Title: Green power supply system and green power supply method
Abstract: To permit a customer to reduce environmental load without reducing their electric power, a green power supply system is provided which includes a power supply request acceptance part which accepts from a customer a request to supply power having small environmental loads to the customer, a storage-of-power-supply-content requesting part which stores the state of power supply from each power generation facility, a green degree calculating part which determines the proportion of power which is supplied from the power generation facility having the small environmental loads, in power supplied to the customer, and a customer-directed green-degree notification part which notifies the customer of the degree of environmental load.
Patent Number: 6,885,914 Issued on 04/26/2005 to Shimode, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Shimode; Shinichi (Ishioka, JP);
Fukui; Chihiro (Hitachinaka, JP)
|
| Assignee:
|
Hitachi, Ltd. (Tokyo, JP)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
361641 |
| Filed:
|
February 11, 2003 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Sep 26, 2000[JP] | 2000-297054 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
700/288; 700/286; 700/291; 700/295; 700/296 |
| Intern'l Class: |
H02J 003//00; G06F 017//60 |
| Field of Search: |
700/288,286,291,295,296
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 6038540 | Mar., 2000 | Krist et al.
| |
| 6080927 | Jun., 2000 | Johnson.
| |
| 6512966 | Jan., 2003 | Lof et al.
| |
| 6647717 | Nov., 2003 | Zaslavsky et al.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 2000-78747 | Mar., 2000 | JP.
| |
| 2000/-297054 | Sep., 2000 | JP.
| |
Other References
"The changing role of Environmental Engineering: How Green is Green" -Pranee
Pantumsinchai, PE. President, Environmental Engineering Association of Thailand.*
"Green Power Switch" -Tenessee Vally Authority website. http://www.tva.gov/greenpowerswitch/□□.
|
Primary Examiner: Picard; Leo
Assistant Examiner: Masinick; Michael D.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Antonelli, Terry, Stout & Kraus, LLP
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/161,633 filed Jun. 5, 2002,
now abandoned, which was a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/962,256, filed
Sep. 26, 2001, now abandoned, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated
by reference.
Claims
1. A green power supply system comprising:
a power supply request acceptance part which accepts from a customer a request
for a power generation facility having small environmental loads to supply power
to the customer;
a storage-of-power-supply-content requesting part which stores the state of power
supply from each of a plurality of power generation facilities;
a green degree calculating part which determines the proportion of power which
is supplied from the power generation facility having the small environmental loads
in response to the request, in power supplied to the customer according to the
state of power supply from each power generation facility; and
a customer-directed green-degree notification part which notifies the customer
of the proportion of the power which is supplied from the power generation facility
having the small environmental loads, in the power used by the customer.
2. A green power supply system according to claim 1, further comprising a third-party-directed
green-degree notification part which notifies a third party of the proportion of
the power which is supplied from the power generation facility having the small
environmental loads, in the power used by the customer.
3. A green power supply system according to claim 1, further comprising a green
power authentication determining part which performs evaluation and authentication
of a customers effort at reducing environmental loads and preventing exhaustion
of resources, on the basis of the proportion of the power which is supplied from
the power generation facility having the small environmental loads, in the power
used by the customer, and a green power authentication part which notifies the
customer and the third party of green power authentication information determined
by the green power authentication determining part.
4. A green power supply system according to claim 1, further comprising a customer-directed
power charge notification part which notifies the customer of a power charge which
takes into account green subsidy information calculated from the proportion of
the power which is supplied from the power generation facility having the small
environmental loads, in the power used by the customer.
5. A system connected to customers and power generating facilities, comprising:
storing means receiving request data from the customers and supplied electric
power data from the power generating facilities to the customers and storing the
request data, the supplied electric power data and green degrees that are respectively
predetermined coefficients for each of the power generating facilities, and
calculating means producing a calculation result by comparing the request data
with the supplied electric power data and the green degree regarding each power
generating facility, and outputting the calculation result.
6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the calculating means calculates
green degrees assigned to each customer based on the comparison.
7. The system according to claim 5, further comprising:
informing means transmitting the calculation result to the customer.
8. The system according to claim 5, further comprising:
transmitting means informing the calculation result to a third party to authorize
the calculation result.
9. The system according to claim 8, further comprising:
distributing means transmitting an authorization to the customer from the third
party.
10. The system according to claim 5, further comprising:
request means transmitting to a power generating facility a request of electric
power supplied therefrom based on comparison between supplied electric power and
demand of customers.
11. The system according to claim 5, wherein the supplied electric power data
from a power generating facility includes a price range.
