Electricity in the 1970’s,Water in the 2020’s

This articles discusses the parallels between the past trends in the US electricity sector with forthcoming trends in the water sector.     

Can Yesterday’s Demand-Side Management Lessons Become Tomorrow’s Market Solutions?

The value of DSM solutions has not diminished since the 1980s. But program providers need to package such programs to be more attractive to customers and beneficial to energy providers if they are finally to find a meaningful role.     

Sandia’s Microgrid Design Toolkit

The Microgrid Design Toolkit, developed by Sandia National Laboratories, provides decision support software for microgrid designers for use in the early stages of the design process. The MDT is the result of four years of investment by the Department of Energy Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability under the Smart Grid R&D program.     

Trend in China’s Wind Power

Attractive prospects for wind power development Sha Yiqiang: In recent years, the development andutilization of wind energy has achieved remarkable     

China’s power consumption to rebound

China’s power consumption is expected to rise 4 percent to 6 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter as the country’s economy is stabilizing. That will bring electricity consumption in the entire year to 4.94 TWh, up 5 percent from a year earlier, the China Electricity Council said on October 30. According to CEC, the country’s total installed power generation capacity will hit 1.14 TWh at the end of this year. Power demand and supply will be balanced because there are     

The world’s highest transmission tower erected

In April the long span towers crossing the Yangtze River, seated in Ligang Township of Jiangyin City, was successfully hoisted and erected. The world's highest river-crossing type is in the double-circuit transmission line structure. Its     

Future Expectation for China’s Nuclear Power

China: the future of nuclear powerWang Yonggan: In terms of the highlighted issue ofenergy security, oil is of paramount importance, coal isthe foundation and electricity is the pivot according to     

World’s new highest arch dam emerged

<正>On March 8, 2010, the concrete pouring was completed on the dam crest in the state’s key project, Yunnan Xiaowan Hydropower Station. Consequently,     

Let’s Focus on Sustainability,Not Kyoto

Adopting a 1,000-gigatonne global carbon budget for years 1991 to 2100 and a peak annual carbon emission level of 11 gigatonnes between years 2030 and 2040 will buy the time to develop and deploy low- and zero-carbon emission technologies while deferring the controversial issue of the compliance of developing countries.     

China’s Electric Power Industry over 60 Years

The year 2009 marks the 60th anniversary of the People‘s Republic of China.During the 60 years when the new China continuously developed and got stronger,China‘s power industry supplied streams of electricity for economic development and people‘s life,making outstanding contributions to China‘s growth.     

The recursive Green’s function method for graphene

We describe how to apply the recursive Green’s function method to the computation of electronic transport properties of graphene sheets and nanoribbons in the linear response regime. This method allows for an amenable inclusion of several disorder mechanisms at the microscopic level, as well as inhomogeneous gating, finite temperature, and, to some extend, dephasing. We present algorithms for computing the conductance, density of states, and current densities for armchair and zigzag atomic edge alignments. Several numerical results are presented to illustrate the usefulness of the method.     

SG’s UHVDC experiment and demonstration project started

The foundation stone laying ceremony for Jindong-nan (Southeast Shaanxi)-Nanyang-Jingmen UHVAC experiment and demonstration project of the State Grid Corporation (SG) was held in Changzhi on August 19, 2006. It marked that the project filling the gap in 1000-kV-class transmission technology in China has entered the stage of construction. UHV power grid refers to 1000-kV AC or±800-kV DC power transmission network, which features long     

2011 SGCC’s Annual Report on Electricity Transaction

Electricity exchange data Purchase transactions at generation side In 2011, the purchase transactions of electricity carried out by the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) amounted to 3047 TWh at generation side (power plants under unif ied dispatch), up 12.6% on a year-on-year basis. Of all the purchase transactions, 2612 TWh were thermal power, 349.4 TWh hydropower, 41.2 TWh wind power, and 44.4 TWh were other power sources. The purchase transactions of electricity at the generation     

Upper brainstem GABA levels in Parkinson’s disease

Objective

The dopaminergic pathology of Parkinson’s disease (PD) impacts circuits involving GABAergic neurons, especially in the brainstem, where the disease manifests early. The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the upper brainstem are reduced in patients with PD compared to healthy controls, using edited magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS of GABA?+).

Materials and methods

GABA?+?levels were examined in 18 PD patients and 18 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs). GABA?+?-edited MRS was performed in 7.5-ml voxels in the upper brainstem, and the spectra were processed using the Gannet software. Differences in GABA?+?levels between the two groups were analyzed using independent t test analysis.

Results

GABA?+?levels were significantly lower (p?<?0.05) in the upper brainstem of the patients with PD (4.57?±?0.94 mM) than the HCs (5.89?±?1.16 mM).

Conclusion

The lower GABA?+?levels in the upper brainstem of the PD patients suggest that a GABAergic deficit in the brainstem may contribute to the pathology in PD.

     

Reforming FERC’s RTO/ISO stakeholder governance principles

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has not provided detailed guidance on Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) and Independent System Operator (ISO) governance since Order 719 in 2008; meanwhile, markets have evolved considerably. This article reviews past FERC orders to identify explicit and implied governance principles and criteria to achieve those principles, then proposes additional principles and criteria based on governance problems in PJM Interconnection (PJM). Specifically, a Fair Representation Principle is developed in response to PJM member sectors failing to reflect member diversity, low member participation rates, and inadequately defined state roles. The Neutrality Principle is proposed to address structural and administrative bias, and lack of public transparency. FERC must also expand all governance principles – including the existing Independence and Responsiveness Principles – to apply to all RTO/ISO members and non-member stakeholders, not just market participants. A methodical review of governance issues in all RTO/ISO should inform future FERC-level action, and FERC should regularly evaluate RTO/ISO governance processes to prevent stale governance rules from frustrating the goals of competitive markets. Governance reforms have the potential to improve the public legitimacy of decisions emanating from RTO/ISO stakeholder processes; however, reform supporters shouldn’t view this as a panacea to all the challenges facing the contemporary RTO/ISO.     

Germany’s journey toward 14 Tesla human magnetic resonance

Multiple sites within Germany operate human MRI systems with magnetic fields either at 7 Tesla or 9.4 Tesla. In 2013, these sites formed a network to facilitate and harmonize the research being conducted at the different sites and make this technology available to a larger community of researchers and clinicians not only within Germany, but also worldwide. The German Ultrahigh Field Imaging (GUFI) network has defined a strategic goal to establish a 14 Tesla whole-body human MRI system as a national research resource in Germany as the next progression in magnetic field strength. This paper summarizes the history of this initiative, the current status, the motivation for pursuing MR imaging and spectroscopy at such a high magnetic field strength, and the technical and funding challenges involved. It focuses on the scientific and science policy process from the perspective in Germany, and is not intended to be a comprehensive systematic review of the benefits and technical challenges of higher field strengths.

     

MGE UPS appointed worldwide distributor for Ballard’s AirGen

Ballard Power Systems has appointed California-based MGE UPS Systems Inc as an authorized worldwide (excluding Japan) distributor and service provider for its AirGen? fuel cell generator for backup power. MGE — which has its international headquarters in France — is a leading provider of power protection solutions to computer data centers, telecoms and industrial operations.This is a short news story only. Visit www.re-focus.net for the latest renewable energy industry news.     

China taps into world’s largest wind power capacity

The latest statistics data reveal, China added another 16 GW of installed wind power capacity in 2010. Thus with the accumulative wind power installed capacity in the country reaching 41.827 GW, China has overtaken the US as the largest wind power producer in the world.