To my mind this is the best overview of what constitutes the smart grid. The video was made by a really smart guy at Kepco, the South Korean firm, Korea Electric Power Corporation. It's in English, so no need to worry about the language!
Monday 23 November 2009
Korea Aims for 30% of Smart Grid Worldwide by Seeking Alpha
The South Korean government has declared its intention to help its home industries win 30 percent of the global smart grid market, Reuters reported Friday. But to start, the government will spend a relatively small 37 billion won ($32 million) to test smart grid systems from a consortium including SK Telecom (SKM), LG Electronics (LGERF.PK), Hyundai Heavy Industries (HYHZF.PK) and national utility Korea Electric Power Corp., or KEPCO (KEP).
More: Source
More: Source
Sunday 22 November 2009
Consert "Smart Grid" Pilot Program
North Carolina was rated among the highest in Energy consumption in the US. Listen to how the Consert "Smart Grid" Pilot Program is the future of energy use that can save energy and money.
IBM Smarter Planet: Efficient Grid Models for a Smarter Planet
http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smart_grid/ideas/
Today, it's about using the flexible grid technology we have better to make way for cheap, reliable eletricity for the future. Journalists, Industry Experts and IBMers recognize the evolution of smart grid electrical technology.
Today, it's about using the flexible grid technology we have better to make way for cheap, reliable eletricity for the future. Journalists, Industry Experts and IBMers recognize the evolution of smart grid electrical technology.
Earth2Tech: Get Ready for the South Korean Smart Grid Firms
According to a report in Reuters, South Korea has picked eight consortiums to build a smart grid test bed in the country and South Korea is vying for “30 percent share of the global smart grid industry.”
More: http://earth2tech.com/2009/11/20/get-ready-for-the-south-korean-smart-grid-firms/
More: http://earth2tech.com/2009/11/20/get-ready-for-the-south-korean-smart-grid-firms/
Thursday 19 November 2009
CFP: 1st IFIP/IEEE International Workshop on Management of Smart Grids
1st IFIP/IEEE International Workshop on Management of Smart Grids
Date and place: April 23, 2010, Osaka, Japan
(held in conjunction with IFIP/IEEE NOMS 2010)
* Scope
In light of current worldwide efforts to increase energy efficiency, increase usage of renewable energy sources, and reduce CO2 emissions, current electricity networks face many challenges stemming from an increasing demand for electrical energy and increasingly variable and distributed production (e.g. caused by renewable sources). Hence, an evolution to so-called Smart Grids is inevitable. The Smart Grid consists in overlaying the power delivery system with an ICT layer that allows a utility provider and its consumers to constantly monitor and adjust electricity use.
Worldwide science foundations and governments currently support the development and planned deployment of Smart Grids. However, many interesting research questions still need to be answered. A number of focus domains are distinguished: (i) smart metering: monitoring and customer involvement in energy usage, (ii) demand side and demand response management and real time pricing, (iii) a Home Energy controlling box (Internet box like), (iv) ICT readiness for Mobile Electricity Consumers (e.g. pluggable hybrid electrical vehicles, PHEV), (v) efficient management of energy sources (conventional such power plants and green such as wind/solar as well as excess power generated by the customers and sold to providers), and (vi) management of transmission networks and distribution networks (including the main grid as well as micro grids such as municipal or regional grids).
The workshop addresses the mentioned focal points, and targets the definition of the required underlying ICT architectures, monitoring and management technologies for smart energy grids. In addition, results from socio-technical studies are solicited to provide insight in the user interactions and behavioral response to the envisaged systems, together with business modeling studies to propose the market models enabled/driven by smart energy ICT.
Topics of interest for this workshop include, but are not limited, to the following:
* Efficient monitoring of Smart Grids
* Application of network management technology for efficient Smart Grid management
* Software architectures for Smart Grid management
* Energy consumption profiling automation
* Energy production scheduling
* Smart Grid dimensioning
* Smart Grid reliability and robustness
* Results from socio-technical studies
* Business modeling and techno-economical studies to propose Smart Grid market models
* Management of Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles
* Home energy management
* Results from initial proof-of-concept demonstrations are also welcomed.
* Paper Submission
Authors are invited to submit original contributions in PDF format through the JEMS at smartgrid2010. We are seeking submissions for full papers (max. 8 pages on 2-column IEEE style) and short papers presenting position statements or preliminary results on relevant work (up to 4 pages on 2-column IEEE style). All accepted papers will be published in IEEEXplore.
Please use the stylesheet templates provided by IEEE, standard IEEE Transactions templates for Microsoft Word or LaTeX formats found at IEEE
Please direct questions regarding the submission procedure to the organisers:
* Raouf Boutaba
* Juergen Schoenwaelder
* Filip De Turck
* Important Dates
Paper registration: January 4, 2010 (firm deadline)
Paper upload due: January 11, 2010
Notification of acceptance: February 8, 2010
Final camera-ready papers due: February 19, 2010
Workshop date: April 23, 2010
Date and place: April 23, 2010, Osaka, Japan
(held in conjunction with IFIP/IEEE NOMS 2010)
* Scope
In light of current worldwide efforts to increase energy efficiency, increase usage of renewable energy sources, and reduce CO2 emissions, current electricity networks face many challenges stemming from an increasing demand for electrical energy and increasingly variable and distributed production (e.g. caused by renewable sources). Hence, an evolution to so-called Smart Grids is inevitable. The Smart Grid consists in overlaying the power delivery system with an ICT layer that allows a utility provider and its consumers to constantly monitor and adjust electricity use.
