Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), as part of the RCUK Energy Programme, a team at the University of Cambridge is exploring whether the element thorium could help to meet the new design’s fuel needs. As well as being three to four times more abundant than uranium, thorium could potentially produce electricity more fuel efficiently and therefore more cheaply.

The aim of the overall project, initiated by the US Department of Energy and led by Georgia Institute of Technology, is to design a power plant whose size would be reduced and safety enhanced by breaking with convention and integrating the main heat exchangers inside the secure pressure vessel where the nuclear reactions take place. This innovation gives the design its name: Integral Inherently Safe Light Water Reactor (I2S-LWR).

Dr Geoff Parks, who is leading the Cambridge team, says: «The fact that we are part of such a pioneering international project not only reflects the UK’s enduring reputation in nuclear science and engineering — it also provides a platform for the UK to develop a new suite of relevant, globally marketable skills for the years and decades ahead. If all goes to plan, construction of the first I2S-LWRs could begin in around 10 years, making deployment of nuclear power more practical, more cost-effective and more publicly acceptable worldwide.»

The I2S-LWR, which could also be constructed off-site, module by module, and then quickly assembled on site, would be suitable for deployment worldwide. In this country, it could contribute to a new era of nuclear power that helps the UK meet its carbon reduction targets and energy security objectives; no new nuclear power station has been built here since Sizewell B began generating in 1995. With a power rating of around 1GW, the output from the I2S-LWR would be comparable with Sizewell B’s 1.2GW rating, but the station should be significantly less costly in real terms.

The EPSRC-funded part of the project will help the UK reinvigorate its technical expertise in civil nuclear power and attract a new generation of engineers and scientists to the field. Expertise of this kind will be crucial to securing the UK’s nuclear future but has significantly diminished during the 20 year ‘nuclear hibernation’ where no new nuclear power stations have come on stream.

The Cambridge team will focus on how thorium, which can be converted into the isotope uranium-233, could be used alongside uranium silicide to fuel the I2S-LWR. The team will assess the question not just from the perspective of fundamental nuclear reactor physics but also in terms of the scope to achieve high fuel-to-power conversion efficiency and to recycle spent nuclear fuel — key issues impacting the cost-effectiveness of the thorium fuel option.

BYD Unveils World’s Largest Battery Electric Vehicle

Challenges Transportation Leaders to ‘Step out of the Dark Ages’ and ‘Be Better Stewards’

OUSTON—BYD Motors kicked off the 2014 American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Expo in Houston this week with a new product-unveiling ceremony and over 300 in attendance. The ceremony began with an invitation to attendees to «throw off the shackles of a single-fueled system – an electric platform is ‘adaptable’ – it becomes cleaner as you do, through the use of renewable wind, water and solar renewable power generation,» stated Vice President Micheal Austin as he challenged the status-quo of those promoting fossil fuels as a clean alternative. «The consequences of our choices today will leave a legacy that our children will live with, both environmentally and economically, for decades into the future.»

With the showmanship one only expects at an international auto show, BYD opened the ceremony with an impressive display of lights, music, curtain-drops and a crowd of hundreds to witness America’s first electric articulated bus, fittingly named «The Lancaster» after the city in California where it was designed and manufactured. Lancaster Vice Mayor Marvin Crist proclaimed, «BYD Motors is an American manufacturing company residing in an industrial zone in the city of Lancaster – they have now hired over 60 Americans to build clean-tech Electric Buses and Energy Modules out of Lancaster, California.» The Lancaster eBus, a break-through, 60-foot, articulated battery-electric bus, can drive 170+ miles with a passenger load of up to 120 passengers, was in development for almost two years, and is an example of how committed BYD is to the American Rapid Transit markets. «BYD’s mission is to create safer and more environmentally-friendly battery technologies. This has resulted in the BYD Iron-Phosphate Battery, a fire-safe, completely recyclable, and incredibly long-cycle technology — the foundation of BYD’s Electric buses. These buses run entirely off battery power lasting up to 24 hours on a single charge, with single off-peak charging time of 2-4 hours,» said BYD Motors Fleet Sales Vice President, Brendan Riley. «No additional generation capacity is needed to be built to charge our buses at night since the grid is only 40% utilized.»

Also on display at the BYD Exhibit was a 40-foot, Battery-electric Transit bus from Antelope Valley Transit Authority. AVTA Board Chairman Norm Hickling boasted that the 40-foot bus on the Expo show floor was the only bus, «that drove over 1500 zero-emission miles from Los Angeles all the way to Houston for the Expo under its own power.» AVTA tested BYD buses in the hottest part of the Lancaster summer in August with full air-conditioning running and with 5250 pounds of sand bags to simulate a full passenger load. He further stated, «We drove nearly 100 miles more than BYD advertises — up to 250 miles per bus charge and we covered almost 750 miles in 24 hours! We are very impressed with BYD technology and quality.» The most interesting news about this 1500 mile journey to Texas is that it was completed for «$200 in electricity—the lowest cost trip to the show of all buses.»

«BYD is leading the Renaissance in Transit – a rebirth of electrified transportation…but this time without miles of electrified rails, ugly over-head wires or charging stations,» said BYD Vice President Micheal Austin. «If you look around the show floor, there are electric buses now at every relevant transit vendor! This is a complete reversal from the Expo three years ago when we were the only 40-foot, long-range, battery-electric bus on the show floor — we are proud to say that we were one of the first and we are raising the bar again today!» The APTA Expo continues through Wednesday, October 15th at the George R. Brown convention center in Houston, TX. Stop by Expo booth 5437 to see the BYD buses yourself.

About BYD

BYD Motors Inc is an American manufacturing company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of BYD Company Ltd, the largest domestic auto-manufacturer and electric-bus manufacturer in the world. BYD is a publicly traded company, with the Hong Kong listed stock 60% of which is owned by U.S. investors, and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway as the largest single shareholder at 9.9%.

