In 2008, WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) published Plugged-in: The end of the oil age making the case for Electric Vehicles.
This book aims to demonstrate how automotive electrification can ease the necessary transition towards a transport paradigm which is both highly efficient and compatible with a sustainable renewable energy future.
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By Isabelle Heriakian / Published on Mon, 2009-12-07 15:48
Prior to designing a power supply system for a building or other structure, a designer shall carry out a detailed analysis concerning the requirements for reliability of power supply of loads to be installed in the designed building or facility.
This chapter of the Guide for Design Engineers develops a step by step methodology to size the source power.
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By Isabelle Heriakian / Published on Thu, 2009-11-05 01:00
This case study presents a methodology for improving power quality in an important industrial estate. A project was initiated to reduce the number of interruptions and enhance power quality in the estate and focused on reducing weak points in the power distribution system by inspecting distribution lines in both customer and utility areas. Once weaknesses were identified, corrective action would be taken and preventative measures taken to prevent re-occurance in order to provide high power availability to customers.
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By Guy Kasier / Published on Wed, 2009-10-21 14:19
Once an electrical installation had been installed in a home in the past, that was it. So, when a domestic electrical installation was fitted, it was and in a many cases still is considered to be an unmodifiable fixture. In fact, it has always been quite difficult to make any changes to a classical electrical appliance once it is installed. Fortunately the arrival of integrated home systems means that such flexibility is now available to us (see: Definition of integrated home systems), even if the communications aspect (see: Increasing communication) is, admittedly, still in its infancy.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Wed, 2009-09-09 11:54
This document is an overall report of the seminar “Electricity in the next decade”, the first in an annual series of events regarding “Low carbon electricity systems”. KEMA, ECI and Leonardo ENERGY are jointly organising these events.
Next to the topics presented during the first event, a few additional topics have been added in order to create a white paper and a more complete picture on the theme “Electricity in the next decade”.
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By Peter Vaessen / Published on Tue, 2009-09-08 07:04
An option when there is no alternative
It is clear that wireless power transmission systems in the range of 100 W to 100 kW cannot compete with traditional systems just looking at the costs. At places where economic competition is not the prime consideration, it can be an option. Microwave wireless power transmission can supply power to places that are difficult to reach. Especially small communities in rural areas could be supplied with power using WPT.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Wed, 2009-09-02 14:54
This paper presents the effects of voltage sags on domestic and office equipment and provides equipment sensitive curves for safe and reliable operation based on the experimental results.
With the increased usage of sensitive electronic equipments in various industries, offices and household appliances, it is important to protect them from any power quality disturbances to avoid unnecessary losses of any kind. From the several types of power quality disturbances, the most frequent and concerning for electric utilities from a customer point of view was voltage sag.
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By Sarah Hatch / Published on Tue, 2009-09-01 10:33
A task of the IEA 4E EMSA Project - The International Energy Agency (IEA) Implementing Agreement for a Co-operating Programme on Efficient Electrical End-Use Equipment (4E) was set up in 2008 and is currently supported by around 12 countries. A new Electric Motor Systems Annex (EMSA) was launched at the end of 2008 and is made up of a number of Tasks.
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By Stefan Fassbinder / Published on Mon, 2009-08-31 08:33
Why do we need transformers? The answer is simple: impedance. If power losses in electricity distribution networks are to be kept within reasonable limits, then large amounts of electric power have to be transmitted across long distances at the highest feasible voltage. In absolute terms, the higher the trans-mission voltage, the smaller the current and hence the smaller the (resistive) power losses in the transmission cables. But increasing the transmission voltage also reduces a given power loss in relative terms.
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By Stefan Fassbinder / Published on Mon, 2009-08-17 14:10
It may be normal that in a church an earthing electrode, if any, is directed to the sky, like this one found in Jena / Germany beneath the altar, and not linked to anything "earthly", but under "normal" conditions and from an electro-technical point of view, if there is any sort of electrical installation contained in any building at all, it should also be earthed!
