Arlington, Virg.-based GridPoint Inc., a leading smart grid platform developer, has acquired a small Seattle company called V2Green, which is leading the charge — excuse the pun — toward grid-vehicle interaction as electric-car development gathers momentum. Basically V2Green has “smart charge” software that will synchronize the charging of electric vehicles that connect to the grid, aided by an on-board vehicle communications device that talks/negotiates with the power utility when an EV is plugged in. (more…)

Both in Canada and the United States there’s increasing talk of adding “smarts” to the grid and investing in infrastructure modernization and expansion. Google’s and GE’s plan to collaborate on smart grid development is just the latest example. After two decades or more of underinvestment this is a good thing, because if we truly want to tap the full potential of renewables and maximize conservation and demand-management we’ll need a grid that is flexible and has controllability.

Currently, power on the grid generally flows like water — through the path of least resistance. But power electronics do exist that can direct where we want the power to go. These devices are generally called FACTs, or Flexible AC Transmission devices. They are important, because they allow us to use the capacity in the grid more efficiently and make it easier to manage the intermittency of renewables and a grid where distributed generation is growing. (more…)

I’ll let the article speak for itself, but I have a story in today’s Toronto Star about the Ontario government’s plan to “fine tune” its 20-year power mix strategy to add more renewables and accelerate conservation targets. New energy minister George Smitherman recently travelled to Spain, Germany, Denmark and California to learn what those jurisdictions are doing, and apparently it was an eye-opener for him. He believes Ontario, which has already set relatively aggressive conservation and renewables targets, can raise the bar even further by exploring pump storage, more solar and wind, and investing more in transmission so that renewable opportunities can be unlocked. Convinced of the greater potential, he has directed the Ontario Power Authority to spend the next six months reviewing the renewables and conservation component of its 20-year plan.

It’s encouraging. But as environmentalists were quick to point out, the government is still not changing its plans to maintain the province’s nuclear fleet at 14,000 megawatts. Personally, I wouldn’t expect them to, because they’ve been caught before making promises they can’t keep.

I was fortunate enough Tuesday evening to attend a small private dinner with GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz, who flew into Toronto following the launch of the Volt in Detroit earlier in the day. The 76-year-old auto executive was quite entertaining for his straight-shooting talk and occasional joke. (more…)

Perhaps this is a naive opinion — I’m open to that criticism. But if you believe, as I do, that the future of clean, efficient ground transportation is electrification, and that such a solution doesn’t exist for aviation, then you may support the idea that the bulk of research, development and commercialization around biofuels should be focused on replacing our use of jet fuel, not gasoline. It’s not that I don’t think there’s value in using biofuels for vehicles, particularly as the fuel component of a plug-in hybrid. It’s just that biofuels, in my view, represent the only realistic clean-fuel option for long-distance jet travel. (more…)