BYD Motors established its headquarters in downtown Los Angeles in October 2011 and has now hired over 60 Americans to support BYD Electric Bus and Energy Module factories in Lancaster, California which will be delivering their first electric buses next month. There are also over 25 American research and development and sales support personnel at the Los Angeles headquarters. As the world’s largest manufacturer of rechargeable batteries, BYD’s mission is to create safer and more environmentally-friendly battery technologies. This has resulted in the BYD Iron Phosphate Battery, a fire-safe, completely recyclable, and incredibly long-cycle technology — the foundation of BYD’s clean energy platforms. The technology BYD has brought to the U.S. has been touted as break-through with the following distinctions:

— BYD Electric buses run up to 24 hours on a single charge, with single off-peak charging time of 2-4 hours.
— Buses run entirely off of batteries, with NO transmissions, clutches, or an internal-combustion engine.
— 40-foot buses can hold up to 60 passengers, 60-foot articulated buses carry up to 120 passengers, and are designed with low floors without any steps, made possible with in-wheel hub motors, making it elderly and disability friendly.
— Battery chemistry is environmentally friendly, making it disposable and pollution-free with zero-emissions.
— Due to its track record for superior technology, BYD has won the most contracts for battery-electric buses in the World and the United States.
— BYD has globally produced more battery-electric buses than any other manufacturer with over 1,300 buses worldwide.
— BYD’s battery electric bus has been tested for more North American miles at more Transit Authorities than any other electric bus.
— A single BYD Electric Buses has the ability to save 2.77 trees per day, literally a forest each month on U.S. roads in Carbon Dioxide offsets.

XL Hybrids Receives the Industry’s First-Ever Executive Order from California Air Resources Board for Aftermarket Hybrid Electric Vehicle Conversions

XL3 Hybrid Electric Drive System makes hybrid conversions accessible and affordable for California fleets

BOSTON, Oct 14, 2014 (BUSINESS WIRE) — XL Hybrids, Inc., the pioneering developer of hybrid electric powertrain technology for commercial and municipal fleets, today announced the company received a California Air Resources Board (CARB) Executive Order (EO) #D-731-1 allowing aftermarket conversions of gasoline-powered 2012-2014 model year General Motors 2500 and 3500 vans, Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans into hybrid electric vehicles. The XL Hybrids XL3 Hybrid Electric Drive System is on sale now in California for the first time.

«XL Hybrids is blazing a trail with the industry’s first CARB aftermarket hybrid electric vehicle conversion EO,» said Ed Lovelace, chief technology officer for XL Hybrids. «Our XL3 Hybrid System is especially effective for fleets with immediate commercial vehicle sustainability requirements, and for high mileage users because the price point makes financial sense for many California businesses and organizations – even without government incentives. We’re proud that our simple, quick-install system helps combat ever-increasing fuel prices, while helping to meet sustainability goals.»

The XL3 Hybrid Electric Drive System has been shown to increase miles driven per gallon by approximately 25 percent in real-world fleet vehicle driving. The XL3 is a regenerative braking system, which requires no special fueling stations, plug-ins or maintenance. Fleets can rapidly adopt the XL3 system because there is no driver training required, no new fueling infrastructure required, and the install takes less than one day. Plus driver productivity increases because drivers can spend more time on their routes, and less time at the pump.

In addition, the fuel reduction achieved with the XL3 hybrid system helps California fleets accelerate their corporate sustainability initiatives. According to the EPA, every 1,000 gallons of fuel saved results in 8.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide reduced.

XL Hybrids also announces the signing of an installation and distribution agreement with Emissions Retrofit Group (ERG) in California. ERG has facilities in Sacramento, Oakland, Redding and Ontario, which is near Los Angeles.

About XL Hybrids

XL Hybrids is the pioneering developer of hybrid electric powertrains that deliver a 25 percent increase in miles driven per gallon and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Recognized as one of the 2014 World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company, XL Hybrids supports customers such as The Coca-Cola Company and FedEx. The patent-pending XL3 Hybrid Electric Drive System is a revolutionarily simple solution that helps commercial and municipal fleets lower operating costs and meet sustainability goals. For new Class 1 to 4 commercial fleets, as well as vehicles that are already on the road, the system is installed in just five hours, and works seamlessly in the background with zero impact on fleet operations or service, and no driver training or infrastructure requirements. XL Hybrids was founded by MIT alumni and is based in Boston. For more information, visit www.xlhybrids.com or on Twitter @XLHybrids.

NRG eVgo Completes Largest Corporate Installation of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in Southern California

Sony Pictures Entertainment employees at three locations can charge their electric cars while they work

Culver City, CALIF., October 14, 2014– NRG eVgo, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc., has completed installation of the largest corporate deployment of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in Southern California. eVgo has installed and will manage 60 charging stations at Sony Pictures Entertainment’s historic Lot and its offices in Culver City in order to provide workplace charging for their employees with electric vehicles.

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) elected to participate in the eVgo Ready for Electric Vehicle (REV) program. The REV program provides qualified workplaces with turn-key EV charging solutions, in addition to providing charger maintenance and driver support 24 hours a day. The Level 2 chargers, dedicated for the use of individual employees, are compatible with all EVs, fully charge most during the workday and integrate seamlessly with eVgo’s comprehensive network of home and on-the-go charging stations giving range confidence to EV drivers wherever they choose to charge.

«Working with SPE, an iconic brand in entertainment and technology, demonstrates that EV charging at work is no longer a novelty; it is a necessity for the best employers.» said Terry O’Day, Vice President of NRG eVgo in California. «As the largest corporate electric vehicle charging program in Southern California, SPE is joining the largest comprehensive EV charging network in the greater Los Angeles area. NRG eVgo stands ready to partner with other companies like SPE that are committed to making a difference for their employees, their community and our environment.»

Beginning in 2008, SPE began offering eco-incentives to employees who choose to purchase a qualifying hybrid, plug-in hybrid electric or electric vehicle through its Alternative Vehicles Incentive program. To date, over 300 vehicles have been purchased through the program, with a daily average of 90 electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles parking at the studio’s headquarters in Culver City. This charging infrastructure supports «Sony Pictures A Greener World» – the environmental initiative of the studio – by empowering employees to choose more eco-friendly ways of commuting.

Craig Schwartz, Senior Vice President, Global Facilities at SPE commented, «The studio is always looking for ways to empower our employees to be sustainable both at home and at work. Thanks in part to the Alternative Vehicles Eco-Incentive, demand for EV charging infrastructure was high and increasing. Our partnership with NRG eVgo has been critical in helping our employees choose these eco-friendly vehicles with the confidence of access to charging at work.»

eVgo is building a comprehensive network of fast-charging sites in the U.S. conveniently located along major transportation corridors as well as the infrastructure to support charging at multi-family residences and workplaces. The eVgo network is designed to support EV drivers whenever and wherever they choose to charge – at single family or apartment residences, at work, on the road, or even at the airport.

For more information about having EV charging installed at a corporate property, visit nrgeVgo.com.

About NRG eVgo

The NRG eVgo SM network gives electric vehicle (EV) owners new freedom and range confidence via home and workplace charging docks, plus a network of fast charging stations conveniently located at retailers along major transportation corridors within eVgo cities. Service plans offered by eVgo can provide EV owners a home or workplace charger and use of eVgo’s Freedom Station® sites and other public charging stations. eVgo is a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc., a Fortune 250 company at the forefront of changing how people think about, buy and use energy. Through eVgo, NRG will provide access to hundreds of public charging sites across the United States. To find out more, or to join the eVgo network, visit www.nrgeVgo.com. Connect with eVgo on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @nrgeVgo.

CarCharging Implements kWh Pricing in Pennsylvania State of Pennsylvania Permits Electric Vehicle Operators to Set Fees Based on Kilowatt Hour Usage

MIAMI BEACH, Fla., Oct. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Car Charging Group, Inc. (OTCQB: CCGI) («CarCharging» or the «Company»), the largest owner, operator, and provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging services, announced that the Public Utility Commission of the State of Pennsylvania will permit owners and operators of EV charging stations to implement kilowatt hour («kWh») pricing within the state. Pennsylvania joins various other states in which kWh pricing policies are permitted including New York, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington.

«We applaud the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for their decision to permit per kWh pricing given that it is both practical and appropriate,» said Michael D. Farkas, CarCharging’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer. «Pricing by kilowatt hour is the fairest, and most attractive, method by which consumers can charge their cars, as it directly ties with the electricity consumed. We believe states which accept this methodology are leading the way in supporting cleaner, more environmentally-friendly transportation alternatives for decades to come.»

This decision provides for a fee structure that more closely resembles the current per-gallon pricing for traditional motor vehicles. Utilizing time-based cost structures for EV charging services can be inequitable given the varying rates at which electric cars charge.

Beginning today, CarCharging will extend its per kWh pricing structure to its more than 140 EV charging stations in Pennsylvania, including several on the PA turnpike and in major cities such as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

About Car Charging Group, Inc.
Car Charging Group, Inc. (OTCQB: CCGI) is a pioneer in nationwide public electric vehicle (EV) charging services, enabling EV drivers to easily recharge at locations throughout the United States. Headquartered in Miami Beach, FL with offices in San Jose, CA; New York, NY; and Phoenix, AZ; CarCharging’s business model is designed to accelerate the adoption of public EV charging.

Through its subsidiary, Blink Network, CarCharging also provides residential EV charging solutions for single-family homes. For more information, please visit www.BlinkHQ.com.

CarCharging has strategic partnerships across multiple business sectors including multi-family residential and commercial properties, parking garages, shopping malls, retail parking, and municipalities.

For more information about CarCharging, please visit www.CarCharging.com, www.facebook.com/Car.Charging, or www.twitter.com/CarCharging.

Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement:
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined within Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. By their nature, forward-looking statements and forecasts involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the near future. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Car Charging Group, Inc., and members of its management as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed conditions.

MULTI-MILLION POUND FUND TO GET HYDROGEN CARS MOVING

The arrival of hydrogen cars on UK roads is a step closer today as the Business Minister Matthew Hancock announced up to £11 million of funding. Government and industry will prepare the UK for the roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

The £11 million investment will:

help establish an initial network of up to 15 hydrogen refuelling stations by the end of 2015

include £2 million of funding for public sector hydrogen vehicles.

This is part of the UK Government’s drive to become a global leader in ultra-low emission vehicles and follows news earlier this month that Toyota has chosen the UK as one of the first markets for its FCEV when it goes on sale next year.

It is just one of the ways that Government plans to decarbonise road transport alongside battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids with £400 million of support available in the current Parliament and £500 million committed in the next.

Of the £11 million announced today, £7.5 million will come from Government and £3.5 million from industry:

— £2 million of top-up funding to upgrade 6-8 existing hydrogen refuelling stations (already operational or under development in the UK) and take them from demonstrator projects to publically accessible sites

— £3.5 million of funding to be matched by industry for 4-7 new hydrogen refuelling stations. This will include mobile stations as well as those on stand-alone sites and integrated into conventional petrol forecourts

— £2 million of funding for public sector fleets to encourage deployment of around 40 hydrogen FCEVs in focused geographical clusters.

Speaking in Japan where he met executives at Honda, Nissan and Toyota, Mr Hancock said: «Britain has become one of the best places in the world to build cars, with the value of those we export outstripping imports for the first time in a generation, but we want to go further.

«Hydrogen cars present us with a huge economic opportunity and can bolster our internationally renowned automotive industry. We want to make the UK one of the best places in the world to design, manufacture and sell ultra-low emission vehicles.

«Government will work in true partnership with industry so the potential benefits are realised by businesses and consumers across the UK.»

Transport Minister Baroness Kramer said: «By 2040 all new cars and vans will be ultra-low emission vehicles and this could be delivered by a variety of technologies, including plug-in hybrids, pure EVs and hydrogen. We want to ensure that support is there for all of these vehicles and that the UK continues to lead the pack in providing the right infrastructure to drive the switch to electric.»

The programme follows on from the work undertaken by the UKH2Mobility project – which brings together leading businesses from the automotive, energy, infrastructure and retail sectors with Government — to provide a ‘roadmap’ for the introduction of fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure in the UK.

Establishing 15 hydrogen refuelling stations by the end of 2015 will represent a significant first step towards the initial national network of 65 identified by UKH2Mobility.

Nissan Begins Testing Energy Supply Demand Management System Using LEAF EVs and «LEAF to Home» Power System

— Nissan is assessing the potential of electric vehicles in energy management systems
— Nissan is participating in the «demand response» energy supply and demand system testing together with businesses and government authorities in Japan

YOKOHAMA, Japan (October 16 , 2014) – Nissan Motor Corporation has begun testing a system to use electric vehicle technology to help power grids cope with peaks in demand. The energy management system has the potential to help ensure continuity of supply during natural disasters. It could also make electricity from renewable sources, like the wind or sun, more viable by storing power to be used during periods of high demand. Nissan is using Nissan LEAF electric vehicles (EV) and the «LEAF to Home» power supply system in the field tests.

The tests are being conducted by ENERES Co., Ltd.. Nissan is using Nissan LEAF EVs paired with the LEAF to Home power supply system for demand response testing at several of its sales outlets run by subsidiary Kanagawa Nissan Co., Ltd. to assess the effectiveness of EV batteries when used for energy management.

Demand response is a strategy to make power grids more efficient by modifying consumers’ power consumption in consideration of available energy supply. Since the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 the supply and demand of electricity during peak use hours in Japan has drawn attention. Under the demand response scheme, power companies request aggregators* to use energy conservation measures, and they are compensated for the electricity that they save.

Usually when energy-saving is requested consumers may respond by moderating their use of air conditioning and lighting. However, by using the storage capacity of electric vehicles and Vehicle to Home (V2H) systems, consumers can reduce their use of power at peak times without turning off lights and appliances. This is particularly useful in commercial establishments where it is difficult to turn power off to save electricity.

The demand response scheme involves assessing the usefulness of energy-saving measures using V2H systems during peak-use periods and analyzing the impact of monetary incentives on business. For example, the testing involves a LEAF and LEAF to Home system which is connected to power a Nissan dealer’s lighting system during regular business hours using stored battery energy. This reduces electricity demand on the power grid. The aggregator is then compensated for the equivalent of the total amount of electricity that is saved. Two or three tests per month will be conducted on designated days for three hours’ each time sometime between 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. from October 2014 through January 2015.

Effective use of renewable energy and improvements in the efficiency of power generation facilities will enable better energy management in the future and help reduce environmental impact. Field tests using EVs’ high-capacity batteries that are being conducted globally are proving their effectiveness in energy management. Additionally, if similar compensation schemes for energy-saving activities were applied to EV owners it could accelerate the wider adoption of EVs and reduce society’s carbon footprint.

Nissan has sold more than 142,000 LEAFs globally since launch. The Nissan LEAF’s power storage capability in its onboard batteries, coupled with the LEAF to Home power supply system, is proving attractive to many customers. As the leader in Zero Emissions, Nissan is promoting the adoption of EVs to help build a zero-emission society in the future. Along with these energy management field tests, Nissan is actively creating new value through the use of EVs’ battery power storage capability and continuing to promote initiatives that will help realize a sustainable low-carbon society.

* Aggregators refers to businesses that coordinate two or more consumers (e.g. plants and offices) and trade with utility companies the total amount of the electricity they have succeeded in curbing.

Honda Earns Perfect Climate Disclosure Score of 100 Points in CDP Global 500 Climate Change Report 2014

TOKYO, Japan, October 15, 2014 — Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced that it has earned a perfect climate disclosure score of 100 in the CDP Global 500 Climate Change Report 2014, which analyzes the initiatives of the world’s 500 largest companies in addressing countermeasures against global warming and the disclosure of information regarding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With the perfect disclosure score, Honda was listed as one of the companies in the CDP’s «Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI),» which names the world’s most advanced companies in the area of disclosures related to global climate change, for the fourth consecutive year.

Earning a perfect disclosure score indicates that Honda was recognized for its commitment to proper disclosures and the ability to utilize its climate data in making corporate decisions toward the realization of a low carbon society.

Comments by Takanobu Ito, President CEO of Honda:

«With the recognition of environmental issues as one of the highest management priorities among all other business priorities and challenges, Honda has long been committed to minimizing its environmental footprint. It is a great honor that our efforts led to earning this perfect CDP disclosure score for the first time. Toward the fulfillment of the Honda Environmental and Safety Vision — realizing «the Joy and Freedom of Mobility» and «a Sustainable Society where People Can Enjoy Life» — Honda will continue taking on new challenges to further reduce the environmental footprint of our products and corporate activities.»

Paul Simpson, chief executive officer of CDP, says:

«Global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and we face steep financial risk if we do not mitigate them. The need for data on corporate climate change impacts and strategies to reduce them has never been greater. For this reason we congratulate those businesses that have achieved a position on CDP’s Climate Disclosure Leadership Index. These companies are responding to the ever-growing demand for environmental accountability and should inspire others to follow suit.»

*CDP is an international non-profit organization that provides the only global system currently available to measure, disclose, manage and share key climate information of businesses and cities around the world. CDP now works with 767 institutional investors with US$92 trillion in assets in the market-economy to encourage businesses to disclose information about their impact on the environment and natural resources and to take measures to reduce such impact.

Coal and refined petroleum products must seek export markets for those jobs to survive.

In my view, the new energy future would be built around one national transmission grid, incorporating the following ideas:

• Unification — Combine NERC control areas into one unified national grid designing the transmission SCADA System providing sufficient redundancy and control logic – allowing most efficient use of generation resources.
• Grid Control — Create a National Grid Control Authority (NGCA) within DOE using the best management and technical staff from the redundant NERC regional control areas.
• Generation and Storage — NGCA would model the system, determine required new generation and storage based on:

1. Net demand forecasts provided by the branches (including transportation demand) as well as load forecasts provided by grid customers
2. Existing levels of nuclear, natural gas-fired and sustainable generation, and
3. All coal and refined petroleum product-fired generation would be shut down.

If additional energy is required, grid level sustainable resources must supply it under an NGCA sponsored RFP. All schedules submitted to the NGCA shall be firm forcing intermittent generators to purchase storage firming services.

5 types of connections would be permitted on the national grid:

1. grid “backbone”
2. grid load
3. grid storage
4. grid generation, and
5. distribution branch connections.

