Willett Kempton

ELECTRIC VEHICLES AS A NEW POWER SOURCE FOR ELECTRIC UTILITIES

Abstract Electric-drive vehicles, whether fueled by batteries or by liquid or gaseous fuels generating electricity on-board, will have value to electric utilities as power resources. The power capacity of the current internal combustion passenger vehicle fleet is enormous and under-utilized. In the United States, for example, the vehicle fleet has over 10 times the mechanical power of all current U.S. electrical generating plants and is idle over 95% of the day. Electric utilities could use battery vehicles as storage, or fuel cell and hybrid vehicles as generation. This paper analyzes vehicle battery storage in greatest detail, comparing three electric vehicle configurations over a range of driving requirements and electric utility demand conditions. Even when making unfavorable assumptions about the cost and lifetime of batteries, over a wide range of conditions the value to the utility of tapping vehicle electrical storage exceeds the cost of the two-way hook-up and reduced vehicle battery life. For example, even a currently-available electric vehicle, in a utility with medium value of peak power, could provide power at a net present cost to the vehicle owner of

Two theories of home heat control

955 and net present value to the utility of

Lay perspectives on global climate change

2370. As an incentive to the vehicle owner, the utility might offer a vehicle purchase subsidy, lower electric rates, or purchase and maintenance of successive vehicle batteries. For a utility tapping vehicle power, the increased storage would provide system benefits such as reliability and lower costs, and would later facilitate large-scale integration of intermittent-renewable energy resources.

Folk quantification of energy

People routinely develop their own theories to explain the world around them. These theories can be useful even when they contradict conventional technical wisdom. Based on in-depth interviews about home heating and thermostat setting behavior, the present study presents two theories people use to understand and adjust their thermostats. The two theories are here called the feedback theory and the valve theory. The valve theory is inconsistent with engineering knowledge, but is estimated to be held by 25% to 50% of Americans. Predictions of each of the theories are compared with the operations normally performed in home heat control. This comparison suggests that the valve theory may be highly functional in normal day-to-day use. Further data is needed on the ways this theory guides behavior in natural environments.

Electric-drive vehicles for peak power in Japan

Abstract Ethnographic interviews were conducted with a small but diverse sample of US residents in order to understand how ordinary citizens conceptualize global climate change and make value judgments about it. Most informants had heard of the greenhouse effect. However, they conceptualized global climate change very differently from scientists because they interpreted it in terms of four pre-existing categories: stratospheric ozone depletion; plant photosynthesis; tropospheric pollution; and personally experienced temperature variation. The strongest environmental value to emerge was a desire to preserve the environment for ones descendants — it was spontaneously mentioned by twelve of the first fourteen informants. Species extinction and range shifts are among the most significant potential effects of global climate change, yet these effects were virtually unknown. Few informants recognized the connection between energy consumption and global warming, and they typically regarded their personal fuel consumption as inelastic.

The Offshore Wind Power Debate: Views from Cape Cod

Consumers use simplified measurements as a basis for residential energy decisions. We analyze their measurements of monthly consumption, changes through time, comparison of appliances, and length of payback period. Because of systematic errors in quantification, consumers choose ineffective energy conservation actions, and underestimate the benefits of previous actions. These errors do not result solely from lack of information since they are made even by consumers who understand technical energymeasurement. To explain the persistence of a seemingly disadvantageous system, we show that consumer methods are cognitively efficient. They are easy to learn and use and are compatible with general-purpose budgeting tasks. However, they lead to higher energy use than would be economically optimal for either the individual or the nation.

The consumer's energy analysis environment☆

Abstract Electric-drive vehicles (EDVs), whether based on batteries, engine-electric hybrid, or fuel cells, could make major contributions to the electric utility supply system. Computer-controlled power connections from parked EDVs would provide grid power from on-board storage or generators. Kempton and Letendre conclude that, in the United States, battery EDVs can be cost-effective as a source of peak power ( Kempton and Letendre, 1997 ) or as spinning reserves (1999). This option is even better matched to urban Japan, where vehicles are typically parked throughout peak electrical demand periods. Using Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) forecasts for the number of zero emission vehicles in 2010, we estimate the maximum potential power from EDVs in the Kanto region (which includes Tokyo) at 15.5 GW, 25% of Kantos 1998 peak demand. This paper calculates the cost to provide power from five current EDVs — both battery and hybrid vehicles — and compares those costs to current purchase rates for independent power producers (IPPs) in Japan. Battery characteristics are calculated from current manufacturer-provided data as well as the California Air Resources Board (CARB) projections. Given current vehicle battery costs and current utility purchase rates, no vehicles would be cost-effective peak power resources. Given CARB projections for batteries, the Nissan Altra is cost-effective as a utility power source. Using projected IPP purchase rates for peak power and CARB battery projections, the Nissan Altra and Toyota RAV4L EV are cost-effective. The net present value to the electric grid could be near 300,000 yen (

The Effectiveness of Incentives for Residential Energy Conservation

US 2500) per vehicle. If utilities take advantage of this opportunity to purchase peak power from vehicles, it would make the electric grid more efficient, enlarge the market for EDVs, lower urban air pollution, and facilitate future introduction of renewable energy.

Electric power from offshore wind via synoptic-scale interconnection

Wind power resources on the eastern U.S. continental shelf are estimated to be over 400 GW, several times the electricity used by U.S. eastern coastal states. The first U.S. developer proposes to build 130 large (40 story tall) wind turbines in Nantucket Sound, just outside Massachusetts state waters. These would provide 420 MW at market prices, enough electricity for most of Cape Cod. The project is opposed by a vigorous and well-financed coalition. Polling shows local public opinion on the project almost equally divided. This article draws on semistructured interviews with residents of Cape Cod to analyze values, beliefs, and logic of supporters and opponents. For example, one value found to lead to opposition is that the ocean is a special place that should be kept natural and free of human intrusion. One line of argument found to lead to support is: The war in Iraq is problematic, this war is “really” over petroleum, Cape Cod generates electricity from oil, therefore, the wind project would improve U.S. security. Based on analysis of the values and reasoning behind our interview data, we identify four issues that are relevant but not currently part of the debate.

«I always turn it on super» : user decisions about when and how to operate room air conditioners

Abstract This article describes how residential energy consumers measure and analyze their own energy consumption and energy costs. Using in-depth interviews, we find more extensive data collection and analysis by residential energy consumers than has been previously documented in the energy literature. However, the conclusions consumers can draw from their analytical efforts are restricted by the form in which they receive price and consumption data and their limited analytic capabilities. The relative information processing strengths of consumers are compared with those of institutions such as energy utilities, leading to the conclusion that many of the analytic tasks are currently assigned to the less efficient parties, degrading decision quality and creating a market barrier to energy conservation. We suggest a more efficient allocation of data collection and analysis between the consumer and energy utility.