Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Standby mode
The amount of electricity consumed as standby power for products is
growing. Of all the avoidable expenditures of energy resources, this is
perhaps the most absurd, serving no useful purpose. That hasn't stopped
standby power - defined by the IEA as “power required by a product
when not performing its primary function” - becoming a standard feature
on many products.
Remote-controls or time-clocks on products require power in order to
respond to start-up signals and to keep clocks running. TV set-top boxes
also often need to stay in high-power mode so that TV service providers
can send security and software updates. But other products clearly ought
to have devices enabling them to automatically power down.
Smart electricity
One technological concept that could revolutionize electricity is the smart
grid. Today's power grids supply electricity in a unidirectional flow - from
centralized power stations to millions of customers. Tomorrow's grids will
use digital technology to make our electricity supply more reliable - capa-
ble of integrating numerous and intermittent sources of renewable power,
be they solar, wind, tidal or hydroelectricity. But they will also enable
customers - in two-way communication with suppliers or grid operators
- to re-shape their demand for electricity so that it saves them money and
fits better with supply.
In other words, the smart-grid idea turns a rather passive system,
driven by suppliers alone, into a more dynamic, intelligent system capable
of reflecting the interests of customers as well as suppliers to their mutual
benefit. This is the goal now being pursued in many developed countries.
The European Union has had a smart-grid technology programme going
since 2005 (though the pace of roll-out for the technology varies consider-
ably among EU states). In the US, Barack Obama's administration made
smart-grid technologies a priority of the $80bn devoted to clean energy
in its 2009 Recovery Act.
Micro-generation
Today's grids are already having to adapt to renewable power. One factor
is their ability to deal with potentially abrupt surges in power - when
the wind blows or the sun shines for example - and, when such surges