Each day each connection would submit in 15-minute granularity anticipated injection/withdrawal schedules from day of (real-time) to 12-months ahead. The NGCA would sum all schedules, requests bids and offers and then select the highest bids and lowest offers creating the 12-month forward grid price curve against which market participants could plan their local operations. Ex-poste financial penalties would be imposed for inaccurate scheduling. Cottage industries would likely spring-up offering scheduling, market participation, and related activities.  

Generation Services

Grid-scale generation and storage in my vision of the U.S. electricity system would exist under the national grid unified region and would be run as one unified control area with the NGCA. Tariff on the grid would be “postage stamp” style whereby electricity injected into the national grid would pay one rate and could be taken off the grid anywhere. Consistent and significant shorts would instigate a generation and storage RFP conducted by the NGCA.

Charges for congestion and wheeling, “pancaked rates,” would be eliminated, imbalances at the intra-hour level would be reconciled and settled promptly in a national imbalance market auction conducted by the NGCA. 

Distributed Generation and Storage

Through tax incentives, guaranteed loans and federal grants NGCA would promote and the government would incent installation of private-scale generation and storage systems consisting of small wind turbines and photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, plus small-scale batteries. Control systems would allow each fixed load to become electricity self-sufficient or a net generator depending on the private-generation capacity selected.

The U.S. would repower all coal-fired generation plants with natural gas (requiring significant investment in both plant conversion and natural gas transmission.) If it was determined that repowering is not economic then the plant would be shut down.

Distribution Branches  

These branches would connect geographically adjacent fixed loads (a distribution «branch”) and connect all branches to a national-grid-connected step up/step down substation to give each branch bidirectional grid access.

Transportation

The U.S. would shift all surface vehicles from fossil fuel power to grid-charged electric power, eliminating the 2^nd largest air emission source. Every dock, parking space and rail line would be connected through the branch to the national grid so that the following could take place:

1. Vehicles could be charged at the operator’s discretion, keeping the vehicle in a permanent state of sufficient charge.
2. When (and depending where) a surface transportation vehicle parks or docks it could be connected to the grid and charged at the discretion of the operator or in case of grid surplus and at the discretion of the grid at no cost to the vehicle owner. Payments would be billed automatically to the vehicle owner’s account.
3. When plugged in, the system would interrogate your vehicle to establish:
   1. The vehicle owner, state of charge, the account status and the battery would be charged at the operator’s discretion.
   2. Charging unattended vehicles would eliminate the need for filling stations or new technology quick charge batteries. Upon operator return, the battery would be charged, the account debited and a car printer would print relevant stored and downloadable financial, operational, and maintenance information.

The benefits to this system are that maintenance quality would improve, your vehicle’s location would be readily identifiable, and car thefts would decrease because when the stolen vehicle attempted to recharge local authorities would immediately be alerted.

A private financially self-sufficient national corporation would buy, refurbish, warranty and export the existing fossil fuel fleet for either disposal or sale, providing new electric vehicle capital facilitating the fleet conversion from refined petroleum to all-electric power.

To reiterate, grid surplus would allow the smart grid to offer free storage refills all levels of storage (grid, distributed, vehicle) until surplus exhaustion. 

The benefits of a system like this would be many, including increased system reliability; smaller electricity price volatility; a revenue opportunity for residential, commercial, and industrial sectors; a tax revenue opportunity for state and local governments through the income redistribution; infrastructure renewal and education.

Energy Tax Policy

In my vision, I see two energy tax policy changes, as follows:

1. Tax all fossil-fuel combustion to subsidize sustainable generation and storage both at the grid scale and distributed levels.
2. Implement a small (less than 3 percent) electricity sales tax. This would generate sufficient revenue for required loan guarantees, grants, and compensation for those directly injured by this policy. (i.e. the coal-fired generation industry, refining and marketing industry. Fossil fuel engine and distribution industry.)

While there is significant government tinkering in the form of guaranteed loans, grants, and tax credits, these would be funded within the sector by allocating the revenue from an electricity sales tax. With this significant qualification, all prices and product flows would be self-regulating free market outcomes. Market meddling was required by market failure to avoid energy overconsumption, industrial waste overproduction, and environment free dumpsite over use. The “invisible hand” in this case woudl require a “helping hand.”

In Conclusion

Overall policy benefits of my vision would include lower utility and transportation costs; energy independence; lower air emissions; more jobs (assuming coal and refined product export); a smaller federal deficit. Also, the plan uses existing technology.

As an entrepreneur and developer, it is my role to be creative and ingenious in crafting solutions to society’s problems. Manufacturers of retail- and grid-scale generation and storage equipment as well as electric vehicle manufacturers should support this idea once they have grasped the commercial implications of my suggestions.

I hope to spur a full-throated debate among environmental groups, the coal, auto, and refining industries. I believe that we can reach a zero-air-pollution, coal-free, crude-import free, all-electric low-cost energy future.

We have energy rhetoric and technology to get there; do we have leadership and will?

Lead image: Big Profits from Big Ideas via Shutterstock

by guest blogger Stan Thompson

By fiddling with his oil faucets and natural gas valves, Vladimir Putin may be having the same unintended acceleration effect on Europe’s diesel-to-hydrail transition that John L. Lewis had on the coal-to-diesel transition in the USA during the last century.

Recently I’ve heard two ambassadors from European countries explaining to American audiences what ails the EU’s economy. Putin’s delight in brandishing his oil and gas withholding leverage figures prominently. Casting diplomacy to the winds, one ambassador referred to Putin’s grasp of the situation using a homely metaphor having to do with seizing private body parts.

It’s been observed that Putin sees himself playing chess while President Obama is playing checkers. It won’t have escaped Putin’s notice that the forty Alstom HMU (Hydrail Multiple Unit) trains that Northern Germany will see by 2020 means the permanent loss of some fraction (not even a pawn’s worth) of his rail diesel export revenue.

He may not, however, have tumbled to the probability that those first forty hydrail trains amount to a rolling snowball at the top of an Alp.

Long ago, Europe honed railway electrification to a fine edge. But, ever since the end of steam, the trackage beyond the wire’s end has been diesel. If Europe had no fear of uncertain oil supplies or price manipulation, the high cost of maintaining wayside electrification plant might easliy have tipped the balance of the climate menace in diesel’s favor.

