Electricity as an alternative fuel provides significant benefits while offering opportunities for new auto and utility industry collaboration and business models that can change the historical transportation and energy paradigm.
As the volatility in the price and supply of oil continues to challenge our energy security and our economy, the United States faces a historic crossroad: Either we continue down the road of complete oil dependence and carefree consumption, or we blaze a pioneering new trail toward energy-efficient, sustainable vehicle and fuel alternatives.
As the director of electric transportation at Southern California Edison (SCE), I believe the "electrification of our transportation future" could represent one of the most significant opportunities this nation has, to reinvent itself as a global leader in sustainable transportation solutions. From seaports to airports, truck stops to trains, commuter cars to buses, "electricity fuel" and electric-drive technologies are increasingly viewed as some of the best ways to meaningfully reduce our petroleum consumption.
No matter which camp of the climate change "human impact" debate you fall in, everyone can agree that there's an essential need to mitigate the environmental deterioration from transportation use. Here again "electricity" fuel and electric-drive have a future starring role to play in cleaning up the environment. But electrifying transportation on its own is not enough. We must pursue multiple solutions on the vehicle and with the fuel. In the near term, within the next 10 years, vehicles will likely include new engine and transmission technologies, increased flex-fuel capability, and increased hybridisation-a matured battery technology leading to plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles (EVs), smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles, and better aerodynamics and recyclability across the entire industry. Fuel stations will include increasing fuel blends, more availability of alternative fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, and more use of electricity as a transportation fuel.
In the mid-term, 10 to 20 years from now, we should see significant availability of flex-fuel vehicles, the mass adoption of hybrids and plug-in hybrids, the growth in pure-battery EVs, and possibly an emerging availability of fuel cell EVs. In terms of fuel, we should see growing infrastructure supporting ethanol and possibly hydrogen from sustainable feedstocks; an electrical grid that continues to integrate clean renewables such as wind and solar; sustained emission reductions through old power plant retirements; new emission control technologies on new or existing power plants; and new applications such as energy storage or distributed energy resources. It is going to take a combination of all of these different vehicle technologies and fuel solutions to wean this nation from its transportation oil dependency and clean up the environment.
Today, the good news on the alternative-fuel side is that unlike ethanol, biodiesel, or hydrogen, electricity has a ubiquitous infrastructure already in place with significant excess capacity for fueling transportation. In fact, a December 2006 study by the U.S. Department of Energy indicated that the existing US electrical grid has sufficient excess capacity off-peak to fuel about 73 per cent of the nation's light-duty fleet (about 217 million vehicles). Another study in 2007 by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Electric Power Research Institute indicated that widespread adoption of plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles (PHEVs) by 2050 could reduce petroleum consumption by three million to four million barrels per day, while lessening vehicle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 450 million metric tons per year (or the equivalent of taking 82 million cars off the road).
Other advantages of using electricity as a transportation fuel include the facts that it is domestically produced, virtually petroleum-free, and about 25 to 50 per cent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline equivalent today. In addition, vehicle miles powered by the grid get cleaner as the vehicle gets older, because power plants on the grid as a whole are getting cleaner. Clearly the electrical grid, if fully utilised by transportation in the future, could serve as one of the nation's most significant steps toward energy independence.
There is a cloud in front of this silver lining, however. We have the fuel, we just don't have the vehicles yet. Today, automakers around the world are developing next-generation plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles. Thanks, in no small part, to the gasoline hybrids on the road today, hybrid propulsion systems are maturing rapidly. However, developing an advanced energy battery still remains a challenge. Lithium-ion technology shows tremendous promise to meet vehicle charging and discharging needs, but there are questions yet to be fully answered around calendar life, safety, cost and recyclability.
Industry stakeholders are moving forward together to "crack the code" on energy storage batteries. Utilities, universities, automakers and battery makers are all working toward making effective energy storage technologies a reality. To understand the potential of batteries in plug-in vehicles, and as part of the future electrical energy system, SCE and Ford Motor Company announced a groundbreaking collaboration in the fall of 2006. The effort will examine the future of PHEVs as part of a complete energy system that incorporates the home, vehicle and electricity grid. SCE has begun to receive a small fleet of Ford Escape plug-in hybrids. After an extensive testing programme in 2008, these vehicles eventually will be rotated throughout SCE's 50,000 square miles of service territory and placed in customers' hands for real-world evaluation. This programme will generate data and understanding on load profiles, customer charging patterns, connection and communication issues and vehicle performance characteristics.
