>In a report released in late August by the Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch), author Nick Schwellenbach chronicled what austerity means for OSHA and the workers it protects. To first put the issue and impacts of slashed budgets in broader context, consider OSHA’s current capacity. According to the report, OSHA conducted fewer health and safety compliance inspections in 2011 than in 1981, despite the number of workplaces doubling from 4.5 million to 9 million and the number of workers growing from about 73 million to about 129 million. In that three-decade span, the ratio of OSHA inspectors to workers fell from one per 31,000 workers to one per 62,000 workers. And of course, as with most public health endeavors, cutting oversight of health and safety doesn’t save money in the long run.<

>Generation from onshore wind was up 70% on the same time last year, while offshore wind showed an increase of 51%, due to increased capacity onshore and offshore, as well as high wind speeds, according to DECC. Nearly half of the total generation from renewables came from wind (48%).

 “This confirms what we have been seeing for some time, which is renewables steadily becoming more important in meeting our electricity needs, and wind being responsible for the lion’s share of the progress,” said Maf Smith, deputy chief executive of RenewableUK. “That this period coincided with one of the coldest Springs on record means that wind was providing this power at a crucial time.<

>Virtual Power Plants

One distributed generation technology with significant growth potential is the virtual power plant (VPP). In the VPP model an energy aggregator gathers a portfolio of smaller generators and operates them as a unified and flexible resource on the energy market or sells their power as system reserve.

VPPs are designed to maximize asset owners’ profits while also balancing the grid. They can match load fluctuations through forecasting, advance metering and computerized control, and can perform real-time optimization of energy resources.

"Virtual power plants essentially represent an ‘Internet of Energy,’ tapping existing grid networks to tailor electricity supply and demand services for a customer," said Navigant senior analyst Peter Asmus in a market report. The VPP market will grow from less than US $1 billion per year in 2013 to $3.6 billion per year by 2020, according to Navigant’s research — and one reason is that with more variable renewables on the grid flexibility and demand response are becoming more crucial.

Asmus called VPPs "an ideal optimization platform for the coming transformation of the power grid," adding that both supply and demand flexibility will be increasingly necessary to accommodate fast ramping periods and address corresponding supply forecast errors.<

>The Government of Canada’s Clean Energy Fund and BC Hydro each provided $6.5 million for this new one-megawatt battery unit. This facility is the first of its kind in Canada and will help provide a reliable supply of energy to the community of Field. The unit will store clean energy produced by BC Hydro that can be used to help meet the area’s electricity needs in the event of a power outage and reduce system load during peak demand periods. Ultimately, this will reduce the costs and environmental impact compared with other options such as diesel-generated power.<

>With most electric-car charging today taking place in the garages of private homes, installing a home charging station can pose a hurdle to potential buyers.

Now Palo Alto, Calif., the city in the center of Silicon Valley, is moving to make it easier for homeowners who want to switch to an electric car.

The city council adopted a proposal that Palo Alto’s building code be changed to require that new homes come prewired for the installation of 240-Volt Level 2 charging stations.

The additional cost of adding such wiring to a house being built is only about $200, a fraction of the cost of retrofitting an older house with the appropriate electrical service and wiring.<

Read more at http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1087195_palo-alto-to-require-electric-car-charger-wiring-in-new-homes#trqrxpbwBEW8sKMG.99