The Power of Technology to Make a Difference
It must be acknowledged here that existing electricity is not totally dumb. The need for more distributed intelligence in the electricity grid is essential, however, as the build-out of distributed renewable power generation continues (e.g. for solar, wind and wave power), electric vehicles begin to be deployed and consumers begin to take control of their energy consumption.
Smart Energy Infrastructure
Some of the infrastructure opportunities are relatively ‘easy’ to take advantage of. For example, intelligent wind turbines require ICT for both hardware and software to be able to control the turbine vane pitch, rotation and other variables in response to realtime information, including changing wind conditions and electrical load requirements.
More challenging opportunities lie with ICT being used within transmission and distribution grids in order to manage bi-directional energy. Remember that in the traditional electricity grid, electricity is generated in large power stations and flowed one way to the consumers. Now consumers can be generators themselves, so electricity can flow from the grid to the consumer or back from the consumer to the grid. In order to ensure the stability of the total electricity grid, all of this complexity will have to be managed so the smart grids of the future can operate and respond in ‘realtime’ and can support new innovations. Smart grids will also need to be capable of intergrating future applications and services that have not yet been invented.
Smart Energy at Home For Intel, the big picture – from companies to individuals – is important. It sees a great opportunity for technology to enable the smart grid. Technology is not the only answer; however, behaviour change must also occur.
Today, most consumers do not really understand how much electricity they consume and how or when they consume it. Thus Intel has developed the Intelligent Home Energy Management device (see Figure 2) to enable consumers to see how much energy they consume. This proof-of-concept device demonstrates the type of information, services and automation that could be available to consumers in the future. Intel is currently working with a number of partners in the energy sector to run trials of this device, with the goal of enabling consumers to proactively manage their energy usage.
Working in Partnership
To accelerate the transformation towards this ‘smart’ energy sector, Intel formed the Intel Open Energy Initiative to align and mobilise its partners to drive the transition to smart energy based on distributed intelligence and built on open internet protocol (IP) standards. Working with leading industry partners, non-governmental organisations and governments will undoubtedly help drive forward and augment environmental efforts at all levels of the spectrum, with the aim of positively influencing policy. In addition, Intel continues to make strategic investments in environmental companies through Intel
1. Intel Market Projections, May 2010. 2.
http://www.intel.com/technology/ecotech/index.htm 3.
http://www.intel.com/about/corporateresponsibility/report/ index.htm
1970 103 Figure 1: Moore’s Law 105 1962 104 1965
102
10
1 110 102 103 104 Number of components per integrated circuit
In 1965, Gordon Moore, who later co-founded Intel, predicted that the number of transistors on a chip would double about every two years – an insight later dubbed ‘Moore's Law’.
Figure 2: Intelligent Home Energy Management device 105
Capital. This is encouraging more innovation in energy efficiency, alternative power generation and energy storage solutions.
Driving Change for the Better
Intel believes that technology is a force that can move the direction of environmental change for the better. Such changes range from encouraging simple behavioural alterations, such as turning computers off when they are not in use, to larger scale investments in more eco-friendly and efficient technologies and production processes. Technology and its usage models will continue to play a pivotal role in providing the tools to help individuals, businesses and nations become more energy conscious and energy efficient. This will drive people towards a more sustainable future. n
4.
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/ d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/14f1653750981146 8525777300580126!OpenDocument 5.
http://www.intel.com/technology/eco-
technology/
openenergy.htm 6.
http://www.smart2020.org/
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Relative manufacturing cost per component
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