But North Germany’s superabundance of night-time wind turbine energy—readily expressed as hydrogen gas—is a natural hydrail fuel source. That means the track beyond the catenary will not always rely on Putin’s oil.

By making the rail diesel supply more problematic, he’s made the transition to hydrail less so.

When Vossloh, the high-tech German locomotive manufacturer, rolled-out their new D18 model, they made it “Future-Proof” by designing-in a hydrail prime-mover option. By so doing, they made their locomotive potentially Putin-proof as well.

In 2006 Vladimir Putin was in his second term as President and Mikhail Yefimovich Fradkov (later head of Russia’s Foreign Inteligence Service) was Prime Minister. That was the year that the Second International Hydrail Conference was convened in Herning, Denmark. “2IHC” was hosted by Danish scientists interested in using Jutland’s ample wind energy to re-power the diesel rail line from Vemb to Thyborøn, making it the world’s first hydrail passenger service.

In that more relaxed time, Ms. Sandy Kaiser, the US Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission (second only to the Ambassador) gave the opening speech at 2IHC.  Russian Railways sent a delegation of nine—by far the largest delegation ever sent to a Hydrail Conference. The proceedings were conducted in English and simultaneously translated into Russian.

A year later the Danish hydrail vision was eclipsed by the sunset of the world economy (not to say the dawn of the Great Recession). Iceland (founded by Danes) had been planning to achieve the world’s first zero-carbon national energy economy. But their sovereign wealth funds were invested heavily in bundled US mortgages adulterated with sub-prime funnymoney debt. Ironically, in Iceland’s fiscal crisis, Russia made them a big bail-out loan, sourced—one supposes—in oil revenues!

In the 1940’s, when most intercity passenger transportation was still by rail and rail was still powered by coal, United Mine Workers’ President John L. Lewis had the same rather personal grip on America that Putin (per the ambassador’s speech) has on Europe today. In the chaos that resulted, the painful grip was pried loose, in part, by converting some locomotives from coal to oil.

Very likely no hydrail intelligence at all percolated up to the former KGB pro and chess champ back in 2006. But Vladimir Putin might do well to note how the “United States versus John L Lewis” game eventually played out.

Filed under: Fuel Cells, Hydrail, Infrastructure, News

I’ll be up front. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the finest universities in the world. Numerous graduates have made lasting contributions to science. And the closest I could have ever got to being part of the MIT family would have probably been working as a stock boy in the campus bookstore. It is an academic beacon.

But, sometimes, start-ups just aren’t its bag.

Lilliputian Systems, an MIT spin out that raised over $140 million in its prime to bring portable fuel cells to market, has declared bankruptcy.

It is the latest in a series of well-funded companies out of that august university that has burned through tens of millions in an attempt to bring a cutting-edge idea to market. Many are in cleantech. The list also includes A123 Systems, which raised over $200 million and even managed an IPO before being sold for parts to Chinese investors; GreenFuel Technologies, which burned through millions proving that algae fuel is a lot harder than it looks; Luminus Devices, an innovative LED company that raised over $150 million to get sold for $22 million; and Evergreen Solar founded by former professor Ely Sachs. Evergreen

And look, I got through that whole article without mentioning One Laptop Per Child. Amazing.

The problem? Most of these companies were way ahead of the market and by the time they were mature the market had passed them by. The science was great, but the process of bringing them to market was arduous.

Take for example Sun Catalytix, a company founded by professor Daniel Nocera to produce hydrogen with sunlight. Producing hydrogen cleanly is one of the primary roadblocks to the hydrogen economy. Most companies produce it by cracking carbon dioxide. Sun Catalytix was working on a catalyst that would effectively split water efficiently.

It’s an incredibly challenging scientific problem. After a few rounds of funding, the company suddenly switched courses and announced it would make flow batteries, which have absolutely nothing to do hydrogen or the original catalyst. While Sun Catalytix only raised a few million — nothing on the scale of Lilliputian — it recently got sold to Lockheed Martin.

Or take E-Ink. Spun out of MIT Media Labs, E-Ink created a digital form of paper. Great idea. The downside? It came up with the idea in 1997, about seven years too early. E-Ink ultimately prevailed. It got bought by a Taiwanese company for $215 million for 2009, more than the over $150 million it raised, but you can imagine the timeline didn’t endear it to investors.

Or look at Evergreen. The company’s string ribbon technology promised to dramatically reduce the cost of solar wafer manufacturing. And it did. Unfortunately, Evergreen’s wafers were square. The industry standard was round. It was literally like trying to shove a square peg into a round hole: manufacturers would have had to retrofit substantial portions of their production lines to adopt it. Evergreen did OK when demand outstripped supply, but when the market slowed a bit, it headed toward bankruptcy.

It blamed China for its problems, but its IP got bought by Chinese investors.

Sachs is also the founder of 1366 Technologies, which makes ultra-thin cutting edge multicrystalline silicon wafers. In general, multicrystalline wafers result in solar cells that aren’t as efficient as monocrystalline wafers and efficiency is becoming increasingly important. Just saying.

Lilliputian tried to mass produce portable fuel cells so people could recharge phones and other devices on the go. Fuel cells are incredibly complex and prone to failure over the long haul. Lilliputian had to invest millions into RD. Unfortunately, the whole purpose of its existence was eliminated when Samsung started planting free charging towers in airports. Why carry around an expensive vial of flammable liquids when you can just plug in?

Not every wacky idea that left a smoking crater in the ground came out of MIT. Konarka Technologies, which promised to produce flexible solar cells, came out of the University of Massachusetts for instance. 

The pending boom of the energy storage industry is right around the corner, and the U.S. is taking a front seat. According to recent IHS research, the U.S. is the largest market for grid-connected energy storage installations through 2017, and global sales of combined solar energy storage systems are expected to reach nearly $30 billion by then.

This mounting interest in energy storage is evident from the expanded deployment of storage-backed solar, extensive battery research efforts across the country and increased investment activity. California continues to be a progressive leader in renewable energy technologies and now has a mandate calling for 1.3 GW of energy storage by 2020. The state has already applied for installation projects totaling double the required amount. Even the Intersolar North America Conference this past July had multiple sessions dedicated to energy storage. The industry has also seen growth in venture capital funding sparked by technological improvements and local policies, and the first quarter of 2014 attracted $107 million in investments for smart grid and energy storage in the U.S.