Worldwide science foundations and governments currently support the development and planned deployment of Smart Grids. However, many interesting research questions still need to be answered. A number of focus domains are distinguished: (i) smart metering: monitoring and customer involvement in energy usage, (ii) demand side and demand response management and real time pricing, (iii) a Home Energy controlling box (Internet box like), (iv) ICT readiness for Mobile Electricity Consumers (e.g. pluggable hybrid electrical vehicles, PHEV), (v) efficient management of energy sources (conventional such power plants and green such as wind/solar as well as excess power generated by the customers and sold to providers), and (vi) management of transmission networks and distribution networks (including the main grid as well as micro grids such as municipal or regional grids).
The workshop addresses the mentioned focal points, and targets the definition of the required underlying ICT architectures, monitoring and management technologies for smart energy grids. In addition, results from socio-technical studies are solicited to provide insight in the user interactions and behavioral response to the envisaged systems, together with business modeling studies to propose the market models enabled/driven by smart energy ICT.
Topics of interest for this workshop include, but are not limited, to the following:
* Efficient monitoring of Smart Grids
* Application of network management technology for efficient Smart Grid management
* Software architectures for Smart Grid management
* Energy consumption profiling automation
* Energy production scheduling
* Smart Grid dimensioning
* Smart Grid reliability and robustness
* Results from socio-technical studies
* Business modeling and techno-economical studies to propose Smart Grid market models
* Management of Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles
* Home energy management
* Results from initial proof-of-concept demonstrations are also welcomed.
* Paper Submission
Authors are invited to submit original contributions in PDF format through the JEMS at smartgrid2010. We are seeking submissions for full papers (max. 8 pages on 2-column IEEE style) and short papers presenting position statements or preliminary results on relevant work (up to 4 pages on 2-column IEEE style). All accepted papers will be published in IEEEXplore.
Please use the stylesheet templates provided by IEEE, standard IEEE Transactions templates for Microsoft Word or LaTeX formats found at IEEE
Please direct questions regarding the submission procedure to the organisers:
* Raouf Boutaba
* Juergen Schoenwaelder
* Filip De Turck
* Important Dates
Paper registration: January 4, 2010 (firm deadline)
Paper upload due: January 11, 2010
Notification of acceptance: February 8, 2010
Final camera-ready papers due: February 19, 2010
Workshop date: April 23, 2010
Friday 13 November 2009
Wi-Fi Alliance(R) Releases Smart Grid Report; Creates New Task Group to Address Energy Management Uses
Wi-Fi(R) technology connects Smart Grid devices in home, neighborhood, and wide-area networks
AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- To address growing momentum in the Wi-Fi industry and help ensure Wi-Fi technology and certification programs continue to support evolving Smart Grid requirements, the Wi-Fi Alliance announced the release of a report titled "Wi-Fi® for the Smart Grid: Mature, Interoperable, Security-Protected Technology for Advanced Utility Management Communications", as well as its recent formalization of a Smart Grid task group.
More: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wi-fi-alliancer-releases-smart-grid-report-creates-new-task-group-to-address-energy-management-uses-69746807.html
AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- To address growing momentum in the Wi-Fi industry and help ensure Wi-Fi technology and certification programs continue to support evolving Smart Grid requirements, the Wi-Fi Alliance announced the release of a report titled "Wi-Fi® for the Smart Grid: Mature, Interoperable, Security-Protected Technology for Advanced Utility Management Communications", as well as its recent formalization of a Smart Grid task group.
More: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wi-fi-alliancer-releases-smart-grid-report-creates-new-task-group-to-address-energy-management-uses-69746807.html
Sunday 1 November 2009
Bernstein Sees `Tens of Thousands' of Smart-Grid Jobs: Video
Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein talks with Bloomberg's Matt Miller and Carol Massar about the outlook for job creation from the implementation of "smart-grid" technology. President Barack Obama today announced $3.4 billion in government grants to improve the efficiency of the nations electrical transmission network. (Source: Bloomberg)
Video Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK5mBMd7lZo
Video Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK5mBMd7lZo
Smart Grid Technology w/ Energy Secretary
Sanders asks Secretary of Energy Steven Chu about economic stimulus plan support for Vermont's smart grid efforts.
Thursday 29 October 2009
"Smart Energy" Plan Will Create Thousands Of Jobs
By Yaffa Klugerman
October 28, 2009
President Obama yesterday announced that the federal government will be investing $3.4 billion to help improve the nation's electrical grid--a move that is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs.
Obama made the announcement while standing surrounded by acres of solar panels at Florida Power & Light's new DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center. "Here in this region of Florida, this project will reduce demand for electricity by up to 20 percent during the hottest summer days that stress the grid and power plants," he said. "It will provide smart meters to 2.6 million more customers. And most importantly, it will create thousands of jobs--good jobs, by the way, that can't be outsourced; jobs that will last and jobs that pay a decent wage."
According to a fact sheet from the White House published by the Chicago Sun-Times, some of the new jobs created will include positions for engineering technicians, electricians and equipment installers, IT system designers and cyber security specialists, data entry clerks and database administrators, and business and power system analysts.
The federal funding will help cover the cost of updated transformers and new devices designed to improve the efficiency and reliability of power transmission. The money will also pay for the installation of millions of "smart meters," which convey information between homes and utilities and can be used to shift the electricity load to off-peak times, thereby curtailing the use of expensive auxiliary power plants.
The grid will get "much more than a facelift," noted Carol Browner, Obama's top adviser on climate change and energy issues, who was quoted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It's fair to say that the grid is outdated, it's dilapidated. And not only do we need to make the system bigger and add more lines, we need to make it function better and smarter."
The announcement was hailed by companies eager to move forward on grid modernization efforts. "These grants are an important down payment on building a smaller grid and will certainly jump-start both industry and state regulators to deploy smart-grid technologies," said Katherine Hamilton, president of GridWise Alliance, an industry advocacy group, who was quoted by CNET News.
Obama said that the grants have been awarded to 100 utilities and other entities, which have promised to spend $4.7 billion in private money for the upgrades. The largest grants are for about $200 million and the smallest are for less than $10 million.
