week a variety of smart grid firms announced deals with utilities, including that the Tennessee Valley Authority will be working with SmartSynch, and Tantalus Systems has done a deal with small Tennessee utility Johnson City Power Board for a smart grid network.
Image courtesy of ogimogi’s photostream Flickr Creative Commons.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment