Smart Grid
This sector of the green economy is multi-faceted from energy generation (including renewable energy) to transmission and distribution to storage and managing energy use.
To understand the direction of this sector, be sure to read the Smart Grid industry profile below. The initial sections of the profile give a very detailed overview of the current state of the power grid and where it's heading.
See Chapter 10 of Green Careers For Dummies for additional information about these industries.
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Smart Grid - This sector will transform our relationship with electricity from power generation, transmission, and distribution to consumption management, storage, and appliances. Don't think of this as a single industry, think of it as a multi-faceted sector that will continue to evolve over time.
Detailed Smart Grid Industry Profile Available to Members
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Power Generation - When we speak of Renewable Energy, we are describing resources that are naturally replenished within a short time span making them indefinitely sustainable. This includes energy from the sun, wind, heat from inside the earth, plants, and water. Review the Renewable Energy Industry profile and then read the renewable energy source that interests you most.
Detailed Renewable Energy Overview Available to Members
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Biomass/Biofuel - Biomass is another word for organic matter such as wood waste, agricultural wastes, and some specially grown crops are burned as fuel. Biofuel is solid, liquid or gaseous fuel derived from biomass. There are now several kinds of organic matter that are being used to create biofuel including algae.
Detailed Biomass/Biofuel Industry Profile Available to Members
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Geothermal - Geothermal energy is heat from the earth. This renewable resource has been used by people for a very long time. Water seeping into underground reservoirs is heated by geothermal energy which can then be tapped for a variety of uses.
Detailed Geothermal Industry Profile Available to Members
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Ocean/Hydro - The Marine Energy sector focuses on capturing energy from ocean waves, tides and currents. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion takes advantage of the temperature extremes between the surface and the depths of tropical oceans, creating an action akin to a slow motion natural heat pump. Hydro Energy, which captures the energy in the flowing movement of rivers, is usually thought of separately from Marine Energy. Water mills are a very old form of Hydro Energy, today we are more used to seeing dams converting water flow into electricity.
Detailed Ocean/Hydro Industry Profile Available to Members
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Solar - Solar energy does not require any fuel and does not pollute the air, from small solar calculators up to utility-sized solar farms. Similar technologies for generating power from the sun are used regardless of the size of the installation, but we have chosen to address small-scale and large-scale separately since the nature of the companies and jobs are likely to differ for residential projects as opposed to commercial or utility-scale operations.
Industry Profiles Available to Members
- Detailed Large Scale, Utlity-Grade Solar Energy
- Detailed Small Scale, Residential Solar Energy
Interview with VP Marketing and Sales for Residential, Commercial PV Solar Company Available to Members
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Waste-to-Energy - Waste-to-Energy is a renewable energy industry that is already established with 87 waste-to-energy facilities that burn organic and manufactured waste in carefully designed boilers that incorporate modern pollution control equipment to scrub the emissions from the burn and precise heat conditions to ensure that all waste matter is completely combusted. For each ton of municipal solid waste combusted, 500-600 kWh of electricity are produced. The electricity can be added to the grid while the steam produced can be used to heat buildings. These plants currently process only 8 percent of the waste produced in the United States each year, which means this industry has ample room to expand. Keep in mind; this is not like burning garbage in your back yard. Although this technology has a ways to go from a political point of view, it has been perfected technically over the last forty years. Many experts believe it is a viable solution to minimizing the impact on landfills while creating energy that removes more carbon emissions than it emits. Watch to see how this industry fares politically. |
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Wind - Another source of renewable energy is wind. Whether the wind is blowing over the plains, along the coastlines, or through urban areas, it can be tapped with the appropriate wind turbine.
Detailed Wind Industry Profile Available to Members
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Energy Storage - The intermittent nature of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, call for systems to store energy, usually in the form of electricity, to heat and cool areas. Being able to store energy during off-peak hours and release it during peak demand will go a long way toward making these renewable energy sources economically viable. Another use for reliable and affordable energy storage is in remote locations when distributed energy systems are used to replace or supplement the traditional centralized systems. In these cases the energy is produced quite near the location where it will be used, and is released as needed. Energy storage technology makes it possible for energy to be generated during the less expensive times of low demand, and added to the grid when the demand is high or when additional capacity is called for.
Detailed Energy Storage Industry Profile Available to Members
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