12. The system according to claim 6, wherein the calculation result includes
a price in response to the green degree assigned to a customer.
13. A server connected to customers and power generating facilities, comprising:
a memory which accepts request data from the customers and supplied electric
power data from the power generating facilities and stores the request data, the
supplied electric power data, and green degrees that are respectively predetermined
coefficients for each of the power generating facilities, and
a calculating portion which produces a calculation result based on a comparison
of the request data with the supplied electric power data and the green degree
regarding each of the power generating facilities, and which outputs the calculation
result.
14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the calculating portion calculates
green degrees assigned to each customer based on the comparison.
15. The server according to claim 13, further comprising:
an informing portion which transmits the calculation result to the customer.
16. The server according to claim 13, further comprising:
a transmitting portion which informs the result to a third party to authorize
the result.
17. The server according to claim 16, further comprising:
a distributing portion which transmits an authorization to the customer from
the third party.
18. The server according to claim 13, further comprising:
a request portion which transmits to a power generating facility a request of
electric power supplied therefrom based on a comparison between supplied electric
power and demand of the customers.
19. The server according to claim 13, wherein the supplied electric power data
from a power generating facility includes a price range.
20. The server according to claim 14, wherein the calculation result includes
a price in response to the green degree assigned to a customer.
21. A method for indicating a status of supplied electric power to customers
from power generating facilities, comprising the steps of:
accepting request data from the customers and supplied electric power data from
the power generating facilities;
storing the request data, the supplied electric power data, and a green degree
that is a respectively predetermined coefficient for each of the power generating
facilities,
comparing the request data with the supplied electric power data and the green
degree corresponding to each of the power generating facilities;
calculating a green degree of each customer based on the comparison, and
outputting a result of calculating the data.
22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the outputting step comprises:
transmitting the calculation result to the customer.
23. The method according to claim 21, wherein the outputting step comprises:
transmitting the calculation result to a third party to authorize the result.
24. The method according to claim 23, further comprising a step of:
distributing an authorization to the customer from the third party.
25. The method according to claim 21, further comprising steps of:
transmitting to a power generating facility a request for electric power supplied
therefrom based on a comparison between supplied electric power and demand of customers.
26. The method according to claim 21, wherein the supplied electric power data
from a power generating facility includes a price range.
27. The method according to claim 21, wherein the calculation result includes
a price in response to the green degree for a customer.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply system and, more particularly,
to a system and method which enable customers to select different types of power suppliers.
2. Background Art
A related art system which pertains to supplying power to customers on the basis
of the conditions desired by the customers is described in Japanese Laid-Open No.
78747/2000, which is entitled "POWER COMPANY SELECTING METHOD AND SELECTION SUPPORT SYSTEM".
This related art pertains to the case in which different power companies have
different charge systems, and enables a customer to select different contract conditions
from each power company according to the conditions desired by the customer. It
also presents a combination of the selected contract conditions to the customer.
However, this related art only provides customers with a selection method
which merely takes the price of power into account. Electric energy is indispensable
to the development of industries and human life, and in particular, the energy
required to generate electricity is ideally generated from sources which are essentially
inexhaustible and as friendly as possible to the environment.
Examples of such environmentally friendly energy are sunlight, wind power,
small-scale water power using no dam, biomass (biological resources) such as wood
chips, straw, excretions of livestock, geothermal heat transmitted from magma lying
deeply beneath the earth's surface, waste heat utilization at factories or the
like, and waste such as burnt refuse.
On the other hand, fossil fuels, such as petroleum, coal and natural gas, and
uranium are exhaustible resources which will be completely consumed in the future.
In addition, burning fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide (CO2) which seems to be
the cause of global warming. Nuclear energy leaves radioactive wastes which are
required to be treated with high reliability. Large-scale water power generation
needs to build dams which are liable to destroy their surrounding ecological systems.
The primary source of the above-described biomass is wood. Burning wood produces
CO
2, but living wood absorbs CO
2 during photosynthesis. If
trees are planted in place of burnt trees so as to maintain the area of a forest,
it is possible to maintain the proportion of CO
2 in the atmosphere.
Accordingly, wood is a so-called green power generation energy which does not cause
the problems of global environmental loads and the exhaustion of resources.
As described above, even the case of generating the same amount of power greatly
differs in its influence on the environment and in the extent of exhaustion of
global resources according to the kind of energy required for the power generation.