Source: Link
October 28, 2009
President Obama yesterday announced that the federal government will be investing $3.4 billion to help improve the nation's electrical grid--a move that is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs.
Obama made the announcement while standing surrounded by acres of solar panels at Florida Power & Light's new DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center. "Here in this region of Florida, this project will reduce demand for electricity by up to 20 percent during the hottest summer days that stress the grid and power plants," he said. "It will provide smart meters to 2.6 million more customers. And most importantly, it will create thousands of jobs--good jobs, by the way, that can't be outsourced; jobs that will last and jobs that pay a decent wage."
According to a fact sheet from the White House published by the Chicago Sun-Times, some of the new jobs created will include positions for engineering technicians, electricians and equipment installers, IT system designers and cyber security specialists, data entry clerks and database administrators, and business and power system analysts.
The federal funding will help cover the cost of updated transformers and new devices designed to improve the efficiency and reliability of power transmission. The money will also pay for the installation of millions of "smart meters," which convey information between homes and utilities and can be used to shift the electricity load to off-peak times, thereby curtailing the use of expensive auxiliary power plants.
The grid will get "much more than a facelift," noted Carol Browner, Obama's top adviser on climate change and energy issues, who was quoted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It's fair to say that the grid is outdated, it's dilapidated. And not only do we need to make the system bigger and add more lines, we need to make it function better and smarter."
The announcement was hailed by companies eager to move forward on grid modernization efforts. "These grants are an important down payment on building a smaller grid and will certainly jump-start both industry and state regulators to deploy smart-grid technologies," said Katherine Hamilton, president of GridWise Alliance, an industry advocacy group, who was quoted by CNET News.
Obama said that the grants have been awarded to 100 utilities and other entities, which have promised to spend $4.7 billion in private money for the upgrades. The largest grants are for about $200 million and the smallest are for less than $10 million.
Source: Link
Wednesday 28 October 2009
ZigBee Alliance Members Awarded Nearly $500 Million From U.S. Smart Grid Grants
Funds expected to spur more ZigBee Smart Energy implementations
Individual ZigBee members received between $4 million and $200 million dollars for their Smart Grid projects. Members earning grants include: CenterPoint Energy, Baltimore Gas and Electric, Reliant Energy Retail Services, San Diego Gas and Electric, Honeywell International and Whirlpool. Grants were awarded for a variety of ZigBee Smart Energy products and services, including large smart meter programs covering 4.7 million meters, installation of a variety of devices such as programmable communicating thermostats, in-home displays and load controllers, plus expediting the development of smart appliances.
ZigBee Smart Energy enables wireless communication between utility companies and everyday household devices such as smart thermostats and appliances. It is the underlying technology providing consumers with dynamic pricing information as well as programming control over smart appliances. This control allows consumers to manage their power use and how much they spend on energy while participating in demand response programs designed to help utilities manage generation needs during peak power periods.
The ZigBee Smart Energy profile was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as an initial interoperable standard for HAN devices for the Smart Grid.
"ZigBee Alliance members have been taking an active role in developing the Smart Grid for years and these grants are recognition for our members' leadership on this important initiative," said Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. "With ZigBee Smart Energy's position in the marketplace and its role as an initial interoperable standard by NIST for the critical home area network piece of the Smart Grid, we expect that those utilities and product manufacturers sitting on the sidelines will adopt ZigBee."
ZigBee Smart Energy - The Standard for Energy Management and Efficiency
ZigBee Smart Energy enables wireless communication between utility companies and common household devices such as smart thermostats and appliances. It improves energy efficiency by allowing consumers to choose interoperable products from different manufacturers giving them the means to manage their energy consumption more precisely using automation and near real-time information. It also helps utility companies implement new advanced metering and demand response programs to drive greater energy management and efficiency, while responding to changing government requirements.
ZigBee: Control your world
ZigBee is the global wireless language connecting dramatically different devices to work together and enhance everyday life. The ZigBee Alliance is a non-profit association of more than 300 member companies driving development of ZigBee wireless technology. The Alliance promotes world-wide adoption of ZigBee as the leading wirelessly networked, sensing and control standard for use in energy, home, commercial and industrial areas. For more information, visit: www.ZigBee.org.
Source: Zigbee Alliance
Tuesday 27 October 2009
U.S. Awards $3.4 Billion to Create a "Smart" Electric Grid
The Department of Energy has a total of $36.7 billion in Recovery Act funding – so the $3.4 billion in Smart Grid Investment Grants announced today represents just a fraction of the total spend for energy projects.
And DOE is not the only federal agency spending Recovery Act funds on energy projects. For example:
- Department of Interior committed $15 million for projects on public lands, including thinning overgrown forests to reduce wildfire danger. The wood removed isn’t typically high enough quality for lumber mills but can serve as an excellent source of biomass energy.
- Department of Defense awarded GE $2 million to demonstrate a smart microgrid on a Marine Corps base in California and the Navy awarded a $403,633 photovoltaic design contract to a Honolulu firm to mount solar panels on buildings at Pearl Harbor and at a missile range on Kauai.
- The Treasury Department teamed with DOE to award $550 million in Recovery Act money to 25 renewable energy production projects through the Recovery Act's 1603 program, which directs the federal government to provide cash assistance to energy producers in lieu of tax credits.
Still to be announced is the remaining $615 million that will go for Smart Grid demonstration projects around the country. In July the DOE awarded $47 million allocated for demonstration projects to eight existing projects already on the agency’s radar. Announcement of the remaining awards is expected in November.
These resources can help you track how Recovery Act money is being spent for Smart Grid and other energy-related projects:
- SGN Directory of Energy Awards – Articles about energy awards by category, from biomass, solar and wind to storage, electric transportation, R&D and more.
