DHS Report: 11 companies from energy sector targeted by cybercriminals
by jaikumar vijayan

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has a warning for organizations that post a lot of business and personal information on public web pages and social media sites: Don't do it.

Phishers, the agency said in an alert this week, look for such information and use it to craft authentic looking emails aimed at fooling people in large organizations into opening and downloading things they shouldn't.

The alert was prompted by an incident last October in which 11 companies in the energy sector were targeted in a sophisticated spear-phishing campaign apparently aimed at breaching their network security.

The phishing campaign was made possible to a large extent by information posted publicly by an energy company listing attendees at a recent conference. The employee names, email addresses, organizational affiliations and work titles so helpfully posted by the company was used by spear-phishers to launch customized attacks against energy sector companies. continued…

first published week of:   05/06/2013

Distributed Generation: Causing Utilities to Sweat over Reliable Electric Service
by ken silverstein

With the unofficial start of summer now underway, utilities are beginning to sweat over how to increase reliability without breaking the bank. What to do?

Distributed generation is getting a close look. Proponents like the idea because those on-site generators are cleaner and more efficient. Indeed, self-sufficient industrial complexes can take a load off the transmission grid, which minimizes the chances of brownouts for everyone else while allowing utilities to avoid having to buy expensive power during peak periods.

Ah, but it’s not so easy. Costs and technology are still hurdles. The target: Businesses that need a continuous power source. Dow Chemical and General Motors, for example, have combined to fuel one of Dow’s plastic’s facilities in Texas, with an eye toward powering an increasing share of that facility.

Implementing distributed generation can be as simple as installing a small electric generator to provide backup power at an electricity consumer's site. Alternatively, it can be a more complex system, consisting of electricity generation, energy storage and demand management systems. Distributed resources that run on fuel cells can be installed by utilities or customers.  continued…

first published week of:   06/03/2013

Does EPA Use Science or Scare Tactics?
by alan caruba

The nation's energy infrastructure is under attack. The destruction of the utilities that provide electricity or its ability to refine oil is critical to crippling a nation's ability to function, based on the universal use of hydrocarbons such as coal, natural gas, and oil.

If an enemy was doing this to America we would go to war against it, but this is being done and the enemy is the government on which we depend to ensure the nation has the energy it needs to function and grow. Leading the war on America has been the Environmental Protection Agency, but it is joined by the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior, and other agencies.

The Institute for Energy Research has estimated that the much of the government's oil and gas that is technically recoverable is worth $128 trillion, about eight times our national debt. Our coal resources in the lower 48 states are estimated to be worth $22.5 trillion.

On September 10, The Wall Street Journal reported that "The Obama administration plans to block the construction of new coal-fired power plants unless they are built with novel and expensive technology to capture greenhouse-gas emissions, according to people familiar with a draft proposal." The U.S. has more than 27% of the world's known coal reserves. continued…

first published week of:   11/18/2013

Dominion Resources Gives Biomass Fuel Credence Ken Silverstein
by ken silverstein

Dominion Resources is giving a lot of credence to the conversion of coal-to-biomass with the powering-up of one plant plant in its territory. First in line: Altavista, which will get its woody supplies from logging excesses.

Altogether, the Richmond, Va.-based utility says that it will take three coal facilities that had been used to fuel manufacturing outlets and to meet peak demand and convert those to biomass units. It is allocating $165 million to the effort, which will be used to makeover the remaining two coal units by year-end. It’s all done as a way to help the utility meet its voluntary goals under Virginia law -- to generate 15 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2025. The company will be able to pass along some costs to customers.

"The biomass conversions will benefit our customers, the environment and the state's economy," says David A. Christian, chief executive of Dominion Generation, the unit of the company that operates its power stations. "The converted units will provide low-cost, renewable, base load energy, while promoting economic development through the use of a locally produced fuel." continued…

first published week of:   07/22/2013

driving innovation in Smart Grid Technologies

Welcome to Wake County; the Smart Grid Capital of the World. A bold statement for sure, but it‘s one that’s backed up by dozens of companies that employ thousands of people. Collectively, these smart grid firms invest tens of millions of dollars annually on research, development, and implementation of new enabling technologies. Our community’s success didn’t happen overnight, and it’s not just focused on smart grid technologies. Wake County is part of a larger concentration of cleantech companies found in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Region that includes renewable energy and energy efficiency companies, plus a growing collection of businesses and assets engaged in advanced transportation and water technologies. In 2011, recognizing the area’s impressive industry growth, the International Cleantech Network invited the Research Triangle Region to become one of only 15 members in the exclusive global organization.

Three factors are driving Wake County’s expanding smart grid cluster: an unmatched roster of smart grid companies; a significant set of industry resources; and an impressive supply of technically trained people.