Customers have heretofore been unable to know the extent of the influences
of powers supplied to the customers on global environmental loads, i.e., the amount
of emission of CO
2 which is based on the difference between the kinds
of energy sources required for power generation, as well as the extent of exhaustion
of energy sources. In other words, customers' attempts at reducing global environmental
loads have so far been limited to only the method of reducing electric power usage
through energy saving, and customers have had few specific choices as to how they
can actually promote the conservation of the beautiful earth.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention solves the above-described problems and provides a power
supply system and a power supply method both of which enable customers to consume
power and maintain economic activities while taking into account environmental
loads and the exhaustion of resources.
The present invention provides an arrangement which includes: a power supply
request acceptance part which accepts from a customer a request for a power generation
facility to supply power to the customer, the power generation facility using a
power generation energy which is small in global environmental load and does not
lead to serious exhaustion of resources; a storage-of-power-supply-content requesting
part which stores the state of power supply from each power generation facility;
a green degree calculating part which determines the proportion of power which
is, in response to the request, supplied from the power generation facility using
a power generation energy which is small in global environmental load and does
not lead to serious exhaustion of resources, in power supplied to the customer
according to the state of power supply from each power generation facility; and
a green-degree notification part which notifies the customer or a third party of
the proportion of the power which is supplied from the power generation facility
providing a power generation energy which is small in global environmental load
and which does not lead to serious exhaustion of resources, in the power used by
the customer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will become more readily appreciated and understood from
the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention
when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a green power supply system which shows the
connection of such a system to both power generation facilities and customers;
FIG. 2 is a detailed explanatory view of a first embodiment of a green power
supply system in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a system, showing another embodiment of a green
power supply system of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a system, showing still another embodiment
of a green power supply system of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a system, showing yet another embodiment of
a green power supply system of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a green power supply system of the present
invention, showing the flow of information and a method thereof;
FIG. 7 is a view showing one example of a picture which presents power supply
contents from which customers can make a selection;
FIG. 8(
a) shows a table listing a plurality of power generating
facilities using different energy sources, with assigned "green degrees";
FIG. 8(
b) is a graph showing the percentage of power generated
by the listed facilities based on their respective energy sources; and
FIG. 8(
c) is a graph showing the relative percentage of each facility
in terms of the value of the green degree for each facility multiplied by its generated power.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Preferred embodiments of a green power supply system and a green power
supply method according to the present invention will be described below in detail
with reference to the drawings
One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference
to FIGS. 1 and 2. Representative examples of power generation energy sources to
be used in power generation facilities are sunlight, wind power, tidal power, small-scale
water power using no dam, biomass (biological resources), geothermal heat, waste
heat utilization, waste such as burnt refuse, fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal
and natural gas, and uranium. These examples have different influences on global
environmental loads as well as different potentials for preventing the exhaustion
of resources.
Reference numerals
100a,
100b,
100c
and
100d denote power generation facilities which respectively
use sunlight, wind power, fossil fuel and uranium fuel which are representative
examples of power generation energy sources to be used in power generation facilities
100. Energy sources to be used in the present invention need not necessarily
be limited to these fuels.
Generated power is transmitted from the respective power generation facilities
100 to a transmission and distribution system
300 through power generation
facility transmission lines
200, and passes through the transmission and
distribution system
300. Then, the generated power is transmitted to customers
A to D, i.e.,
500a,
500b,
500c and
500d
through customer's distribution lines
400, respectively. The number
of customers is not particularly limited to the above-described example, although
the present system is designed for use with a plurality of customers.
In FIG. 1, for the sake of simplicity, only the transmission line connected between
the transmission and distribution system
300 and the power generation facility
100a and the distribution line connected between the transmission
and distribution system
300 and the customer
500a are representatively
denoted by reference numerals
200 and
400, respectively, but there
actually are provided individual transmission lines and distribution lines, as shown.
There are also provided metering devices
110a to
110d
capable of metering the electric powers generated by the respective power generation
facilities
100a to
100d and metering devices
510a
to
510d capable of metering the electric power consumed by the
respective customers
500a to
500d. A generated power
metering system
120 is provided for communicating information from the power
generation facilities
100a to
100d, while a consumed
power metering system
530 is provided for communicating information from
the customers
500a to
500d. The communication methods
for the generated power metering system
120 and the consumed power metering
system
530 are not particularly limited to the above-described example,
and may be wired or wireless, or may make use of leased circuits or Internet lines
or any other method that enables communication of information.
As shown in FIG. 1, a green power supply system
1a according to
the present invention includes a power supply request acceptance part
630,
a storage-of-power-supply-content requesting part
610, a green degree calculation
part
620, and a customer-directed green-degree notification part
640.
As shown in FIG. 2, the storage-of-power-supply-content requesting part
610
is made of a power content storage part
610a, a request power amount
determining part
610b and a power supply requesting part
610c.
