Ice, Ice Baby

I've read for years (decades actually) about the use of ice as a means of storing cooling. It allows for reducing and/or shifting energy loads. One of my instructors in Vermont had a swimming pool sized block of ice that he'd let freeze in the winter and with a bit of insulation it would last through much of the non-freezing season keeping his perishable groceries fresh. Think of a walk in basement style house with a dumb waiter that would lower the groceries down to just above the ice chunk. Some of the early designers of "autonomous homes" included "annual cycle energy storage (ACES)" cooling ice blocks as part of their plans back in the 1970s. This is the first I've seen it used as a part of a commercial air conditioning unit. Storage is a key to our energy future.

Ice Energy Introduces Utility-Scale Energy Stoarge Solution or a Multi-Gigawatt Market - Ice Energy Press Release - 10 Jun 08

"Daytime air conditioning energy demand -- typically 40-50 percent of a building's electricity use during expensive peak hours -- can be reduced by as much as 95 percent, and electricity bills lowered by 30 percent or more annually when combined with time-of-use rates."

How It Works - Ice Bear® 30 Hybrid Air Conditioner

The Ice Bear hybrid air conditioning system stores cooling energy by freezing water in an insulated storage tank. It cools by circulating chilled refrigerant from the tank during the day to the evaporative coil of the conventional A/C system, eliminating the need to run the energy-intensive compressor. Ice is then refrozen each night when demand is lower and electricity is cleaner, more efficient and less expensive. During off-peak hours, the conventional HVAC system operates as usual.

( Historic stuff behind cut . . . )

Ice, Ice Baby

I've read for years (decades actually) about the use of ice as a means of storing cooling. It allows for reducing and/or shifting energy loads. One of my instructors in Vermont had a swimming pool sized block of ice that he'd let freeze in the winter and with a bit of insulation it would last through much of the non-freezing season keeping his perishable groceries fresh. Think of a walk in basement style house with a dumb waiter that would lower the groceries down to just above the ice chunk. Some of the early designers of "autonomous homes" included "annual cycle energy storage (ACES)" cooling ice blocks as part of their plans back in the 1970s. This is the first I've seen it used as a part of a commercial air conditioning unit. Storage is a key to our energy future.

Ice Energy Introduces Utility-Scale Energy Stoarge Solution or a Multi-Gigawatt Market - Ice Energy Press Release - 10 Jun 08

"Daytime air conditioning energy demand -- typically 40-50 percent of a building's electricity use during expensive peak hours -- can be reduced by as much as 95 percent, and electricity bills lowered by 30 percent or more annually when combined with time-of-use rates."

How It Works - Ice Bear® 30 Hybrid Air Conditioner

The Ice Bear hybrid air conditioning system stores cooling energy by freezing water in an insulated storage tank. It cools by circulating chilled refrigerant from the tank during the day to the evaporative coil of the conventional A/C system, eliminating the need to run the energy-intensive compressor. Ice is then refrozen each night when demand is lower and electricity is cleaner, more efficient and less expensive. During off-peak hours, the conventional HVAC system operates as usual.

( Historic stuff behind cut . . . )

Energy Storage "Game Changer" Says SCE Expert

Readers of this blog have noted my bullish attitude towards increased energy storage R&D. Finally some added light on that horribly neglected technology.

Storage Boosts the Power of Renewable Energy - Renewable Energy News - 10 Jun 08

"With current costs on average of US $1000 to 1500 per kW installed (see CaISO's 'Integration of Renewable Resources' report), storage application companies realize the importance of gaining multiple revenue streams so that the technologies will come down in cost through volume production and experience. However, for some storage technologies like pumped hydro storage, costs range from US 0.1 to 2 cents per kWh (see ESA's Technology Comparisons, Capital Cost). Analysts say that governments need to create practical incentives so that storage options can be rapidly expanded to support large deployments of wind and solar power at great scale.

Jim Kelly of Southern California Edison defined storage as the 'game changer' of the industry, allowing utilities to 'inventory' electricity for the first time. SCE has proposed installing 250 MW of utility-owned rooftop solar PV on large commercial rooftops, claiming that this will transform the U.S. PV market, while utilizing unused rooftops. Kelly asserted that if storage was coupled with PV it could shift the peak from noon to later in the afternoon, remove intermittent output and provide emergency back-up power.

In addition, since substantial wind resource capacity is often present at the fringes of existing grids and because fluctuating wind speeds can produce substantial variations in wind energy generation over wide areas, analysts also note that forecasting needs to be combined with rapid-cycle energy storage to smooth intermittency and better integrate renewable resources into the grid."

Energy Storage "Game Changer" Says SCE Expert

Readers of this blog have noted my bullish attitude towards increased energy storage R&D. Finally some added light on that horribly neglected technology.

Storage Boosts the Power of Renewable Energy - Renewable Energy News - 10 Jun 08

"With current costs on average of US $1000 to 1500 per kW installed (see CaISO's 'Integration of Renewable Resources' report), storage application companies realize the importance of gaining multiple revenue streams so that the technologies will come down in cost through volume production and experience. However, for some storage technologies like pumped hydro storage, costs range from US 0.1 to 2 cents per kWh (see ESA's Technology Comparisons, Capital Cost). Analysts say that governments need to create practical incentives so that storage options can be rapidly expanded to support large deployments of wind and solar power at great scale.

Jim Kelly of Southern California Edison defined storage as the 'game changer' of the industry, allowing utilities to 'inventory' electricity for the first time. SCE has proposed installing 250 MW of utility-owned rooftop solar PV on large commercial rooftops, claiming that this will transform the U.S. PV market, while utilizing unused rooftops. Kelly asserted that if storage was coupled with PV it could shift the peak from noon to later in the afternoon, remove intermittent output and provide emergency back-up power.

In addition, since substantial wind resource capacity is often present at the fringes of existing grids and because fluctuating wind speeds can produce substantial variations in wind energy generation over wide areas, analysts also note that forecasting needs to be combined with rapid-cycle energy storage to smooth intermittency and better integrate renewable resources into the grid."

I'm Voting Republican

Well, not really but that's the handle on this video. :) Thanks to the mokie.

I think Bill Hillsman did a better job with the "When I Grow Up" ad he did for Nader in 2000 for a related theme. Hillsman rules.

( Both videos behind the cut . . . )

I'm Voting Republican

Well, not really but that's the handle on this video. :) Thanks to the mokie.

I think Bill Hillsman did a better job with the "When I Grow Up" ad he did for Nader in 2000 for a related theme. Hillsman rules.

( Both videos behind the cut . . . )