Advanced Energy Perspectives

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plan to regulate carbon emissions is just the latest challenge facing the U.S. electric power system. Technological innovation is disrupting old ways of doing business and accelerating grid modernization. Last year, AEE released Advanced Energy Technologies for Greenhouse Gas Reduction, a report detailing the use, application, and benefits of 40 specific advanced energy technologies and services. This post is one in a series drawn from the technology profiles within that report.

A microgrid is a network of connected electricity generation assets, controls, and loads that can operate separately from a utility grid and/or easily connect to or disconnect from a utility grid. Microgrids come in three basic types: remote, customer-owned, and utility distribution. Remote microgrids provide power to communities far from utility networks. Customer-owned microgrids typically refer to microgrids in use at large facilities owned by a single customer, such as military bases and college campuses. Utility distribution microgrids refer to portions of the grid within the utility system that are configured to act as microgrids.

This post is one in a series of feature stories on trends shaping advanced energy markets in the U.S. and around the world, drawn from Advanced Energy Now 2015 Market Report, which was prepared for AEE by Navigant Research. 

Hydropower is a mature technology that has tapped most of the resources available in developed countries, with the exception of Canada, which continues to eye large hydro projects. Despite this, there are still hydro opportunities available in the United States. An estimated $4 billion worth of orders were made over the past four years, mostly to repower and/or upgrade aging hydroelectric plants, develop small projects, and create energy storage (pumped hydro), totaling 618 MW of installed capacity.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plan to regulate carbon emissions is just the latest challenge facing the U.S. electric power system. Technological innovation is disrupting old ways of doing business and accelerating grid modernization. Last year, AEE released Advanced Energy Technologies for Greenhouse Gas Reduction, a report detailing the use, application, and benefits of 40 specific advanced energy technologies and services. This post is one in a series drawn from the technology profiles within that report.

There are two types of currents that can be used when transmitting electricity: Alternating Current (AC) and Direct Current (DC). The electric grid developed around AC power because it was easier to manipulate and transport efficiently given technological limitations with DC transformers that persisted until the 1980s. Technological advancements have now made high-voltage DC (HVDC) lines a viable option for efficiently transporting power over long distances.

This post is one in a series of feature stories on trends shaping advanced energy markets in the U.S. and around the world, drawn from Advanced Energy Now 2015 Market Report, which was prepared for AEE by Navigant Research. 

Photo courtesy of AEE member Genze.

A generational shift in the United States is underway when it comes to car culture. While there are a number of contributing social and economic factors, over the last decade, the number of miles driven by the average American has been falling. At the same time, advanced mobility options, drive trains, and fuel sources have increased significantly. Growth in public transit options, car-sharing, and electric vehicles are all contributing to the transformation of personal mobility. Millennials in particular are seeking alternatives to car ownership while decreasing battery costs are making electric mobility products more affordable.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plan to regulate carbon emissions is just the latest challenge facing the U.S. electric power system. Technological innovation is disrupting old ways of doing business and accelerating grid modernization. Last year, AEE released Advanced Energy Technologies for Greenhouse Gas Reduction, a report detailing the use, application, and benefits of 40 specific advanced energy technologies and services. This post is one in a series drawn from the technology profiles within that report.

Superconductivity is a property of some materials whereby electrical resistance, which normally decreases gradually with decreasing temperature, suddenly drops to zero below a critical temperature. Advances in materials have created high-temperature superconductors (HTS), whose relatively “warm” critical temperatures of -315° to -230°F allow for the use of less expensive and easier to handle refrigerants such as liquid nitrogen. HTS transmission passes electricity through a cable that is insulated with high-pressure liquid nitrogen pumped by refrigeration equipment. The insulation allows HTS transmission to carry 10 times the power of a standard cable of similar thickness with almost no power losses. These lines can connect directly to the existing AC transmission network to add highly efficient transmission capacity that can relieve congestion without the need for high voltages.