The green degree calculation part
620 has a generated power acceptance
part
620a connected to the generated power metering system
120,
and a power consumption acceptance part
620b connected to the consumed
power metering system
530. A green degree determining part
620c
is connected to each of the generated power acceptance part
620a
and the power consumption acceptance part
620b, and serves to
determine the electric power generated by each of the power generation facilities
100 and the power consumption used by each of the customers
500.
Each of the customers
500a to
500d can request the
green power supply system
1a of the first embodiment to selectively
supply power from the power generation facilities
100 in terms of their
influences on global environmental loads for each power generation energy source.
The power supply request is accepted by the power supply request acceptance part
630 via a customer information route
520.
In the meantime, the power supply contents of the respective power generation
facilities
100a to
100d that are transmitted via a
power generation facility information route
130 are always stored in a power
content storage part
610a of the storage-of-power-supply-content
requesting part
610 together with the contents of power supply requests
from the customers. The request power amount determining part
610b compares
the power supply contents and the contents of power supply requests which are stored
in the power content storage part
610a, and determines the electric
power to be supplied to the respective power generation facility transmission lines
200, so that the difference between the supply and demand of power is consistently
kept in a predetermined range. On the basis of the decision of the request power
amount determining part
610b, the power supply requesting part
610c
successively requests each of the power generation facilities
100a
to
100d to generate power.
The mutual communication of information between each of power generation facilities
100a to
100d and the green power supply system
1a
is carried out via the power generation facility information route
130.
The communication method for the power generation facility information route
130
is not limited to a particular method such as a wired or wireless method or the
utilization of leased circuits or Internet lines.
The amounts of electric power which pass through the respective power generation
facility transmission lines
200 are metered by the respective metering devices
110a to
110d, while the amounts of electric power which
pass through the customer's distribution lines
400 are metered by the respective
metering devices
510a to
510d. The amounts of electric,
power metered by the respective metering devices
110a to
110d
are accepted by the generated power acceptance part
620a, and
the electric powers metered by the respective metering devices
510a to
510d are accepted by the power consumption acceptance part
620b.
The green degree determining part
620c calculates a green degree
relative to the power supplied and to be supplied to the respective customers,
on the basis of the electric power transmitted to the green degree calculation
part
620 and output information transmitted via the power generation facility
information route
130 and outputted from the storage-of-power-supply-content
requesting part
610, as well as customer information.
If the output information from the storage-of-power-supply-content requesting
part
610 contains the detailed kinds of power generation energy sources
for the respective power generation facilities, for example, if the power generation
facilities utilize fossil fuels, the composition or the like of a material which
is the cause of the environmental load is useful in determining the green degree.
The term "green degree", as used in the present description, denotes an index,
or a scale, representative of influences to be exerted on environmental loads and
the exhaustion of resources on the basis of the proportion of power generated from
a power generation facility which is small in global environmental load.
Thus, a green degree is a respectively predetermined coefficient assigned to
a given power generating facility based on the environmental impact of the energy
source used by the power generating facility, compared with environmental impact
and the proportion of total power generated by another power generation facility
which is small in terms of global environmental load. With respect to the scale
of the green degree, it is preferably considered on the basis of the influence
of a particular facility on the environment around that particular facility.
An example of the relationship of the green degree of a given facility to the
proportion of power generated by the facility relative to total generated power
of a number of facilities is provided in FIGS.
8(
a)-
8(
c).
FIG.
8(
a) is a table listing a plurality of power generating facilities
using different energy sources, the assigned "green degrees", the power each facility
is capable of generating and a value of the green degree multiplied by the generated
power (i.e., weighted green degree), which can provide a more useful value simply
the green degree itself. FIG.
8(
b) is a graph showing the percentage
of power generated by the listed facilities based on their respective energy sources.
FIG.
8(
c) is a graph showing the relative percentage of each facility
in terms of the value of the green degree for each facility multiplied by its generated power.
In studying FIGS.
8(
a)-
8(
c), it can be seen that
the
green degree assigned to each of the respective power sources is a predetermined
coefficient representative of the environmental impact of each of the sources (in
terms of global environmental load and exhaustion of resources) without regard
to the particular effectiveness of the given power source in terms of actually
generated power. Thus, wind has a much higher green degree of 100 compared with
conventional thermal sources which have a very low green degree of 1. However,
wind is much less effective as a source of electric power. Accordingly, the actual
"green degree" to be provided to customers, and to third parties, is preferably
adjusted for the effectiveness of any given energy source in generating electric power.
To this end, the last column of FIG.
