Klaxton - Slashdot User

Submission + - SPAM: Tesla's virtual power plant had its first event helping the grid

Submitted by Klaxton on Thursday August 18, 2022 @05:13PM

Klaxton writes: Last year, Tesla launched a VPP pilot program in California, where Powerwall owners would join in voluntarily without compensation to let the VPP pull power from their battery packs when the grid needed it.

Following the pilot program, Tesla and PG&E, the electric utility covering Northern California, launched the first official virtual power plant through the Tesla app in June.

This new version of the Tesla Virtual Power Plant actually compensates Powerwall owners $2 per kWh that they contribute to the grid during emergency load reduction events. Homeowners are expected to get between $10 and $60 per event.

the Tesla VPP had its first emergency response event. Tesla reached out to Powerwall owners who opted in the program through its app yesterday to warn them of the event and give them the option to opt-out if they needed all the power from their Powerwalls today

It looks like 2,342 Powerwall owners participated in the event on the PG&E network and 268 homes on the SCE grid.

For PG&E, Tesla’s VPP was outputting as much as 16 MW of power at one point during the event – acting as a small distributed power plant.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - SPAM: Wind, solar provide 67% of new US electrical generating capacity

Submitted by Klaxton on Tuesday August 16, 2022 @02:12PM

Klaxton writes: Clean energy accounted for more than two-thirds of the new US electrical generating capacity added during the first six months of 2022, according to data recently released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Wind (5,722 megawatts) and solar (3,895 MW) provided 67.01% of the 14,352 MW in utility-scale (that is, greater than 1 MW) capacity that came online during the first half of 2022.

Additional capacity was provided by geothermal (26 MW), hydropower (7 MW), and biomass (2 MW). The balance came from natural gas (4,695 MW) and oil (5 MW). No new capacity was reported for 2022 from either nuclear power or coal.

This brings clean energy’s share of total US available installed generating capacity up to 26.74%. To put that in perspective, five years ago, clean energy’s share was 19.7%. Ten years ago, it was 14.76%.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - The American West could face a 'brutal' century under climate change (yahoo.com)

Submitted by Klaxton on Sunday April 03, 2022 @06:14PM

Klaxton writes: The last five years already have been harrowing.

Whole neighborhoods burned down to foundations. Children kept indoors because the air outside is too dangerous to play in. Killer mudslides of burned debris destroying towns. Blood-red skies that are so dark at midday, the streetlights come on and postal workers wear headlamps to deliver the mail.

And it's going to get worse unless dramatic action is taken, two studies published this week forecast.

The first predicts the growth of wildfires could cause dangerous air quality levels to increase during fire season by more than 50% over the next 30 years in the Pacific Northwest and parts of northern California.

A second shows how expected increases in wildfires and intense rain events could result in more devastating flash floods and mudslides across a broad portion of the West.

Submission + - NSA guidance for protecting networks against attacks (zdnet.com) 1

Submitted by Klaxton on Saturday March 05, 2022 @12:39PM

Klaxton writes: The National Security Agency (NSA) has released a new report that gives all organizations the most current advice on how to protect their IT network infrastructures from cyberattacks.

The report covers network design, device passwords and password management, remote logging and administration, security updates, key exchange algorithms, and important protocols such as Network Time Protocol, SSH, HTTP, and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).

The document, from NSA's cybersecurity directorate, encourages the adoption of 'zero trust' networks. Zero trust assumes malicious insiders and threats existing inside and outside classical network boundaries.

Submission + - Methane emissions from the energy sector are 70% higher than official figures (iea.org)

Submitted by Klaxton on Wednesday February 23, 2022 @12:55PM

Klaxton writes: Global methane emissions from the energy sector are about 70% greater than the amount national governments have officially reported, according to new IEA analysis released today, underlining the urgent need for enhanced monitoring efforts and stronger policy action to drive down emissions of the potent greenhouse gas.

Methane is responsible for around 30% of the rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution, and quick and sustained emission reductions are key to limiting near-term warming and improving air quality. Methane dissipates faster than carbon dioxide (CO2) but is a much more powerful greenhouse gas during its short lifespan, meaning that cutting methane emissions would have a rapid effect on limiting global warming.

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