SCE already has more than 20 years of industry-leading electric transportation expertise. Today, we operate the nation's largest, most successful electric vehicle fleet - nearly 300 vehicles, which have collectively travelled almost 16 million miles. At our nationally recognised Electric Vehicle Technical Center in Pomona, Calif., we have been evaluating plug-in vehicle prototypes as well as next-generation advanced lithium-ion batteries for several years now. It will take industry collaborations such as the Ford-SCE programme to truly understand and unlock the potential of energy storage in both the automotive and energy industries.
In the short term, the advanced energy battery in a PHEV could create a "vehicle-to-home" connection by providing stored energy for occasional on-site emergency backup or occasional "peak shaving" that helps customers avoid high electricity costs during daytime critical energy-use periods. In the mid-term, the use of off-peak power to charge PHEVs could help utilities effectively increase the efficiency of existing power plants. This, in turn, could spread fixed costs over more kilowatt-hour sales, which could result in lower rates for customers.
And finally, in the long term, PHEVs and stationary energy storage batteries could offer the potential ability to move energy back and forth throughout the electric grid, helping to enhance grid reliability, energy efficiency and energy cost-effectiveness. Though "vehicle-to-grid" and large volumes of stationary energy storage are further on the horizon, we are seeing a fundamental change in the way utilities may operate in the future. Since their inception, utilities have needed to produce electricity on demand to meet customer needs instantaneously. Now comes the possibility of producing electricity at night when costs are lower, and storing that electricity in batteries to allow real-time customer response to changing electric system conditions.
Energy storage through PHEVs and stationary energy batteries also could support the increased use of clean, renewable generation such as wind. SCE currently leads the nation in renewable power delivery, and serves about 16 per cent of its customers' needs with energy from renewable resources.
SCE is helping to facilitate the connection among the vehicle, clean grid and energy storage devices with an industry-leading, advanced metering system called EdisonSmart Connect. Between 2009 and 2012, SCE plans to replace five million residential and small business electric meters with next-generation "smart meters" that include a two-way wireless interface allowing customers to better manage their energy consumption by immediately seeing how their usage affects their bill. The smart meters also will have the ability to manage the connection of PHEVs with the grid. To evaluate and demonstrate this, SCE's Electric Vehicle Technical Center is building a demonstration "garage of the future" systems study to integrate PHEV bi-directional capabilities, solar (photovoltaic) panels, energy storage and advanced meter customer controls (Figure 1).
Southern California Edison is working on a demonstration "garage of the future" systems study to integrate plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles with the electric grid and energy battery storage for home use. To move forward on the potential for vehicle-to-home systems, SCE is helping drive a coordinated effort with utilities around the world, the Electric Power Research Institute and automakers on global connection and communication standards.
In addition, SCE is working on several other forward-looking initiatives not only for on-road vehicles, but also for other electric transportation technologies, such as electric goods movement equipment at airports, marine ports, truck facilities and rail yards.
As the critical first step, the auto and utility industries, in partnership with battery manufacturers and government, need to get batteries to drive the wheels. Then they can look at helping to power the house, and using advanced batteries for other stationary and distributed generation applications. Based on evaluations and testing currently underway, it may be possible for combined volume commitments to be made in the future for plug-in hybrids and stationary energy storage batteries. The goal would be for utilities and automakers to jointly contribute to lowering battery costs. SCE, in partnership with automakers and other stakeholders, is assessing this potential now. In addition, SCE also is evaluating the potential of secondary battery applications to help create a battery "residual value" that is not currently present today.
So now, auto manufacturers and utilities are working together to create new business models based on a common connection-the customer. We need to develop solutions that not only provide vehicles and features that consumers want, but that also benefit the utility and its customers with lower energy costs. Each industry brings its respective area of expertise, automakers in developing and marketing vehicle technologies, and utilities in ensuring a safe, reliable and efficient electric supply while helping customers manage energy use. Both industries need to get it right, but the progress so far shows great promise for using this new partnership approach to bring about real changes that create a truly sustainable transportation future.
Edward Kjaer has been the director of the Electric Transportation Department at Southern California Edison since 1999. He is responsible for all facets of the Department's electro-drive activities, including system impact and assessment of various technologies, customer education, load management and energy efficiency programmes, rates and incentives, low-emission vehicle fleet compliance, and operation of the industry-leading Electric Vehicle Technology Center.