8(
a) provides a value of "green
degree*power" or, in other words, a weighted green degree that gives a more realistic
view to consumers and third parties. These values give a relative figure that includes
not only the absolute impact on environment, but also the relative effectiveness
of a given source in meeting the essential need for electric power. FIG.
8(
c)
shows percentage relationships that can be generated from the product of "green
degree*power". These percentage values can then be used to provide more useful
"green degrees" to customers and third parties than the green degree by itself
so that evaluations can be made, as will be discussed later in this description.
What a customer, or a third party, is preferably informed of as a green degree
is "an electric power green degree" that is calculated based mainly on supplied
electric power transferred from each power generating facility. Such an electric
power green degree cannot be calculated as a linear function. In a given moment,
an absolute value of a sum total of multiplying respective green degrees by the
generated power from a plurality of facilities will be fixed. This absolute value,
however, is not necessarily adequate to calculate each electric power green degree
is response to each request from customers.
To calculate an electric power green degree for each customer requested power
supply including electric power generated at a facility having a small environmental
load, it is preferable to compare a "requested" value of a sum total of multiplying
requested green degrees from each customer for consuming electric power with a
"real" value of a sum total of multiplying green degrees by generated power from
each generating facility, and adjust each electric power green degree in response
to requested electric power green degree to be even for each green degree. Such
an adjustment uses statistical calculations.
In summary, it can be seen that the term "green degree" is a relative term that
can have different meanings or values depending on the exact factors that one decides
to use. In its simplest form, "green degree" can be a simple assigned value, such
as shown in the second column in FIG.
8(
a). This green degree is
simply a predetermined coefficient to indicate the environmental impact of any
given power source relative to other power sources. However, a more sophisticated
form of green degree can be produced based on the overall effectiveness of any
given power source relative to other power sources in terms of producing electric
power. In the present application, it is not intended to limit the term "green
degree" to a particular calculation for determining the green degree. Instead,
the present invention is directed to taking the values of green degree calculated
in a consistent manner between a plurality of power sources and using these calculated
values of green degree to establish a relative rating between power generation
facilities and customers using these power generation facilities, to enable evaluations
to be made both by the customers and third parties in accordance with discussions
set forth later in the present specification. It is also noted that, although FIG.
8(
a) shows only positive values for green degree, it is possible
to assign negative values, if desired.
Then, the customer-directed green-degree notification part
640 notifies
each of the customers
500a to
500d of their own green
degree. This notification may contain not only the green degree of the power consumed
by each of the customers
500a to
500d but also the
contents of a customer's request, the contents of a customer's schedule and the
contents of customer's past results. This notification is carried out via the customer
information route
520.
In this embodiment, each of the customers
500a to
500d
can select a power source which takes into account, in addition to the necessary
electric power, environmental loads to be required for power generation and influences
on the exhaustion of resources, i.e., the power generation facilities or a green
degree which is determined according to each of the power generation facilities
or the power generation facility. Moreover, since each of the customers
500a
to
500d can know, in addition to its own consumed electric power,
the green degree of the power, it is possible to realize the customer's contribution
to the conservation of the beautiful earth. In addition, if the green power supply
system according to the present invention is spread over the whole world, it is
possible to yield the advantages of global environmental conservation and prevention
of the exhaustion of resources.
A green power supply system
1b which is another embodiment of the
present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
3. The
green degree determined by the green degree determining part
620c in
the green degree calculation part
620 is made open to third parties
900
(
900a to
900c) via the Internet
800 by a third-party-directed
green-degree notification part
680.
In this embodiment, in addition to notifying a customer of the green degree,
the
green degree of power consumed by the customer can be made open to a third party
that is directly related to the economic activities of the customer, for example,
a customer of a product yielded by the customer.
In general, the cost of generation of power using a power generation energy source
which is friendly to nature and small in environmental load is so high as to hinder
the spreading of such power generation energy source. In this embodiment, by utilizing
the Internet
800, it is possible to present a customer's attitude toward
the prevention of environmental degradation and the exhaustion of resources to
another customer of a product yielded by the customer. Such an attitude can be
reflected as an increase in the number of products to be purchased by each customer
as well as green extra prices, so that it is possible to yield the advantage of
maintaining the continuation of the economic activities of the customer. According
to this embodiment, it is possible to realize a selection method which enables
not only customers but third-party customers to contribute to a reduction in environmental
load and the prevention of the exhaustion of resources.