· DOE Recovery Act funding – Pie charts and interactive graphics show how the Energy Department has allocated its $36.7 billion in Recovery Act funding.
· DOE Milestones - The First 200 Days (video) – This is an update on DOE progress on the Recovery Act at 200 days, hosted by Matt Rogers, Senior Advisor to Secretary Steven Chu for Recovery Act Implementation.
Source: link
And DOE is not the only federal agency spending Recovery Act funds on energy projects. For example:
- Department of Interior committed $15 million for projects on public lands, including thinning overgrown forests to reduce wildfire danger. The wood removed isn’t typically high enough quality for lumber mills but can serve as an excellent source of biomass energy.
- Department of Defense awarded GE $2 million to demonstrate a smart microgrid on a Marine Corps base in California and the Navy awarded a $403,633 photovoltaic design contract to a Honolulu firm to mount solar panels on buildings at Pearl Harbor and at a missile range on Kauai.
- The Treasury Department teamed with DOE to award $550 million in Recovery Act money to 25 renewable energy production projects through the Recovery Act's 1603 program, which directs the federal government to provide cash assistance to energy producers in lieu of tax credits.
Still to be announced is the remaining $615 million that will go for Smart Grid demonstration projects around the country. In July the DOE awarded $47 million allocated for demonstration projects to eight existing projects already on the agency’s radar. Announcement of the remaining awards is expected in November.
These resources can help you track how Recovery Act money is being spent for Smart Grid and other energy-related projects:
- SGN Directory of Energy Awards – Articles about energy awards by category, from biomass, solar and wind to storage, electric transportation, R&D and more.
· DOE Recovery Act funding – Pie charts and interactive graphics show how the Energy Department has allocated its $36.7 billion in Recovery Act funding.
· DOE Milestones - The First 200 Days (video) – This is an update on DOE progress on the Recovery Act at 200 days, hosted by Matt Rogers, Senior Advisor to Secretary Steven Chu for Recovery Act Implementation.
Source: link
Saturday 24 October 2009
Schwarzenegger: Smart phones to track, control energy usage
California governor discusses new smart grid technologies aimed at helping to reduce energy consumption and fight global warming. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently previewed technologies that let people use smart phones to better monitor their energy usage while they are away at work.
CleanEdge: Smart Grid Job trends 2009
Smart Grid Jobs Story
PG&E has catered a portion of its PowerPathway employee training program to help communities and educational institutions attract and train a cleanenergy workforce. This effort will becrucial, considering that PG&E will need a large, specialized workforce to deploy and maintain new cleantechnology projects.
Organizations to watch:
Cisco Systems
http://www.cisco.com/
IBM
http://www.ibm.com/
Silver Spring Networks
http://www.silverspringnetworks.com/
Tendril Networks
http://www.tendrilinc.com/
Trilliant
http://www.trilliantinc.com/
Smart Grid related Jobs:
· Advanced Metering Engineer
· Energy Analytics Manager
· Grid Application Systems Analyst
· Lead Architect – AMI and Smart Grid Technology
· Network Operations Center (NOC) Technician
· Smart-Grid Solution Expert
Source: Link
PG&E has catered a portion of its PowerPathway employee training program to help communities and educational institutions attract and train a cleanenergy workforce. This effort will becrucial, considering that PG&E will need a large, specialized workforce to deploy and maintain new cleantechnology projects.
Organizations to watch:
Cisco Systems
http://www.cisco.com/
IBM
http://www.ibm.com/
Silver Spring Networks
http://www.silverspringnetworks.com/
Tendril Networks
http://www.tendrilinc.com/
Trilliant
http://www.trilliantinc.com/
Smart Grid related Jobs:
· Advanced Metering Engineer
· Energy Analytics Manager
· Grid Application Systems Analyst
· Lead Architect – AMI and Smart Grid Technology
· Network Operations Center (NOC) Technician
· Smart-Grid Solution Expert
Source: Link
Taiwan aims to lead on 'smart grids'
Taiwan's biggest power company, telecom operator and IT firms are designing metering and communication systems to link air conditioners and lighting systems with computers and mobile phones. Efficiency gains from the scheme could save millions of tons of carbon emissions.
The technologies will enable property owners to set "energy budgets" for their buildings, send electricity price change updates to consumers via cable TV or mobile phone, and let telecoms firms start providing power optimisation services. These systems are likely to be crucial to recently announced moves in Britain, the US and China to build "smart grids", because Taiwan develops and manufactures many of the world's electronic chips and components.
More: Link
The technologies will enable property owners to set "energy budgets" for their buildings, send electricity price change updates to consumers via cable TV or mobile phone, and let telecoms firms start providing power optimisation services. These systems are likely to be crucial to recently announced moves in Britain, the US and China to build "smart grids", because Taiwan develops and manufactures many of the world's electronic chips and components.
More: Link
Sunday 18 October 2009
e-Energy 2010: Call for Papers
e-Energy 2010
1st Int'l Conf. on Energy-Efficient Computing and Networking
http://www.e-energy-conf.org/
In cooperation with ACM SIGCOMM
University of Passau, Germany
April 13-15, 2010
Full paper submission due: October 30, 2009
Visionary paper submission due: November 8, 2009
********************************************************************
* General Co-Chairs:
Randy Katz, UC Berkeley (USA)
David Hutchison, Lancaster University (UK)
* TPC Co-Chairs:
Hermann de Meer, Passau University (Germany)
Suresh Singh, Portland State University (USA)
Torsten Braun, Bern University (Switzerland)
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Instrumentation and measurement of energy-efficient computing and networking
- Energy and performance profiling, accounting of energy consumption
- Metrics, benchmarks, interfaces, tools
- Monitoring and management concepts
- Energy, performance, quality of service and other resource tradeoffs
- Energy-efficient networking and protocols
- Energy-efficient peer-to-peer networking and overlays
- Future energy-efficient architectures
- Energy-efficient application design
- Load, heat, and resource modeling
- Load, heat, and resource management
- Reliability and power management
- Energy-efficient grid, cloud, and data-center technology
- Energy-efficiency and virtualization
- Energy-efficiency, resource sharing and security
- SmartGrids: new computing and networking contributions
- Sensing techniques and sensor networks for energy awareness
- Energy-efficient network components (switches, routers etc.)
