The smart grid has been slow to materialize for a combination of factors including investment challenges, but 2014 featured some important advances. “But these challenges also helped define the opportunities for companies, utilities and regulators working on building the next stage of smart grid — a “smart grid 2.0,” if you will. From building on the prior wave of investment in AMI networks and grid intelligence, to bridging the gaps between utilities and their customers, and laying the groundwork for a marriage of distributed energy and utility operations, 2014 saw some key developments that help indicate where the industry must go from here, if it’s to grow.” [Greentech Media via Energy Collective]
Fighting continues in Libya where vital oil industry infrastructure is often targeted. A tanker was bombed yesterday in an eastern port. “The Araevo was bombed by an unidentified fighter jet at the port of Derna yesterday, Greece’s shipping ministry said on its website. The attack didn’t result in a leak and the vessel is now in Tobruk, another port that’s also in the country’s east, Ilias Syrros, the safety manager for Aegean Shipping Enterprises Co., the Piraeus, Greece-based firm operating the tanker, said by phone.” [Bloomberg via Fuel Fix]
Renewable energy sources accounted for 13% of US electricity supply in the first 10 months of 2014 according to EIA data, but there is some disagreement regarding solar’s contribution. “As Bob Wallace informed me while I was working on this article, historical data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) shows solar electricity generation being about three times greater than what EIA showed for the same periods. If that held true when it comes to more recent data, solar and renewables as a whole obviously would have accounted for a greater portion of US electricity production in October, the first 10 months of 2014, and the same period in 2013. Still, it’s such a small percentage that it wouldn’t make a dramatic effect. The new percentages for renewables would be 13.5% (October), 13.7% (Jan–Oct 2014), 12.3% (Jan–Oct 2013). Solar PV would be up to 1.4%, 1.2%, and 0.6%.” [CleanTechnica]