A green power supply system
1c which is another embodiment of the
present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 4. A green power
authentication determining part
660 performs authentication of green power
on the basis of the green degree determined by the green degree determining part
620c in the green degree calculation part
620. The result
of the authentication is made open to third-parties
900 (
900a
to
900c) via the Internet
800 and to the customers
500
via the customer information route
520 by a green degree authentication
information notification part
670.
In this embodiment, the green power authentication determining part
660
is arranged in the green power supply system
1c, but it may be provided
in a third party, for example, a public organization. In this case, this embodiment
also includes an arrangement in which a green power authentication application
part and a green power authentication acceptance part are provided in the public organization.
The present invention further includes an embodiment provided with a part which
transmits to the power generation facilities
100 the green information obtained
in the green degree determining part
620c or the green power authentication
determining part
660 or a part which makes the green information open to
third parties via the Internet. Accordingly, if a power generation facility is
provided with an indication representative of the degree of effort which are made
at reducing environmental loads and preventing the exhaustion of resources, or
if such information made open to third parties, it is possible to establish public
relations with local residents and promote coexistence with society.
In addition, in the green power supply system according to the present invention,
power generation facilities and customers can perform objective evaluation on the
basis of authentication information on the degree of effort at reducing environmental
loads and preventing the exhaustion of resources, and can also quantify the effect
of such efforts. Accordingly, the power generation facilities and the customers
can specifically contribute to activities for creating, enforcing, achieving, reviewing
and maintaining the environmental policy of an organization on the basis of the
IS014000 series.
In addition, if products are labeled with indications of their green degrees
or
their green power authentication information, customers that are third parties
can select and purchase green products, whereby it is possible to yield the advantage
that the customers can contribute to a reduction in environmental load and the
prevention of the exhaustion of resources.
A green power supply system
1d which is another embodiment of the
present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
5. The
green degree determined by the green degree determining part
620c,
information on power generation facilities and customers, and power consumption
information are sent to a third-party organization, for example, the government
or a local public body, thereby making application for a green power subsidy. In
a system which allows partial exemption from taxation, the power supply request
acceptance part
630 accepts the information required for tax exemption for
each customer, such as the incomes or the contents of tax payment of the customers,
and sends the information to the above-described third-party organization. On the
basis of subsidy information and customer's power consumption information which
are sent from the third-party organ, a customer-directed energy charge notification
part
650 determines individual energy charges and notifies the respective
customers
500 of the contents of their energy charges via the customer information
route
520. In this embodiment, it is possible to provide each of the customers
500 with a direct economic support, i.e., energy charge discount services,
whereby it is possible to yield the advantage of accelerating the spreading of
the green power supply system. Incidentally, if the present invention is to be
realized, it is necessary to stably supply power in terms of frequency, voltage
and the rate of occurrence of higher harmonics. For example, the art of the power
supply control apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 308771/1999,
which is hereby incorporated by reference, can be used as an art for that purpose.
Although the green power supply system according to the present invention does
not include a power generation facility, a private power generation facility may
be included in the present invention. Moreover, the present invention includes
a service providing part which enables purchases and sales of the best mix of the
amount of green power required for each season or for each time zone and the green
degree and price of the green power by using the Internet for the purposes of communication
of information among power generation facilities and customers.
An embodiment of a green power supply method according to the present invention
will be described below in detail with reference to FIG.
6. There exist
plural power generation facilities having different power generation energies and
plural customers that desire power. The powers generated by these power generation
facilities pass through transmission lines provided for the respective power generation
facilities, and then pass through a transmission and distribution system subsequently,
the powers are supplied to the respective power generation facilities through customer's
distribution lines, and the electric power for each of the power generation facilities
and customer facilities is metered. In this case, in order to realize stable supply
of electric power by maintaining the quality of power to prevent malfunctions of
electrical appliances or the like due to decreases in voltage or power stoppages,
the amount of power to be generated is controlled so that the total amount of supplied
power ((the electric power generated by the power generation facilities)-(the power
loss in the transmission and distribution system)) per predetermined unit time
(e.g., per 30 minutes) can be maintained within a constant proportion (normally,
approximately ±2%) in the total amount of electric power consumed by the customers.
In this embodiment as well, stable supply to the customers is the highest priority.
The customers desire a supply of power which is small in global environmental load
during power generation and has a low price. However, the cost of generating clean
power is generally high, and the utilization of energy present in the world of
nature involves the disadvantage of unstable supply. The power generation facilities
accept from each of the customers at intervals of a predetermined constant time
a power supply request inclusive of the proportion of the power consumption per
consumption season or time zone to global environmental loads, i.e., the green
degree and price of power.
In this case, power supply requests need to be communicated frequently and, furthermore,
information such as green degree and charge needs to be bidirectionally communicated
approximately in real time, and a huge number of customers are regionally dispersed.