- Design methodologies and tools for energy-efficient services
- Security challenges in energy-efficient computing and networking
More: e-Energy Conference
1st Int'l Conf. on Energy-Efficient Computing and Networking
http://www.e-energy-conf.org/
In cooperation with ACM SIGCOMM
University of Passau, Germany
April 13-15, 2010
Full paper submission due: October 30, 2009
Visionary paper submission due: November 8, 2009
********************************************************************
* General Co-Chairs:
Randy Katz, UC Berkeley (USA)
David Hutchison, Lancaster University (UK)
* TPC Co-Chairs:
Hermann de Meer, Passau University (Germany)
Suresh Singh, Portland State University (USA)
Torsten Braun, Bern University (Switzerland)
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Instrumentation and measurement of energy-efficient computing and networking
- Energy and performance profiling, accounting of energy consumption
- Metrics, benchmarks, interfaces, tools
- Monitoring and management concepts
- Energy, performance, quality of service and other resource tradeoffs
- Energy-efficient networking and protocols
- Energy-efficient peer-to-peer networking and overlays
- Future energy-efficient architectures
- Energy-efficient application design
- Load, heat, and resource modeling
- Load, heat, and resource management
- Reliability and power management
- Energy-efficient grid, cloud, and data-center technology
- Energy-efficiency and virtualization
- Energy-efficiency, resource sharing and security
- SmartGrids: new computing and networking contributions
- Sensing techniques and sensor networks for energy awareness
- Energy-efficient network components (switches, routers etc.)
- Design methodologies and tools for energy-efficient services
- Security challenges in energy-efficient computing and networking
More: e-Energy Conference
Tuesday 13 October 2009
Earth2Tech: Microsoft Reveals Its Smart Grid Architecture, SERA
Microsoft revealed today the latest part of its plan to carve out a fatter slice of the smart grid pie: a software architecture for utilities called Smart Energy Reference Architecture, or SERA. Described by Microsoft as its “first comprehensive reference architecture that addresses technology integration throughout the full scope of the smart energy ecosystem,” SERA is meant to help smart devices connect to the grid via common standards, similar to the way a range of consumer electronics can plug into today’s PCs.
Today’s launch comes less than four months after Microsoft showed off (after two years of work) its Hohm consumer energy monitoring tool — a device that Troy Batterberry, product unit manager for the company’s Energy Management & Home Automation division, told us was only the first step to working with smart devices and ultimately moving into the control layer for energy systems.
As it did with the Hohm launch, Microsoft is boasting stamps of approval for SERA from major industry partners, including power plant equipment maker Alstom Power, systems integrator Accenture, smart meter company Itron and software maker ESRI. Microsoft also took a swipe at startups, noting in its release that stimulus-funded smart grid projects “will need sound, tested technologies,” and claiming that with Microsoft’s offerings, utilities will “be able to implement solutions faster and more reliably than they could with solutions offered by competitors.”
Source: Link
Today’s launch comes less than four months after Microsoft showed off (after two years of work) its Hohm consumer energy monitoring tool — a device that Troy Batterberry, product unit manager for the company’s Energy Management & Home Automation division, told us was only the first step to working with smart devices and ultimately moving into the control layer for energy systems.
As it did with the Hohm launch, Microsoft is boasting stamps of approval for SERA from major industry partners, including power plant equipment maker Alstom Power, systems integrator Accenture, smart meter company Itron and software maker ESRI. Microsoft also took a swipe at startups, noting in its release that stimulus-funded smart grid projects “will need sound, tested technologies,” and claiming that with Microsoft’s offerings, utilities will “be able to implement solutions faster and more reliably than they could with solutions offered by competitors.”
Source: Link
Friday 9 October 2009
Earth2Tech: 10 Things To Know About Smart Grid Security
The energy information that will be unleashed by the digital technologies of the smart grid is valuable. That’s why companies and policy-makers are pushing so hard to add infotech to our electrical system. But that information is also valuable to people that could use it for ill will — to disrupt the power grid, for example, or steal personal information.
Worried? Don’t fret too much. The Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards (NIST) are taking the subject seriously. NIST recently released a smart grid security document that’s twice as long (over 200 pages) as the group’s overall smart grid industry roadmap and the DOE has said it won’t hand out stimulus funds to otherwise strong smart grid projects unless security is addressed in them. Here’s 10 important things to know about security for the smart grid:
Security Added in Later is Costly: Internet security experts have been pretty clear about the fact that adding on security functions to the smart grid after the architecture has already been rolled out will be considerably more expensive than if security is folded in from the very beginning. Security consultants at IOActive recently wrote: “Studies show that overall project costs are 60 times higher when gaps in information security controls are addressed late in the development cycle, as opposed to projects where security is implemented in the design phase.”
It’ll Be A Big Business: There’s another reason that computing security and information technology companies are talking a lot about smart grid security — it’ll be a sizable industry. Last week computing giant Hewlett-Packard launched its Smart Grid Security Quality Assessment (SGSQA) service, which will provide auditing and testing of security services and is based on tools that HP uses to test its own software. Consultants like IOActive will also make some nice sales off of teaching utilities and power companies about how to keep their assets safe.
Two-Way Networks Mean More Risks: The very nature of adding digital intelligence and two-way functionality to the power grid will increase the risk of cyber attacks and vulnerabilities. As the NIST smart grid security document explains more endpoints and more interconnected networks mean more ways for security problems to get in and proliferate. But that said, the power grid — like everything else — needs to go digital, not just to combat climate change but to create more efficient operations. And as long as the industry builds the smart grid to prepare for these security concerns, the problem is manageable.
