What is Pacific Northwest National Laboratorys view of the changing energy system?
We believe that an inevitable change is taking place and we’ve only begun to get a glimpse of it. Some pieces are clear like the greater use of fuel cells, storage and renewable resources others involve emerging technologies. We’re imagining a much more complex future, but we certainly don’t have all the details. We are just beginning to study and understand implications of a new energy system where we would have the ability to know energy load details and system conditions at any time. As more powerful computers and communications become available, information technology will be key. An information-rich energy system will allow a much more comprehensive understanding of each individual part of the system. For example, we would like to know how much energy is required or supplied by every device linked to the system, when it might be needed and what it could do in response to other system signals. How soon do you expect to see this energy system transformation? It will be an evolutiona
