Roof Science Corp. has developed a system called WhiteCap which can meet 50%-100% of a commercial building cooling loads in arid or semi-arid climates, by radiating heat to the night sky to cool the roof and water which is sprayed on the roof. (Note this is radiative, not evaporative cooling.)
The stated purpose is to increase utility awareness of ORNL R&D, to obtain feedback on the relevance to utilities of that work, and on priorities for additional R&D. Also, they want stronger ties to utilities and potential users of ORNL work.
The electric power industry is in the midst of a complex transition to competition, which will induce many far-reaching changes in the structure of the industry and the institutions which regulate it. This transition raises many reliability issues, as new entities emerge in the power markets and as generation becomes less integrated with transmission.
At the Eighth Annual Energy Efficiency Forum, policy makers debated various utility deregulation issues. Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI) and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge argued that deregulation is best left . . . .
Started by the Navy. They’ve taken survey teams into nearly 70 major companies, and prepared a highly detailed assessment of their processes, identifying any “best” practices they find. They just published a report on Sandia National Lab, so we can get another perspective about SNL.
This speech, which outlines a number of issues pertaining to restructuring, was just posted to the DOE web site.
Many electric utilities are struggling with how best to conceptualize and implement a “technology strategy” as the industry undergoes major change. How can resources put into R&D and new technology ventures be “driven to the bottom line”? Too often, utilities suffer from an “action gap” between learning about a new technology and taking steps to do something with it.
The NASA team characterizes the work as *very preliminary*, but is optimistic that technologies and systems approaches have emerged in the last 20 years that make the potential for space solar power far more feasible than traditionally believed, perhaps as soon as 10-15 years from now.
