Smart grid proponents have some explaining to do

We are doing a new broadband conference October 13, after an FTTH conference (September 2009) and a mobile broadband conference (June 2010). The program isn't finalised yet, but one of the thing to look forward to is smart grid and smart metering. Hopefully somebody will teach us the value of these things, because I haven't been convinced yet. In fact, I am inclined to be an opponent, as I will explain here. Since I am probably not alone erring, I hope an expert speaker will address these points:

1. Burning oil (or corn) has three issues:

a. CO2 is released, which probably causes the greenhouse effect and as a consequence forces rapid climate change upon us.

b. Oil is scarce. Burning it will only make matters worse, driving up prices and making us ever more dependent on undemocratic countries for our oil supply. Burning corn or the like is just a stupid idea, not worth elaborating on.

c. Oil is scarce, even at times (such as in the middle of the night) when there is a temporary oversupply.

2. It is in our nature to try and drive up the efficiency of oil burning and usage. People are inventing smart grids, hybrid cars and are teaching us to unplug unused battery chargers. In itself, there is nothing wrong with increasing efficiency, but at the same time, three new issues arise:

a. Focus remains on burning oil, instead of developing new and truly green sources.

b. The efficiency efforts themselves require a lot of energy and oil burning.

c. It is naive to think that enabling consumers to monitor their usage will make them more frugal or efficient. Human nature doesn't work that way.

When it comes to business decisions, it is wise to sweat your assets and squeeze every penny out of them (as in copper networks). Oil is another matter however and we need to switch over to new sources sooner rather than later. It looks like we need to stop thinking in terms of increasing efficiency. We should be more ambitious and develop new sources that provide us with an abundance of energy. Energy shouldn't be scarce any more than bandwidth.

I can't wait for the expert to address these issues.

Australian NBN trials apps for FTTH

The Australian NBN is trialing applications to run over the new network in NSW. Finally stuff other than Internet access requiring OA FTTH! Here's what they will ofer 40 trial homes in the Parkbruidge Estate. Teleworking seems to be missing; the services being trialed can definitely be expanded; but smart metering - who buys that?

• Smart metering (with Integral Energy). "Allow families and business to track their energy consumption in real time and adjust energy use accordingly". This is the one application that nobody has been able to convince me about (see next post).
• Touch screen communication (by Smart Services Cooperative Research Centre and Consult Point). Basically e-health/e-care. For elderly and young children.
• Virtual world learning environment (by Smart Services CRC and NSW Department of Education and Training): An e-learning app.
• HD Internet TV (by NICTA and Opticomm). Basically a hybrid STB. You can wonder why they do not partner with Google TV or another existing player in the connected TV/hybrid TV/OTT market.

Amsterdam smart city presentation

Here is a new presentation (Stockholm, November 2009) by Dirk van der Woude, one of the driving forces behind the Amsterdam smart city efforts, which includes FTTH and much more: wireless, smart grid, etc.

The only thing that I just can't get excited over is the smart grid concept. I think we need something much more fundamental than just increased efficiency, even though the first results (14% savings - see slide 25) are impressive.

• I doubt this is enough. A much more radical approach may be needed, like solar and wind power. My German neighbour is having a new home built, using only thermal power (the refrigerator turned upside down). It takes drilling a 80-100 meter deep hole, but a temperature difference of just 2-3 degrees is sufficient. How difficult is that. And how durable! Contrast that with the cost of building a smart grid.
• Savings of 14 percent may be unrealistic when the project moves beyond the initial group of trial homes, where people could be quite motivated to cooperate. There are a lot of jerks our there. Go drive on the highway to see how few people are interested in driving economically. Even though many cars these days have a smart meter, telling us that doing 90 km/hr will probably save us at least 30 percent of our as consumption, very few seem to be interested. That's human nature. Still, I hope the trial will prove me wrong. Smart software, added to the smart meter, may help us become better people.