Who Benefits From The Smart Grid?
EcoFriend
Well, the answer is the same old idea of saving energy and utilizingit in the best possible manner. To explain, a smart grid is a systemthat enables power companies and retailers to gauge the demand patternsof power and ensures that it is produced and dissipated accordingly. Asfor the users, the energy meter helps keep a track of the power usage by various kinds of devices. The meter and the grid, together are supposed to optimize the utilization of energy. Here the question is, will the benefits balance themselves for the users and providers equally?
Is it really that serious?
The seriousness increases with the gravity of the fact that humans by nature are opportunists. Similar would be the case with the producersand retailers of power. The fact that they would produce a relative amount of power means thatthey would possess an exact clue of how energy is being used byconsumers. This would give them a grant to charge variably at theirdiscretion. Moreover, the masses, would switch over to their previousenergy habits after an initial lag period of energy usage improvement.
What others are saying:
One of the prime supporters of this smart system is none other thanthe organization which promises a smarter planet – IBM. IBM has seen anactive involvement in the conceptualization and prospectiveimplementation of this idea. While addressing the GridWise Global Forum 2010, Chairman Samuel J. Palmisano, stressed on the active participation of IBM in the project.
The developments:
1. Energy Smart Grid:
Expected in Singapore, the Energy Smart Grid would have a capacity of 1MW and cost $32 million to SP PowerGrid andCEI Contract Manufacturing. The smarter grid is expected to give abetter feedback regarding power status and thus help companies smellblackouts well in advance.
2. Smart Grid Domestic Appliance:
These appliances complement their human owners in the fact that they have brains! Theykick to activity only when electricity is the cheapest and thus save alot of your green bills. The condition of course is that they have to be pre-programmed.
3. Smart Grid Chip:
The EPFL ELab’s 4 mm chip is supposed to maintain the integrity that is required to keep the grid working. It is still a prospective success and would give an alarm asand when there is something wrong in the grid.
Source
'EcoFriend' is an environmental blog. The idea behind EcoFriend is simple: to inform and educate consumers who love to possess the latest gadgets and products available in the market and who are also concerned about the environment around them.