http://science.kqed.org/quest/2009/05/13/those-intermittent-renewables-part-2/ Explore science, nature and environment stories from Northern California and beyond with KQED’s multimedia series Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:38:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://science.kqed.org/quest/2009/05/13/those-intermittent-renewables-part-2/#comment-11959 Amory Lovins: Efficiency Burns Brightest Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:43:05 +0000 http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/?p=2451#comment-11959 [...] Near the end of his presentation, Lovins turned the conventional electricity pyramid upside down. He put efficiency, cogeneration, and distributed generation at the base, demand response and plug-in vehicles in the middle, and coal and nuclear plants at the smallest point. I asked about the absence of electricity storage in a pyramid that was so dependent on intermittent sources. Conventional wisdom has it that coal-fired (or natural gas or large hydro) plants are necessary to maintain a consistent baseload. Wind and solar, as intermittent electricity sources, can’t provide that same level of consistent power production and are widely believed to require electricity storage solutions or battery backup. [...] [...] Near the end of his presentation, Lovins turned the conventional electricity pyramid upside down. He put efficiency, cogeneration, and distributed generation at the base, demand response and plug-in vehicles in the middle, and coal and nuclear plants at the smallest point. I asked about the absence of electricity storage in a pyramid that was so dependent on intermittent sources. Conventional wisdom has it that coal-fired (or natural gas or large hydro) plants are necessary to maintain a consistent baseload. Wind and solar, as intermittent electricity sources, can’t provide that same level of consistent power production and are widely believed to require electricity storage solutions or battery backup. [...]

]]> http://science.kqed.org/quest/2009/05/13/those-intermittent-renewables-part-2/#comment-11958 Jasmine Fri, 15 May 2009 18:30:08 +0000 http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/?p=2451#comment-11958 Grid Energy storage on the scale we'd need with the technology we have today is prohibitively expensive but Ice for energy storage has similar benefits to the grid and is cost effective. Grid Energy storage on the scale we'd need with the technology we have today is prohibitively expensive but Ice for energy storage has similar benefits to the grid and is cost effective.

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