Nanotechnology Now

• About Us
  
  • Advertising
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Comments
  • Friends
  • Contact
• Nanotechnology
• News
  
  • Current News
  • Press Releases
  • Submit Press
  • Press kit
  • Interviews
• Columns
• Products
  
  • Our Products
  • Books
  • Featured Books
• Directories
  
  • Companies/Academic
  • Events
  • Glossary
  • Best Of
• Career Center
• Nano-Social Network
• Nano Consulting
• My Account

Home > News > Electric car returns energy to the grid

February 6th, 2009

Electric car returns energy to the grid

Abstract:
But most of all, they focused on how the next generation of plug-ins could solve a problem that has plagued the electricity industry: energy storage.

Unlike the water supply system, which has reservoirs to balance supply and demand, the electric system must balance input and output on a near-instantaneous basis.

Right now, the wizardlike grid operator sends pulses of information every two to four seconds to coal-fired and natural-gas plants in the system, telling them to rev up production. Or slow down.

That prevents the plants from operating most efficiently, much the way a car guzzles more gas when it speeds up and slows down constantly instead of cruising in its sweet spot of fuel efficiency.

Supporters see the new plug-in vehicles as a stabilizing addition. They envision thousands or millions of car batteries taking electricity from the grid during low-demand periods, such as overnight, and sending electricity back into the grid at times of heavy demand.

It could help the industry shave the peaks _ important, because the whole system has to be sized for the highest demands to avoid brownouts _ and fill the valleys, when some power plants might otherwise be slow.

Source:
philly.com

Bookmark:

Related News Press

News and information

Nano-needles for cells May 25th, 2013

How do cold ions slide May 24th, 2013

Gold nanocrystal vibration captured on billion-frames-per-second film May 23rd, 2013

Glowing Plant Releases Maker Kit, Enabling Anyone to Make a Glowing Plant at Home: Glowing Plant seeks funds via crowdfunding and raises almost $400,000 May 23rd, 2013

Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals

Heinrich Rohrer dies at 79; a father of nanotechnology: With IBM colleague Gerd Binnig, Rohrer invented the scanning tunneling microscope, which can show individual atoms on a surface and move them around May 23rd, 2013

IDTechEx launches online Market Intelligence Portal May 23rd, 2013

Whirlpools on the Nanoscale Could Multiply Magnetic Memory: At the Advanced Light Source, Berkeley Lab scientists join an international team to control spin orientation in magnetic nanodisks May 22nd, 2013

UofL scientists uncover how grapefruits provide a secret weapon in medical drug delivery May 22nd, 2013

Automotive/Transportation

Researchers Stitch Defects into the World’s Thinnest Semiconductor May 22nd, 2013

Imec and Renesas collaborate on ultra-low power short range radios: Collaboration will develop robust wireless solutions for future electronics May 16th, 2013

Physicists discover a new kind of friction: Friction in the nano-world May 16th, 2013

Michigan Tech Scientist's Discovery Could Lead to a Better Capacitor April 16th, 2013

Battery Technology/Capacitors/Generators/Piezoelectrics

IDTechEx launches online Market Intelligence Portal May 23rd, 2013

Add boron for better batteries: Rice University theorists say graphene-boron mix shows promise for lithium-ion batteries May 17th, 2013

New Mechanism Converts Natural Gas to Energy Faster, Captures CO2 May 7th, 2013

Microwave oven cooks up solar cell material: Nanocrystal semiconductor for photovoltaics, medical sensors, heat reuse May 6th, 2013