Accordingly, as in the case of the communications between each of the power generation
facilities and the green power supply system, it is inexpensive and useful to adopt
a method which utilizes the Internet. Incidentally, in the case of the utilization
of the Internet in particular, it is possible to realize security protection such
as the prevention of leakage of information, by a known art which implements a
contrivance of an authentication method or installation of a fire wall. In the
following description, for the sake of simplicity, reference will not be made to
methods which can be realized by such known art, such as a computer activation
method and an authentication method to be carried out during the use of the Internet.
In the case of power generation which utilizes natural energy such as wind power
or sunlight as its power generation energy, the natural energy exists nearly inexhaustibly
on a global scale, but has the disadvantage of finding it impossible to continue
stable power generation all the year around at a local level. In addition, different
power generation energies have different power generation costs. For these reasons,
selection menus in each of which electric powers, prices and green degrees for
each time zone are combined are open to power generation facilities and customers
(
1) (
2) (In FIG. 6, (1) and (2); the following numbers similarly
correspond to those shown in FIG. 6, respectively).
A method of making the selection menus open on the Internet is suitable as a
method
of realizing the above-described step. FIG. 7 shows one example of a picture to
be presented to the customers. The circular graph shown in the center of FIG. 7
represents the proportion of powers to be generated by the respective power generation
facilities tabulated on the left side of the circular graph. The contents of a
proposal as to the proportion of powers are changed each time a plan is newly selected.
A time zone can be selected from the time chart displayed at the bottom of the
picture. A charge estimated on the basis of the proposal and a green degree predicted
from this proposal are displayed on the right side of the circular graph.
Power generation information is sent from each of the power generation facilities
every season and for every time zone. The power generation information contains
the detailed kind of power generation energy which serves as a fuel, for example,
the amount of exhaustion of CO
2 per unit output, the amount of electric
power which can be supplied, an allowable price range, and the name of the power
generation facility (
3). Similar request information is sent from each of
the customers (
4).
The green power supply system compares the power supply contents and the power
supply request contents nearly in real time and determines at intervals of a predetermined
time (for example, 30 minutes) the amount of power to be supplied to power-generation-facility
transmission lines so that the difference between the supply and demand of the
power is consistently kept in a predetermined range. The green power supply system
successively requests power generation from each of the power generation facilities
(
5). Incidentally, since stable supply of power to the customers is the
highest priority, there is a case where a customer cannot always be supplied with
power having a green degree desired by the customer. Accordingly, each time the
green power supply system determines a request power amount for each of the power
generation facilities, the green power supply system notifies a corresponding customer
of the green degree and price of power to be supplied to the customer together
with the request contents from the customer itself (
6).
One example of a procedure for consistently keeping the difference between supply
and demand in a predetermined range will be described below. In the following description,
for the sake of convenience, the power loss in a transmission and distribution
system is considered to be zero.
In the following description, the amount of power generated by each power generation
facility and the green degree of the power are defined as WPi and BPi, respectively,
and the power consumption of each customer and its green degree are defined as
WCj and BCj, respectively. In addition, regarding an allowable difference between
demand and supply, the rates of the upper and lower limits of the power difference
are defined as (1-Wβ) and (1+Wα), respectively, and the rates of the
upper limit and the lower limit of such green degrees are defined as (1-Bβ)
and (1+Bα), respectively. Consequently, the total amount of power generated
is expressed as the sum of the electric powers generated by the respective power
generation facilities, i.e., the total amount of power generated=ΣWPi. Similarly,
the total amount of power demand is expressed as the total amount of power demand=ΣWCi.
In addition, the sum of the products of the electric powers generated by the
respective
power generation facilities and their green degrees is expressed as the total power
generation green amount, ΣWPi*BPi Similarly, the total power demand green
amount can be expressed as ΣWCi*BCj. One example of the procedure will be
described below. Incidentally, a procedure for providing allowable price ranges
for the respective customer side and power generation facility side is omitted
in the following description. The whole of these procedures is sequentially carried
out at intervals of approximately 30 minutes.