It’s Already a Problem: Don’t think this is an issue that is far in the distant future. According to Ian Watts, head of energy and utilities at British security firm Detica, the 40 million smart meters that have already been installed globally “have seen a number of security breaches,” including “insecure meters, hacking of customer details, denial of service attacks and suspected infiltration by foreign intelligence services.”
It’s Just Digital Security: We’ve seen this before. Smart grid security is very similar to keeping other important digital functions secure, like electronic voting systems, online banking and ATMs, personal information on cellphones and laptops, and of course the Internet and phone company networks, points out Steve Brain, an analyst with metering firm Meter-U. And as the NIST document explains: “IT and telecommunication sectors will be more directly involved. These sectors have existing cyber security standards to address vulnerabilities and assessment programs to identify known vulnerabilities in these systems.”
Smart Grid Security Has Even More Standards: While NIST has been busy identifying 77 standards for the smart grid, NIST has found at least five standards that are directly related to smart grid security. That includes standards from NERC, IEEE, AMI System Security Requirements, UtilityAMI Home Area Network System Requirements and IEC standards.
It’s a Work In Progress: NIST established the Cyber Security Coordination Task Group (CSCTG), which is made up of 200 volunteers from private companies and the public sector, and published the first draft (already a 236 page tome) of smart grid security requirements earlier this month. NIST is taking public comments and will craft a new version to be published by December 2009. Then the final document is supposed to come out March 2010.
Utilities Need Much Better Privacy Safeguards: A NIST group looked at privacy policies for utilities and found that state utility commissions often lack formal privacy policies related to the smart grid, and if the state does have privacy laws, they often aren’t specific to utilities. In response to these findings, NIST suggested these steps to ensure consumer privacy: 1). Appoint personnel to ensure privacy practices exist and are followed; 2). Explain clearly to consumers what and why any data is collected; 3). Give consumers choices for collecting their data and get consent; 4). Don’t collect more data than needed; 5). Only use the data for which it was intended to be collected; 6). Show consumers the data that is being collected and enable them to correct it if need be; 7). Protect data from security vulnerabilities.
The Smart Meter As the Pain Point: At the Black Hat security conference IOActive’s Mike Davis showed how smart meters could be the most vulnerable area of the smart grid because they’re cheap, accessible and — in a word — hackable. Using a simulation of a worm David showed how a smart meter could be hacked to spread a worm from meter to meter, which could cause a power grid surge or shut off.
Different Places on Grid Have Varying Vulnerability: The NIST group plotted out piece-by-piece how vulnerable each section of the grid is and what could happen to them under a security threat. Check out pages 18 to page 32 for this interesting
source: Link
Worried? Don’t fret too much. The Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards (NIST) are taking the subject seriously. NIST recently released a smart grid security document that’s twice as long (over 200 pages) as the group’s overall smart grid industry roadmap and the DOE has said it won’t hand out stimulus funds to otherwise strong smart grid projects unless security is addressed in them. Here’s 10 important things to know about security for the smart grid:
Security Added in Later is Costly: Internet security experts have been pretty clear about the fact that adding on security functions to the smart grid after the architecture has already been rolled out will be considerably more expensive than if security is folded in from the very beginning. Security consultants at IOActive recently wrote: “Studies show that overall project costs are 60 times higher when gaps in information security controls are addressed late in the development cycle, as opposed to projects where security is implemented in the design phase.”
It’ll Be A Big Business: There’s another reason that computing security and information technology companies are talking a lot about smart grid security — it’ll be a sizable industry. Last week computing giant Hewlett-Packard launched its Smart Grid Security Quality Assessment (SGSQA) service, which will provide auditing and testing of security services and is based on tools that HP uses to test its own software. Consultants like IOActive will also make some nice sales off of teaching utilities and power companies about how to keep their assets safe.
Two-Way Networks Mean More Risks: The very nature of adding digital intelligence and two-way functionality to the power grid will increase the risk of cyber attacks and vulnerabilities. As the NIST smart grid security document explains more endpoints and more interconnected networks mean more ways for security problems to get in and proliferate. But that said, the power grid — like everything else — needs to go digital, not just to combat climate change but to create more efficient operations. And as long as the industry builds the smart grid to prepare for these security concerns, the problem is manageable.
It’s Already a Problem: Don’t think this is an issue that is far in the distant future. According to Ian Watts, head of energy and utilities at British security firm Detica, the 40 million smart meters that have already been installed globally “have seen a number of security breaches,” including “insecure meters, hacking of customer details, denial of service attacks and suspected infiltration by foreign intelligence services.”
It’s Just Digital Security: We’ve seen this before. Smart grid security is very similar to keeping other important digital functions secure, like electronic voting systems, online banking and ATMs, personal information on cellphones and laptops, and of course the Internet and phone company networks, points out Steve Brain, an analyst with metering firm Meter-U. And as the NIST document explains: “IT and telecommunication sectors will be more directly involved. These sectors have existing cyber security standards to address vulnerabilities and assessment programs to identify known vulnerabilities in these systems.”
Smart Grid Security Has Even More Standards: While NIST has been busy identifying 77 standards for the smart grid, NIST has found at least five standards that are directly related to smart grid security. That includes standards from NERC, IEEE, AMI System Security Requirements, UtilityAMI Home Area Network System Requirements and IEC standards.
It’s a Work In Progress: NIST established the Cyber Security Coordination Task Group (CSCTG), which is made up of 200 volunteers from private companies and the public sector, and published the first draft (already a 236 page tome) of smart grid security requirements earlier this month. NIST is taking public comments and will craft a new version to be published by December 2009. Then the final document is supposed to come out March 2010.