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By Isabelle Heriakian / Published on Tue, 2009-08-04 09:03
Industrial facilities are source of major disturbances to power system due to more and more large power loads being installed that, apart of their good functional properties, are characterised by negative impact on the quality of power.
The adverse impact of non-linear loads on a power system can be mitigated by means of compensation equipment like fixed capacitor (FC), thyristor controlled reactor (TCR) - FC/TCR.
The purpose of FC/TCR compensator is compensation of the fundamental component reactive power and filtering selected current harmonics.
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By Guy Kasier / Published on Wed, 2009-07-15 09:42
A WelHops study some years ago assessed the needs of the elderly regarding the buildings and surroundings in which they wish to live. Still as relevant today as it was when it was carried out, this study ran from May 2005 to September 2007 as part of a European INTERREG IIIC project. Taking part were partners from Italy, Sweden, the UK, Spain, and Hungary.
The project objectives were to: -
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By Isabelle Heriakian / Published on Tue, 2009-06-16 13:04
When the limit values of unbalance factor, specified in standards are exceeded, the use of symmetrizatin systems is required. A symmetrizator should not cause significant active power losses during operation, it implies that the symmetrization process shall be carried out by means of reactive elements (LC) or using active methods (power electronic systems). In this step by step guide, you will learn how to solve unbalance issues.
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By Fernando Nuno / Published on Tue, 2009-06-02 11:12
On the January 23, 2008 the European Commission agreed on a far-reaching package of proposals that will deliver the European Council's commitments to fight climate change and promote RE. With the publication of this Climate Action Plan and its several targets, the EU wants to show global leadership in this area.
This report provides an overview of the Kyoto-targets and the objectives of energy from RES in final energy consumption in 2020.
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By Isabelle Heriakian / Published on Wed, 2009-05-20 13:42
Retailers have to be increasingly competitive – pricing, minimizing operational costs and maximizing revenue all need continuous scrutiny – not to mention complying with an increasingly stringent regulatory environment. Unrecognised but very real, disruptive events such as power disturbances are frustrating and financially damaging. The lights go out, escalators stop functioning, tills are frozen, security systems fail. Customers walk out of or have to be escorted from the store. Financial losses start mounting up.
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By Isabelle Heriakian / Published on Wed, 2009-05-20 13:26
Many news media companies’ electrical installations are still unreliable.
News media depend on being able to get news out to as many people and as quickly as possible. Printed or broadcast, reliable electricity supply is crucial for this quick dissemination. In both cases, the speed of this turn-around cannot cope with any form of electrical disturbance. But do all media companies take sufficient measures to avoid seriously negative impacts that are caused by electric power supply disturbances?
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Tue, 2009-05-19 12:46
The second policy briefing brochure in the series looks at distribution transformers.
Electricity distribution losses vary from 4% to more than 20%. The adoption of efficient Distribution Transformers could save Europe about 18.5 TWh per year, equivalent to about 7 million tCO2/year.
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By Isabelle Heriakian / Published on Mon, 2009-05-11 09:17
A theatre encountered a situation where incorrect operation of the earth fault protection system of a back-up generator tripped the circuit breaker unexpectedly when dimmer loads were fully used.
The generator was used to supply critical loads via an automatic transfer switch (ATS) and the problem was caused by high levels of third harmonic current produced by dimmers and an inappropriate installation of neutral and ground system.
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By Fernando Nuno / Published on Mon, 2009-04-27 17:15
The Energy Efficiency Action Plan has set an indicative goal of reducing energy consumption by 20% by 2020. It suggests several initiatives to improve energy efficiency in the coming years. Network loss reduction in the power systems is one of these initiatives. This issue was discussed in the recent consultation paper “Treatment of Losses by Network Operators” published by the European Regulators Group for Electricity and Gas (ERGEG).
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By Stefan Fassbinder / Published on Sat, 2009-04-25 18:37
There are many advantages of superconducting underground power transmission cables claimed over conventional copper cables, but none of them carries very far. One claim frequently made is space saving in densely populated urban areas.
Now here you see some superconductor cables on the left and conventional HV and EHV cables of similar power transmission capabilities on the right side.
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