Energy storage systems can be beneficial on a small or large scale.

• Commercial consumers combine storage with renewables or demand response.
• Residential consumers pair storage with PV installations to reap maximum benefits of solar systems.
• Utilities use storage as reserve capacity to accommodate peak loads and improve grid resilience.

Although the basic technology has been around for years, there have been many improvements in effectiveness, safety and cost. Current grid-scale storage typically uses lithium-ion or sodium-sulfur batteries, which provide multi-hour capacity at relatively high temperatures. The main technologies currently emerging in the market are flow batteries, fly wheels, solid state and thermal. Sodium-beta batteries are also being tested. They operate at significantly lower temperatures, allowing cheaper materials to be used and reducing overall production cost.

Flow batteries are an emerging form of storage due to their longevity and dynamic capacity, which is promising for grid-scale storage. These batteries have the ability to increase energy capacity by adding electrolytes that serve as a storage medium. Flow batteries have taken a leadership position in large-scale projects, such as the NYC Con Edison project. Con Ed and the MTA chose to install a German flow battery technology, CellCube, in downtown Manhattan in the first attempt to bring grid-scale storage to the congested city.

Although many of these new storage technologies seem superior to the lithium-ion battery, the growth of the electric vehicle (EV) market continues to spur innovation into lithium-ion, making it the battery of choice for these cars. This growth has spurred lowered production costs and makes these batteries competitive in the market. EV’s themselves can also be used as storage. Second-hand batteries can be repurposed as storage, and many advanced vehicles can be used during emergencies as a source of power.

Energy storage has the potential to disrupt the power industry by creating renewable energy inventory. However, cost is a huge roadblock in reaching that goal. Many RD labs across the globe are focused on driving down costs to achieve grid-scale deployment, and innovative business models, such as Green Charge Networks, can go a long way in providing appropriate consumer incentives. The future of energy storage looks promising, but we still need a combination of technological advancements and clever financing for it to reach its full potential. 

Keri Masterson contributed to this article.

After bailing out Wall Street in 2008, are Americans ready to provide a one trillion dollar bailout to our electric utilities in 2030?  Even though worldwide demand for energy is estimated to rise 41 percent by 2035, Barclays recently downgraded their outlook for utilities.  The question we should ask ourselves is what does it mean when you downgrade a trillion dollar industry? Will this mean that billions of dollars invested in utilities today through pensions, stock holdings and your bank’s investments will be lost? And can utilities, and the country, prevent this value destruction from occurring?

Renewable generation such as solar power is being produced at costs that are rapidly decreasing. Solar systems are becoming so simple that, with a little instruction, my accounting team was able to install a solar power system. This is good for the world, but not necessarily good for an established industry, like utilities.

Industries are famous for side-stepping large infrastructure businesses and leaving them to wither.

1. Small, low cost mini-mills replaced large-scale steel makers.
2. Cell phones replaced standalone Global Positioning Systems (GPSs).
3. Uber and similar on-demand car services are currently replacing taxis.

Distributed generation is becoming cheaper and easier to install, leading to growth rates in the residential space of 60 percent per year. Installed solar capacity across the U.S. has grown 418 percent since 2010 and could quadruple from today’s level to 50 GW by 2017. The price of solar has come down and technology risk is no longer a concern. If your utility company charges $0.18/kwh and a reputable solar installer sells power at $0.13/kwh, isn’t the preferred option fairly obvious? In short order, solar systems will be as prolific as solar water heating is in Israel.

Utilities, by their very nature, are not creatures of change. Their highly capital intensive investments are depreciated over thirty years – they are used to having a captive, monopolistic audience, and they aren’t known for customer experience or innovation. The way they increase their revenue is through population growth and increased power prices (3-5 percent on average a year). But today, electricity costs from coal are going up and solar power costs are coming down.  Moreover, as people move away from coal power to cheaper solar power, utilities will have to charge their customers more in order to cover their infrastructure costs. 

If nothing changes, this is a losing battle for utilities.  A utility that doesn’t adapt loses credibility quickly, as its customer base dwindles and its highly leveraged infrastructure needs cash. Who would want to invest in a highly leveraged industry with a shrinking market? If current trends continue, many utilities could soon face bankruptcy. It’s a toxic combination of high capital requirements and fading demand. And make no mistake: power infrastructure is not cheap.

While some utilities like Southern California Edison have implemented strategies to capitalize on this shift, most haven’t. Instead, they’ve tried to fight it by appealing to regulators to add additional fees to solar or persuade legislators to overturn renewable portfolio standards.

How can utilities win? 

First, utilities can embrace solar and benefit from the fact that they have a low cost of customer acquisition because they have a captive audience. Utilities can also be the broker of all energy services for the home if they decide to expand their product line. If they invest in providing the funding behind solar financing and owning the generation and storage assets installed in homes and businesses, they are right back in their utility role, but now using a new generation of asset class.

Second, they can continue to secure revenue through grid connection charges for infrastructure use.

Third, utilities don’t have to be innovation leaders; they can use their current asset base and low cost of capital to either partner with or purchase companies who can innovate for them.

Other companies have repositioned and reinvented themselves to deal with technological shifts that threatened their monopoly power. ATT didn’t vanish after its antitrust suit and the advent of the Internet and cell phones. Railroads figured out ways to survive after the invention of cars, long-haul trucks and airplanes. Utilities can make it if they adjust to the changing environment. However, if they don’t, there is huge potential for another major bailout that would not only impact utilities, but also the pensions that invest in them, the taxpayers who would have to provide their bailout, and the homeowners who might encounter energy instability and insecurity. As with the banks during the financial crisis, the most successful (and innovative) members of the utility industry will buy up struggling utilities at a discount and then use them as channels for their services.

Whatever happens, there will be winners and losers. Those utilities that lose will be bought at a discount by the dominant players, rolled up, and optimized to drive product effectively through their channels. As these aged and debt-laden structures attempt to adapt, we may see a bailout or debt forgiveness, similar to that of the banks in 2008. Or it may mean that like other industries, the unsuccessful are bought by the successful, debtors negotiate what they can, and the channel is optimized with new services, processes, and fees. 

