Super Eco

Photo credit: McPig on Flickr

Ever wonder why the row of exercise bikes at your gym isn't hooked up to a generator and providing power for the lights? That fantasy could soon be a reality with "the Smart Grid," a new way to store and distribute power with a design that's radically different from today's power grid.

Michael McCarthy at The Independent describes the Smart Grid as well as anyone:

The smart grid is a national electricity distribution grid which is as light and mobile and responsive as the internet, working from consumer to supplier as well as the other way round. Got more charge in your electric car than you need? Sell it back to the distributor through the smart grid, instantly. Got your tumble-dryer working on a very hot day? Have the smart grid automatically turn off the dryer's heating element for you.

America's electricity network is now designed on centralized principles of generation and distribution. That old design makes us vulnerable to cascading outages, black-outs like the Northeast Blackout of 2003 that affect entire regions of the continent. Experts agree and President-elect Obama is convinced that it is time for a new design based on new technology. A new technology called Vehicle-to-Grid (or V2G) promises to allow owners of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) to sell excess power in their batteries back to energy companies and to recharge during off-peak hours, automagically. Widespread deployment of V2G will allow us to shift half of our electricity generation to wind and solar power, reducing our reliance on coal fired plants.

Smart Grid technology is already in production at many local power companies around the country, buying back solar generated power for example. How far can we be from the day when we can partially pay for our gym memberships with pedal power sold back to the electric company? Seriously.