(1) When Expression (1A) and Expression (1B) are satisfied at the same time,
if the electric power and the total green amount are within their respective allowable
ranges, the green power supply system requests each of the power generation facilities
to generate power by its accepted amount, and each of the customers sends the required
amount of electric power and the green degree thereof:
(2) When Expression (1A) and Expression (1C) or Expression (1A) and Expression
(1D) are satisfied at the same time, if the electric power is within its allowable
range but the total green amount is greater than the upper limit of its allowable
range, the green power supply system reviews the request power amount for each
of the power generation facilities in terms of the price of power and requests
the power generation facilities to generate power according to the result of the
review, so that Expression (1B) is satisfied:
(3) When Expression (2A) is satisfied, the green power supply system regards
the stable supply of power as the highest priority, and requests each of the power
generation facilities to increase the amount of power generation so that Expression
(1A) is satisfied. In this case, the green power supply system makes a selection
so that Expression (1B) is satisfied as fully as possible, and sends the resultant
electric power and green degree to each of the customers together with the request
contents from the customer itself:
(4) When Expression (3A) is satisfied, the green power supply system requests
each of the power generation facilities to decrease the amount of power generation
so that Expression (1A) is satisfied as fully as possible. In this case, the green
power supply system makes a selection so that Expression (1B) is satisfied as fully
as possible, and sends the resultant electric power and green degree to each of
the customers together with the request contents from the customer itself:
On the other hand, the green power supply system successively calculates the
green
degree of power supplied to each of the customers and that of power to be supplied
to the same, on the basis of the result (
7) of electric power supplied to
the transmission and distribution system by each of the power generation facilities,
the result (
8) of electric power consumed by each of the customers, the
detailed kind of power generation energy for each of the power generation facilities,
and customer information. At the same time, the green power supply system notifies
the calculated green degrees to each of the customers together with the request
contents from the consumer itself (
9). Moreover, in accordance with requests
(
10) (
11) from the power generation facilities and the customers,
the green power supply system extracts and executes green authentication of particular
power generation facilities or customers which have succeeded in yielding remarkable
advantages from the point of view of a reduction in environmental load, in terms
of the cumulative value of the green degree of each of the power generation facilities
and the customers, the green power generation activities of the power generation
facilities, the green power consumption activities of the customers, the yielding
of products using green power, and the activities of the power generation facilities
or the customers at individual stages of recycling of products. It is also suitable
to adopt a method of requesting an authentication organization to execute such
green authentication on behalf of the green power supply system. The green degrees
as well as green authentication information obtained from the granting of the green
authentication by the authentication organization (
15) are also made open
to third parties, inclusive of the power generation facilities and the customers
(
16), via the Internet in response to the requests of the power generation
facilities and the customers (
13) (
14). In addition, the power generation
facilities or the customers label products with the green degrees and the green
power authentication information.
Since the resultant green products yielded by such a customer are made open
to its customers (
16), the customer can present its attitude toward the
prevention of environmental degradation and the exhaustion of resources to customers
of a product yielded by the customer, whereby the number of products to be purchased
by each customer (
17) increases and the prices of the products can be increased
according to the green degrees thereof. This leads to the advantage that it is
possible to realize environmental conservation while maintaining the continuation
of the economic activities of the customers. In addition, since customers can selectively
purchase green products, they can have the opportunities of contributing to reductions
in environmental loads and the prevention of the exhaustion of resources. To promote
generation and purchase of green power, subsidies and tax reductions are provided
by the government or local public bodies. Since a substitutional service for making
application for a subsidy and a substitutional service for making application for
a tax reduction are based on approximately the same method, an embodiment will
be described below with reference to an example of the substitutional service for
making application for a subsidy. In response to the request (
18) or (19)
of a power generation facility and a customer, the green power supply system makes
application to a subsidy providing organization for a subsidy on behalf of the
power generation facility or the customer (
20), on the basis of the green
degree or the green authentication information of the same. Subsequently, the subsidy
is paid to the green power supply system (
21), and the green power supply
system takes into account this subsidy and pays a charge to the power generation
facility (
22) and requests the customer to pay a charge (
23), and
the customer pays the charge (
24). Accordingly, the green power supply system
can yield the advantage of being able to contribute to, a reduction in environmental
load and the prevention of the exhaustion of resources while enjoying economic
merits in every class of power generation facilities, customers and product consumers.
Incidentally, although not shown in FIG. 6, when the green power supply system
requests the authentication organization to perform authentication, charging and
payment are carried out.
Within the scope of each of the green power supply system and the green power
supply method according to the present invention, by completely using the Internet
as an information communication part, it is possible to realize a green power market
intended for customers such as a large number of unspecified consumers utilizing
small amounts of powers as well as world-scale power generation facilities, whereby
the present invention can contribute to environmental conservation and the prevention
of the exhaustion of resources on a global scale.
Accordingly, it is possible to provide a system and a method each of
which is capable of compatibly reducing environmental loads and maintaining the
continuation of economic activities.
The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from
the spirit or essential characteristic thereof. The present embodiments are therefore
to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.
*