Utilities Need Much Better Privacy Safeguards: A NIST group looked at privacy policies for utilities and found that state utility commissions often lack formal privacy policies related to the smart grid, and if the state does have privacy laws, they often aren’t specific to utilities. In response to these findings, NIST suggested these steps to ensure consumer privacy: 1). Appoint personnel to ensure privacy practices exist and are followed; 2). Explain clearly to consumers what and why any data is collected; 3). Give consumers choices for collecting their data and get consent; 4). Don’t collect more data than needed; 5). Only use the data for which it was intended to be collected; 6). Show consumers the data that is being collected and enable them to correct it if need be; 7). Protect data from security vulnerabilities.
The Smart Meter As the Pain Point: At the Black Hat security conference IOActive’s Mike Davis showed how smart meters could be the most vulnerable area of the smart grid because they’re cheap, accessible and — in a word — hackable. Using a simulation of a worm David showed how a smart meter could be hacked to spread a worm from meter to meter, which could cause a power grid surge or shut off.
Different Places on Grid Have Varying Vulnerability: The NIST group plotted out piece-by-piece how vulnerable each section of the grid is and what could happen to them under a security threat. Check out pages 18 to page 32 for this interesting
source: Link
The Green IT Review: Smart Google and Cisco
Google has announced a device partner for its PowerMeter tool, which we mentioned in a previous blog. The PowerMeter software shows consumers their home energy information in a form easy to access and understand on their computer. The idea (as with all home smart meters) is that increased awareness of energy use leads to reduced consumption.
But up till now PowerMeter has required a smart meter to be installed by the utility supplier. With this new device the utility’s smart meter is no longer required.
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The device, which is only available in the US, is a TED 5000 from Energy Inc. (TED stands for ‘The Energy Detective’). It allows users to view personal home energy data using the free PowerMeter software from anywhere you can access the web. Consumers can get real-time information on energy use and costs, as well as changes in use over time. The company is looking for other device partners.
Meanwhile, Cisco is also continuing its push into the smart grid market. According to smartgridnews.com the company has partnered with German utility Yello Strom in a pilot to allow about 70 homes and businesses to communicate with the electric grid over an IP network. The trial will use Yello Sparzaehler meters, which also happen to integrate with Google’s PowerMeter. The trial is aimed at giving Yello Strom customers the means to manage their energy consumption, hence reducing bills and peak demand.
© The Green IT Review
Link
But up till now PowerMeter has required a smart meter to be installed by the utility supplier. With this new device the utility’s smart meter is no longer required.
The device, which is only available in the US, is a TED 5000 from Energy Inc. (TED stands for ‘The Energy Detective’). It allows users to view personal home energy data using the free PowerMeter software from anywhere you can access the web. Consumers can get real-time information on energy use and costs, as well as changes in use over time. The company is looking for other device partners.
Meanwhile, Cisco is also continuing its push into the smart grid market. According to smartgridnews.com the company has partnered with German utility Yello Strom in a pilot to allow about 70 homes and businesses to communicate with the electric grid over an IP network. The trial will use Yello Sparzaehler meters, which also happen to integrate with Google’s PowerMeter. The trial is aimed at giving Yello Strom customers the means to manage their energy consumption, hence reducing bills and peak demand.
© The Green IT Review
Link
Thursday 8 October 2009
WiTricity chosen as 2009's best company for "Energy Management, Smart Grid, and Energy Efficiency"
WiTricity is a startup that’s developed a technology to wirelessly transmit electricity, powering anything from small portable devices to EVs while they’re idling at a red light.
The AlwaysOn Network recently announced their Third Annual List of the GoingGreen 100 Top Private Companies of 2009. The award recognizes the top private greentech companies that are creating new business opportunities and transforming the world’s largest industries to improve sustainability. WiTricity was chosen as the best private company under the "Energy Management, Smart Grid, and Energy Efficiency" category by The GoingGreen 100.
More: Link
The AlwaysOn Network recently announced their Third Annual List of the GoingGreen 100 Top Private Companies of 2009. The award recognizes the top private greentech companies that are creating new business opportunities and transforming the world’s largest industries to improve sustainability. WiTricity was chosen as the best private company under the "Energy Management, Smart Grid, and Energy Efficiency" category by The GoingGreen 100.
More: Link
Earth2Tech: What Cisco Can Learn From A Yello Strom Smart Grid Pilot
Networking giant Cisco could learn a whole lot from its partnership with German utility Yello Strom, which I once called the coolest utility in the world, and which focuses heavily on smart grid consumer hardware and the use of the Internet for the power grid. While Cisco included Yello Strom as a partner in its smart grid announcement last month, the networking company announced more details about a 70-home pilot project using Yello Strom’s sophisticated “Sparzähler” or smart meter this morning. If Cisco aims to some day develop a Linksys-based home energy management product, the project detailed today could provide some important information for that effort.
The trial will use an Internet Protocol-based connection and customers will use the Yello Sparzähler to monitor energy consumption in real-time, and hook up appliances to smart plugs to curb consumption during specific times of the day. Cisco confirmed with us that the pilot will use the consumer’s home broadband network for the smart meter connection. Yello Strom commonly uses the consumer’s own home broadband connection to connect the Sparzahler to the smart grid, which is somewhat unusual in the utility world.
Using the home broadband connection can make the energy management set-up easier, the connection cheaper and help customers incorporate energy management into their everyday lives more quickly. On the other hand, when the broadband connection drops, the smart meter service goes out, too. Many utilities also want to keep control over their networks, partly so they can maintain a high level of security for smart grid services.
