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High cost of coal and natural gas could make EVs, US grid cleaner this summer

Green Car Reports

Anticipated price hikes for coal and natural gas could lead to increase use of renewable energy in electricity generation, making both the grid and EVs cleaner, according to new United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysis.

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CPUC approves $11.7M for three new PG&E vehicle-to-grid pilots

Green Car Congress

million in funding for Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to develop three new pilot programs to test how bidirectional electric vehicles (EVs) and chargers can provide power to the electric grid and other benefits to customers. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved $11.7

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Stanford study quantifies energetic costs of grid-scale energy storage over time; current batteries the worst performers; the need to improve cycle life by 3-10x

Green Car Congress

A plot of ESOI for 7 potential grid-scale energy storage technologies. Benson from Stanford University and Stanford’s Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) has quantified the energetic costs of 7 different grid-scale energy storage technologies over time. Credit: Barnhart and Benson, 2013. Click to enlarge.

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EPRI Analysis estimates costs of fully developing US smart grid could reach $476B; benefits up to $2T

Green Car Congress

Total Smart Grid costs. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has released a broad assessment of the costs and benefits to modernize the US electricity system and deploy the smart grid. The analysis updates EPRI’s 2004 EPRI assessment, which estimated the cost of implementing a smart grid at $165 billion.

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New OnStar app shows cost of Volt charging

Green Car Congress

The new app, called EcoHub, will initially be tested with and available to residents of the Pecan Street demonstration project, a smart grid living community in Austin. For the first time we’re able to put one of our Smart Grid solutions into the hands of actual consumers, thanks in part to our partnership with Pecan Street.

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California agencies release report charting path to 100% clean electricity; need to triple grid capacity by 2045

Green Car Congress

Highlights from the report include the following: To reach the 2045 target while electrifying other sectors to meet the state’s economy-wide climate goals, California will need to roughly triple its current electricity grid capacity. A clean electricity grid is necessary to achieve economywide carbon neutrality.

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How to Prevent Blackouts by Packetizing the Power Grid

Cars That Think

That need for balance is true of electric power grids, too. Second, conventional coal and nuclear plants are being retired for economic and policy reasons, removing stable sources from the grid. Packetized energy management (PEM) allows the power grid to flexibly handle a varying supply of renewable energy. Here’s how.