Details Here

first published week of:   02/04/2013

Electric Car Manufacturing's Massive Carbon Footprint
by wynton hall

The U.S. government has pumped $5.5 billion in federal grants and loans into manufacturing and promoting electric cars and batteries. But research by Bjorn Lomborg of the Copenhagen Consensus Center finds that a typical electric car driven 50,000 miles over its lifetime emits more carbon-dioxide than a similar-size gas-powered car driven the same distance.

The reason: manufacturing electric cars, which involves mining for lithium, produces over twice the amount of carbon-dioxide emissions (30,000 pounds for an electric car versus 14,000 for a conventional vehicle) as gas-powered cars. Lomborg says electric cars would have to be driven “a lot” to “get ahead environmentally,” and that is only if the driver somehow avoids coal-powered electricity. Even then, says Lomborg, the gains would be minimal.

Even if the electric car is driven for 90,000 miles and the owner stays away from coal-powered electricity, the car will cause just 24% less carbon-dioxide emission than its gas-powered cousin….Over its entire lifetime, the electric car will be responsible for 8.7 tons of carbon dioxide less than the average conventional car.

Those 8.7 tons may sound like a considerable amount, but it's not…An optimistic assessment of the avoided carbon-dioxide associated with an electric car will allow the owner to spare the world about $44 in climate damage.

Last month, the “father of the Prius,” Takeshi Uchiyamada declared that electric cars were simply “not viable.” "Because of its shortcomings--driving range, cost and recharging time--the electric vehicle is not a viable replacement for most conventional cars," said Uchiyamada. “We need something entirely new.”

Details Here

first published week of:   03/18/2013

Electricity Theft: A Bigger Issue Than You Think
by peter detwiler

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to attend Doble Engineering’s 80th International User’s Conference in Boston, in which 1300 utility executives from 35 countries gathered to trade experiences, attend workshops, and see the newest utility testing gear from Doble (A subsidiary of ESCO Technologies). This was a good opportunity for me to talk to various utility execs and find out what was on their minds.

One of the keynote speakers was B.C Hydro’s Patrick Hogan, Vice President of Transmission and Distribution Engineering and Design. His job, simply put, is to make sure electricity gets from the generation stations to the homes, stores, and factories that use it.

At one point in his presentation, Hogan alluded to the value of smart utility meters in preventing theft, so of course I had to follow up on this. I had read that electricity theft in a country like India might result in a loss of up to a third of the power generated, but I figured it would be no more than a couple percent in any utility jurisdiction in North America. continued…

first published week of:   04/29/2013

Electricity Tracking Device & iPhone App Keep Your Bills Down
by richard darell

The one thing that could quickly send your personal economy into a depression is the unpredictable electricity bill that keeps surprising you from time to time. If you don’t remember to turn off lights, TVs or even your computer when you leave home or go to sleep, it can quickly get out of hand. There is no reason for your lights to stay on when you go to sleep or leave home other than to keep burglars away, but there are gadgets for that as well. They are gadgets that use far less electricity than your lights do. We could of course use timers that triggers every once in a while for when we are away from home, but that still doesn’t really keep us in the loop of things. What we need is some kind of system that allows for electricity tracking. One such device could be the innovative MeterPlug.

Details Here

first published week of:   01/14/2013

Energy Dept. Reports: U.S. Wind Energy Production and Manufacturing Reaches Record Highs

The Energy Department released two new reports today showcasing record growth across the U.S. wind market -- increasing America’s share of clean, renewable energy and supporting tens of thousands of jobs nationwide. According to these reports, the United States continues to be one of the world’s largest and fastest growing wind markets. In 2012, wind energy became the number one source of new U.S. electricity generation capacity for the first time – representing 43 percent of all new electric additions and accounting for $25 billion in U.S. investment.

In the first four years of the Obama Administration, American electricity generation from wind and solar power more than doubled. President Obama’s Climate Action Plan makes clear that the growth of clean, renewable wind energy remains a critical part of an all-of-the-above energy strategy that reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions, diversifies our energy economy and brings innovative technologies on line. The Obama Administration has committed to another doubling of the renewable electricity generation from energy resources like wind power by 2020.

“The tremendous growth in the U.S. wind industry over the past few years underscores the importance of consistent policy that ensures America remains a leader in clean energy innovation,” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. “As the fastest growing source of power in the United States, wind is paving the way to a cleaner, more sustainable future that protects our air and water and provides affordable, clean renewable energy to more and more Americans.” continued…

first published week of:   08/12/2013

energy saving plugs that turn appliances off completely, instead of leaving them on standby
by this is money, ask the experts

An energy saving plug will allow you to turn off electrical appliances completely using a remote control. You should be able to turn off up to four plugs with each control, but this does differ between models.

The idea is that you leave a remote by your bedside and check the controls before going to sleep at night, so that appliances are not left on standby unnecessarily.

The plugs vary in price but start from around £8. In 2009, Trading Standards warned consumers about fake plugs so it may be worth checking with the Energy Saving Trust or consumer group Which? for their recommended models. So do they save you energy and how much money could you cut off your bills?

Details Here

first published week of:   03/04/2013