Yello Strom is also one of the only utilities I’ve heard of that has developed and sells its own sophisticated smart meters. In July Martin Vesper, Yello Strom’s executive director, told us that the company looked at the smart meters that were already available on the market, and found only tools that focused on helping energy efficiency from a utility perspective. Not seeing anything they liked, or anything that would get consumers excited, they developed their own, which looks like it would be at home in the window of an Apple store, is built off of Microsoft Windows CE, and has both a small web server and client inside. Yello’s meter is a lot more sophisticated than other smart meters.
This unusual environment — a sophisticated, innovative smart meter, and potentially a home broadband connection — will be a very interesting environment within which Cisco can run a pilot program. It could enable Cisco to get an interesting perspective for how it could roll out any type of Linksys, broadband-based, home energy management product, which Cisco has actively been looking into. Back in June Cisco told us that for a trial with Duke Energy it could deploy its own consumer smart energy home hardware, which includes Linksys products and “homeplug” devices that transfer data via power lines.
From a brand recognition perspective, using gear made by Linksys, which Cisco acquired in 2003, could help consumers become more aware of home energy management tools and even ease them into the practice of buying the devices. Since a Linksys device would be more sophisticated than a common smart meter, and would likely use a home broadband connection, this pilot with Yello Strom could actually teach Cisco a whole lot in how home owners would use such a device.
Source: http://earth2tech.com/2009/10/05/what-cisco-can-learn-from-a-yello-strom-smart-grid-pilot/
Wednesday 7 October 2009
Earth2Tech: The Focus on Smart Meters Is A “Red Herring”
While I was edumacating attendees of our “Biggest Opportunities of the Smart Grid” webinar this morning (for subscribers to GigaOM Pro), I learned a great deal from Pike Research analyst Clint Wheelock, who gave an overview of the market on the call. Most interesting to me was that out of a predicted massive investment in smart grid infrastructure — estimated at $210 billion between 2010 to 2015, according to Pike Research — smart meters will actually play a pretty small part of the market: just 11 percent of the total smart grid revenue opportunity.
“The focus on smart meters is a red herring,” explained Wheelock in the webinar this morning. Given all the attention surrounding utilities rolling out smart meters, I thought it was interesting that revenues from smart meters trailed other smart grid sectors like transmission infrastructure and distribution automation. And revenues from smart meters actually just tied the demand response market, and barely beat out the revenues from substation automation. Wheelock pointed out on the call that utilities will get a better return on their investment for those technologies like distribution automation, and additional transmission capacity compared to smart meters.
Images courtesy of Pike Research and Flickr Creative Commons.
Source: http://earth2tech.com/2009/10/07/the-focus-on-smart-meters-is-a-red-herring/
“The focus on smart meters is a red herring,” explained Wheelock in the webinar this morning. Given all the attention surrounding utilities rolling out smart meters, I thought it was interesting that revenues from smart meters trailed other smart grid sectors like transmission infrastructure and distribution automation. And revenues from smart meters actually just tied the demand response market, and barely beat out the revenues from substation automation. Wheelock pointed out on the call that utilities will get a better return on their investment for those technologies like distribution automation, and additional transmission capacity compared to smart meters.
Images courtesy of Pike Research and Flickr Creative Commons.
Source: http://earth2tech.com/2009/10/07/the-focus-on-smart-meters-is-a-red-herring/
HP launches a smart grid security service
According to a report in eWeek Europe, HP has launched a security audit for smart grid services.
Security has been increasingly raised as an issue with smart grids, as I reported back in March, and HP’s new service is also in response to some recent hacking of energy meters and other smart grid infrastructure.
The HP Smart Grid Security Quality Assessment (SGSQA) service was announced at the company’s Executive Energy Conference in Budapest and is aimed at utility companies and smart grid operators.
The new service is apparently based on an existing security audit methodology that HP uses to test its own software and hardware. The service, which HP says works in multi-vendor environments, would take around two weeks to check the vulnerabilities of a smart grid system and is already being trialled with three utility companies.
© The Green IT Review (www.thegreenitreport.com)
Source: Link
Security has been increasingly raised as an issue with smart grids, as I reported back in March, and HP’s new service is also in response to some recent hacking of energy meters and other smart grid infrastructure.
The HP Smart Grid Security Quality Assessment (SGSQA) service was announced at the company’s Executive Energy Conference in Budapest and is aimed at utility companies and smart grid operators.
The new service is apparently based on an existing security audit methodology that HP uses to test its own software and hardware. The service, which HP says works in multi-vendor environments, would take around two weeks to check the vulnerabilities of a smart grid system and is already being trialled with three utility companies.
© The Green IT Review (www.thegreenitreport.com)
Source: Link
Smart Grid City
The city of Boulder, Colorado in the USA has installed "Smart Grids", which allow you to determine how much energy you are using, at what times, and even where it's coming from.
Demand Response
A video explaining the concept of 'Demand Response'
what Demand response can mean to us
what Demand response can mean to us
First IEEE International Workshop on Smart Grid Communications - SmartGridComm
CALL FOR PAPERS
First IEEE International Workshop on Smart Grid Communications
(SmartGridComm 2010),in conjunction with IEEE ICC 2010
Important Dates:
- Submission Deadline: November 15, 2009
- Notification of Acceptance: January 20, 2010
- Camera Ready Due: February 20, 2010
- Workshop Date: May 27, 2010
SmartGridComm
First IEEE International Workshop on Smart Grid Communications
(SmartGridComm 2010),in conjunction with IEEE ICC 2010
Important Dates:
- Submission Deadline: November 15, 2009
- Notification of Acceptance: January 20, 2010
- Camera Ready Due: February 20, 2010
- Workshop Date: May 27, 2010
SmartGridComm
NIST releases development standards for smart electric grid
The National Institute of Standards and Technology released a report identifing 15 new standards to guide the development of the smart electric grid, using two-way communication systems to better monitor energy use to lower consumption.
The standards can be found on the following link:
NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, Release 1.0
The standards can be found on the following link:
NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, Release 1.0
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