Powering the future, while maintaining a cleaner environment and a strong socioeconomic growth, is going to be one of the biggest challenges faced by mankind in the 21st century. The first step in overcoming the challenge for a sustainable future is to use energy more efficiently so that the demand for fossil fuels can be reduced drastically. The second step is a transition from the use of foss...

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) technology is receiving attention as an approach to reducing U.S. dependency on foreign oil and emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from the transportation sector. Because plug-in vehicles require large batteries for energy storage, battery weight can have a significant impact on vehicle performance: Additional storage capacity increases the range that a P...

The sharing economy has disrupted housing and transportation sectors. Homeowners can rent out their property when they are away on vacation, car owners can offer ride sharing services. These sharing economy business models are based on monetizing under-utilized infrastructure. They are enabled by peer-to-peer platforms that match eager sellers with willing buyers. Are there compelling sharing e...

With sufficient electricity storage capacity, any power production profile may be mapped onto any desired supply profile. We present a framework to determine the required storage power as a function of time for any power production profile, supply profile, and targeted system efficiency, given the loss characteristics of the storage system. We apply the framework to the electrochemical storage ...

Pumped heat electricity storage (PHES) has been recently suggested as a potential solution to the large-scale energy storage problem. PHES requires neither underground caverns as compressed air energy storage (CAES) nor kilometer-sized water reservoirs like pumped hydrostorage and can therefore be constructed anywhere in the world. However, since no large PHES system exists yet, and theoretical...

This paper addresses the potential impact that distributed energy storage systems have in the distribution networks, in terms of applications and available technologies in the market. Among the several components of the electrical system, the distribution network is the one experiencing the most profound changes, particularly in terms of technological evolution. At this stage, the recent deploy...

The energy system must be producing close to zero emissions by mid-century to meet stringent climate goals. There are many possible clean energy options, but few are ready or able to replace coal and gas as primary electricity supplies. This paper addresses the issue of whether a viable energy system can be based mostly around solar thermal electricity. It is found that, using thermal storage, ...

We examine public policies and technological solutions that aim to decarbonize electricity production by replacing fossil fuel energy by intermittent renewable sources, namely wind and solar power. We consider a model of investment and production with two sources of energy: one is clean but intermittent (wind or solar), whereas the other one is reliable but polluting (thermal power). Intermitte...

The work presented in this paper relates to a small scale district heating network heated by a gas fired CHP. In most common situations, such a CHP is heat driven operated, meaning that the CHP will switch on whenever heat is needed, while not taking into account the demand of electricity at that time. In this paper however, an active control strategy is developed, aiming to maximize the profit...

“Smart grid”-enabled demand response (DR) provides significant opportunities to improve today’s electricity grids’ reliability, efficiency, affordability and security. In contrast to conventional DR, electricity storage in buildings (residential or commercial) can provide essential, flexible and reliable DR service without requiring consumers to operate their appliances on shifted or reduced sc...