The pressing need for a smarter and greener grid is obvious, but how this goal should be achieved is much less clear. This book clearly defines the environmental promise of the smart grid and describes the policies necessary for fully achieving the environmental benefits of the digital energy revolution. The United States' electrical grid is an antique. It was built to serve a 20th-century economy and designed in an era when the negative environmental impacts of electricity production were poorly understood. It must be upgraded and modernized. The proposed solution is a "smart grid"-a network of new digital technologies, equipment, and controls that can respond quickly to the public's changing energy needs by facilitating two-way communication between the utility and consumers. This book explains the environmental benefit of a smart grid, examines case studies of existing smart grids, and identifies the legal and regulatory policy hurdles that must be overcome to fully realize the smart grid's benefits. Based on six diverse organizations' experience as "early adopters" in the digital energy revolution, the authors explore how a smart electric grid offers real promise for supercharging energy efficiency, democratizing demand response, electrifying transportation, preparing for ubiquitous distributed clean energy technologies, and automating the distribution system. Against the backdrop of climate change and continuing economic uncertainty, setting a path for environmental improvement and upgrading our electric grid with new digital technologies and associated smart policies is more critical than ever before. Deciphers the muddled "information" from industry leaders and policymakers about 21st-century energy technology, enabling readers to understand how a smart grid can be a cost-effective tool to benefit the climate Provides detailed information from case studies of six early smart grid leaders to showcase the strengths and weaknesses of these programs Identifies the legal and regulatory challenges that could prevent the successful implementation of a smart electric grid, making it clear that the issues are not purely technological Serves ideally as a primary text for courses on smart grid technology and policy as well as a resource for graduate-level research for energy policy or climate change policy courses

An easy-to-understand and engaging exploration of the battery's development across history that reveals current technological advances, celebrates the innovators who have led the charge forward, and shows how the electric battery represents the path to a low-carbon future. Now more than ever, consumers want to understand not only the basic facts behind the electric battery and the challenges of battery storage in everyday devices, including vehicles, but also whether increased, widespread application of battery technology has real environmental benefits that could change the future of our planet. Is 21st-century battery technology the foundation on which our low-carbon future will be built? The Electric Battery: Charging Forward to a Low-Carbon Future documents the long history of the battery and identifies the reasons it is now a key to achieving a low-carbon world. The book provides an unprecedented and easy-to-understand explanation of both the policy issues and technological challenges facing the battery in the quest to significantly reduce humanity's collective "carbon footprint" on the earth. Readers will be able to intelligently evaluate the chances of electric storage batteries ultimately becoming as mainstream as petroleum-product-fueled infrastructure and vehicles. The chapters in the book break down the complexity of the technology and elucidate the historic confluence of events that makes battery technology economically viable to any reader looking to understand the technological and policy breakthroughs that could enable a low-carbon future-for this generation as well as for subsequent ones. Demystifies the electric battery, explains how modern technology has overcome its historic limitations, and presents how this seemingly ordinary technology will enable a new era of sustainability for future generations Addresses a topic of growing interest among general readers as electric cars designed to be affordable to the middle class from major manufacturers such as Chevrolet and Nissan are joined by new options from upstart electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Written by an Institute for Energy and the Environment research team with the requisite knowledge of energy policy and of science, as well as communication skills, to research and present a compelling narrative on electric batteries past, present, and future