Lead image: Bailout sign via Shutterstock

Of the total, Japan has added 10,880 MW of solar capacity through the end of June, according to METI data updated on Sept. 26.

Japan, which has a total population of 127 million, has approved 71,780 MW of renewable energy projects, according to the ministry data. Solar accounts for 96 percent of the approved capacity.

In related new, a unit of General Electric Co. and partners will get a 90 billion yen ($822 million) loan from Japanese banks to build a 231-MW solar power station in western Japan.

GE Energy Financial Services, Toyo Engineering Corp., and Kuni Umi Asset Management Co. will build the 110 billion yen station in Okayama prefecture, the companies said in a statement today.

Construction will start in November and the station will start running in 2019, according to the statement.

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho Bank, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. will serve as lead arrangers of the 22 1/2- year syndicated loan, which will also be provided by regional financial institutions.

Yasuyo Yamazaki, the president and chief executive officer of Kuni Umi Asset Management and a key player in the project, said: “In addition to the Setouchi solar project, we developed a mega-solar power plant in Mito-city Ibaraki Prefecture and started the construction of a woodchip biomass fuel power plant in Kawaminami-cho, Miyazaki Prefecture. Now we are planning a wind farm in Nakadomari-cho, Aomori Prefecture. With these projects, we are contributing to the Ideal Region Development with renewable energy.”

Sushil Verma, a managing director and Japan business leader at GE Energy Financial Services, said: “Japan’s favorable regulatory policies make solar power attractive and diversify the country’s power generation sources. For us, the Kuni Umi project expands our international and renewable energy footprints, which already include investment commitments of $1.8 billion in equity and debt in more than one gigawatt of solar power projects worldwide.”

In addition to capital, GE will supply some of the inverters — marking the debut in Japan of the GE 1 MW Brilliance Solar Inverter, which eliminates the need for an intermediate transformer, resulting in higher conversion efficiency and superior grid performance, according to GE.

Lead image: Japan Flag via Shutterstock

For many months, I’ve struggled to model the economics of microgrids. For a set of paying customers of a homeowners’ association with 120 homes, for instance – a “load” – with daily and seasonal variations in demand, we can anticipate revenues easily enough.

Understanding microgrid costs, however, involves at least two complex optimizations followed by pro forma cash flow analysis. As best I can tell, this has not been done.

A microgrid typically has multiple generation sources and a battery. Some people call such systems “hybrid,” but that states the obvious, physical truth. They ought instead be described as integrated systems, since their working combination should be more than additive, and follow a well-articulated logic toward solving an objective function, for instance, production at the lowest cost; with the lowest emissions; continuous operation with quality electricity; or predictable demand with low peaks.

Consider a 100,000 DWT container ship, a sizeable floating microgrid. Its propulsion requires ~ 70 MW engine power generated by burning heavy fuel oil. In addition, it has sizeable power systems for cargo refrigeration; air-conditioning for the crew’s living spaces; critical communications systems; and other loads much like any community, likely about 15 MW. Ships do not emphasize renewable generation, yet like any terrestrial microgrid, they have batteries, diesel generators, and waste heat recovery systems, optimized for cost savings and reliability. Do ships offer lessons for microgrid design? Shipbuilders might design optimized microgrids.

Two Optimizations and a Discounted Cash Flow

Capacity Planning: The first challenge of microgrid design is: For the given demand, in what combination should we deploy, say, solar, wind, diesel or gas generator, and batteries? How many kW of each? This sizing is a thorny challenge. Every location, having different resource endowments, needs customization. Homer Software claims to address this important issue, thereby permitting us to budget for capital costs. How many solar panels are needed for the sunlight available in the proposed location? What are the wind turbine sizes, and their number, for the given topography? How much battery storage, and the size of generators needed, to meet the given load?

When the capital needed for the various generation sources is represented as payments spread over a number of years, it sets the first constraint on aggregate economics. The revenue estimated has to cover that, plus operating costs.

Operations Modeling: The second constraint is efficient operations. How should we utilize the deployed resources in an optimum manner to reduce overall operating costs? How should we maximize solar use, reduce diesel or gas use, store electricity generated in batteries, and use the stored energy after sundown? This is an integer-programming problem; a number of recent research papers have made admirable contributions toward addressing it.

To manage this optimization well, however, we need a good control network interfacing with the resources, a non-trivial engineering and design challenge, for the resources must satisfy a dynamic demand. This likely requires experimental prototypes working simultaneously with associated analytics.

Financial Modeling: Beyond capacity planning or sizing, and optimized operations, we need to make assumptions about the differing life of solar panels and batteries; the cost of money – the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) – for the business undertaking the project; factor in risk through a discount rate; and assume a terminal multiplier at the end of, say, ten years in the cash flow statement. We need to anticipate operating costs as in any business plan – for people, offices, sales, maintenance, fuel consumption, and the like.

The goal is to assess the economic feasibility of microgrids at a high level, and understand the relative role of the various economic drivers. For simplicity, we assume mature technologies, a standalone microgrid, and no subsidies in our estimates. These factors may be included in future iterations of the model.

At this stage, we are ready to calculate the Net Present Value of the project, and conduct breakeven analysis for the system. Is the project worth doing? Now? If not now, when? What are the sensitivities?

Environmental Barriers To Realizing Microgrids

Mind you, these issues are merely the technical challenges of establishing a business case. Regulatory and public policy issues need to be addressed too. For instance, in the U.S., does the microgrid service territory cross public rights of way? If it does, do microgrid operators violate the franchise rights of incumbent utilities?

If the microgrid expects to connect with the macrogrid, there are the additional equipment costs, and operating challenges of islanding. Let us assume that they are addressed satisfactorily in the IEEE 1547 standard, and through global manufacturers.

We next need to bridge historic academic boundaries, and their reflection in any organization or team. Electrical engineering, operations research, and public policy, among other disciplines, are distinct competencies with well-defined boundaries that are not easily breached. Cross-disciplinary research can be career limiting in that it belongs neither here nor there, and requires the burden of new learning.