This is what a renewable distributed grid needs.

But the key word is "distributed".  It needs distributed computing to really work well with storage and renewable sources like solar, wind, wave, current, and biogas energy.

The internet switching/sensing computers in each building, plugin car, and renewable source need to communicate with each other and use distributed computing to smooth power flow.  Like fish in a school or bison in a herd, fractals help adjust the collective activity to ever changing random reality.

The fractals built into the distributed smart grid.

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fine, as long as it is part of an aggressive, comprehensive CONSERVATION campaign, combined with a massive shift to DECENTRALIZED LOCAL RENEWABLE GENERATION and R & D into improved storage capacity.  

giving MORE control to utilities is a non-starter.  they have gotten 99% of the benefits from socializing the costs of power generation and transmission, while privatizing all the profits.  meanwhile, individuals get largely symbolic but truly ineffective benefits from "energy policy." as long as we are shifting to a "renewable energy paradigm," let's to ahead and really shift to a truly sustainable, independent paradigm instead of another utility chokehold/giveaway that we greenwash to make it look "new."

he time has come for individuals to finally see some benefits from their tax dollars in the form of shifting ALL buy-back guarantees, incentives, rebates, subsidies, etc. to individuals wishing to generate green power from their home and/or business.  if a program like this benefits individuals and their stability, and is entirely within their control (which we all know is not the plan), then great.  but what's been showing up is that THE MAN, in the form of Big Power, is really the one who will get to control our usage and pricing UNLESS WE LOBBY FOR INDEPENDENCE AND FAIR TREATMENT.

so, do you want to offer more to utilities or get more for yourself and save the planet while you do it?  now's the time to have your say...

the greenest energy is that which you needn't ever produce.

I have looked at all of the various platforms and candidate statements in this presidential election. I even have the draft of a new Green Party platform proposal.  That draft is the only place where I find anyone addressing the need for a new grid, for a Distributed Grid and which addresses the major question of funding it.  

Germany is showing us that it can be done. What we lack are plans to replace slogans and the only one I found was in the Green Party platform.

But then, I knew where to look.

Wes Rolley CoChair - EcoAction Committee Green Party US

For over a hundred years power providers have essentially relied on their customers to notify them of power outages.  Without any automated-detection system in place, power companies don't know the power is out until a customer notifies them.  This will change with the deployment new wireless sensors from a company based in Australia.

Telepathx Ltd, a wireless sensor developer based in Victoria, Australia, recently announced that the release of their new product will make this inherent dependency on energy customers a notion of the past.  Telepathx Ltd is among the leading industry developers of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) in Australia.

The long-awaited release of Telepathx' Pinpoint intelligent cutout sensor uses the company's enhancements to radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to provide utility companies with the instant communications they need to pinpoint electrical outages.  With Pinpoint sensors in place on a smart power grid, should a failure occur the power utility is notified within seconds of the precise location of the power failure including the specific device and cabling that have failed.

Power failure reporting at this level of precision has never before been attainable, but now with AMI technology taking shape throughout Australia, these sensors can be used that will minimize power outages to an absolute minimum.

According to April Sommers, an energy analyst, "Statistically 84% of all power outages or blackouts in urban and outer urban settings are caused by falling tree limbs or animals that come in contact with the overhead power lines, this intelligent cutout fuse technology can't stop that from happening, but what it will do is provide an instantaneous notification to energy providers reducing the report and response times of faults from hours to mere seconds, something entire communities will benefit from."

Previously, a power company could remain unaware of a power outage for minutes or even ours until telephoned customer complaints give a general idea where the issue is happening.  Pinpoint sensors will greatly enhance a utility's ability to respond to problems and enhance their ability to efficiently dispatch work crews to fix the problem.

Smart power grids will effectively manage themselves and notify the proper authorities when necessary.  Sommers adds, "reducing customer minutes off supply or CMOS is what these guys [Pinpoint sensors] do best, forget about managing apparatus with streams of data or waiting for calls to come in; this reactive technology teaches the network to manage itself and alert authorities when something's amiss."

Telepathx general manager Mike Walsh confirms that "In addition to bringing intelligence to energy networks the multi purpose machine to machine (M2M) wireless sensor networks being developed by the company would for starters monitor fire ignitions, auto collisions, floods, mudslides, asset tracking and consumer/industrial alarm systems, reading water, gas and electric meters or AMR/AMI services would follow."
It's very clear that the ongoing effort to develop smart meter technology has very far reaching effects in efficiency, monetary savings, and enhanced public safety.  Smart meters will reduce carbon emissions to the atmosphere, but will have many other consequential benefits once the items become commonplace.

James Eades, CEO of Telepathx, adds, "This communications aggregation platform was designed and developed to consolidate the fragmented communications services that exist in our urban areas, and will benefit entire communities not just the energy sector; essential service providers such as police, emergency services, transportation networks operators, utilities even sewerage plants and M2M operators would benefit from leveraging services off the platform."

Commenting on the Pinpoint sensors, Eades said "We have developed what many are calling the optimal model for building out the intelligent distribution grid; for the simple reason that our platform goes well beyond managing energy assets to generate revenues the day it's installed not decades.  Currently we are also exploring opportunities with several smart meter manufacturers on the issue of converging and leveraging of each others platform, a move that will make meters more intelligent than ever imagined."

Pinpoint sensors integrated into smart meters and home appliances have the potential to create home area networks (HANs) capable of remote control of appliances in the home by either the individual consumer or the power company.  RFID technology operates over radio frequencies, eliminating the need to install computer equipment that other wireless technologies require.

Excel is working on this in Colorado too.

I think that going with simply enabling the grid for internet is the first step, then the computer switching devices all interact as a distributed computing network.  Internet over grid technology is already deployed in a few instances.

On/off switching of individual appliances and heating/cooling systems gives the smart grid storage options to smooth the intermittent supply from renewable sources.

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