Relying on Renewables

A recent NY Times article titled Making Renewables Reliable made some very good points about realistic expectations of energy production/consumption in a marking that will be increasingly dependent on renewable sources in the coming years. The problems identified in the article go back to basic supply and demand issues, with supply being something that we can’t control if we depend on wind and solar. I can see how that is a concern now, what with renewables operating in isolated pockets as a small percentage of the total output, and as part of a grid that needs to be made modern and adaptive. I also appreciate that the article identifies that these issues are not deal-breaker for renewable energy. And being that this is the mainstream media, I know that they can’t go too far out of the box or pie in the sky. I just think that there are a few things that could have been added.

Tidal-based energy models. If we need reliability, there’s nothing more reliable than ocean swells or tidal flows, both of which are being developed as potential sources of energy. While they may not be able to generate much now (as noted by this very paper), developing the network will do a lot to provide a stable, reliable energy source that operates with more regularity and dependability than wind or solar energy sources.

Electric cars and plug-in hybrids. The more electric cars and plug-in hybrids we have, the better it is for smoothing out our energy demand (shaving the peak, as it is called). Most users will charge their cars at night when they are sleeping and when rates are lower, which is already ideal for wind power, as it is generated more at night when the wind is blowing. Now, when these people get to their daytime destinations, they can plug their cars in again, but not just for charging. This time, the utility can also siphon off 5 or 10% of the stored charge in the car (from the night before) to help meet demand that day. This could be incentivized by having the power that is used by the utility during the day subtracted from the total energy bill of each motorist who participates. I figure that 5 or 10% of a lot of small sources could add up to a sizable chunk of energy that otherwise would have just remained with the car.

Of course, these are just my unfocused, late night ideas.