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Distributed Energy - A Global Review

Posted December 6th, 2007 by kes
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I am conducting research on Distributed Energy (DE) as part of my ENVERA exchange at Melbourne University in Australia.

DE is commonly understood as small and medium scale technologies that generate electricity (and possibly heat). The term is often used to describe energy generated by units that are close to the location of use (but they can also feed into the grid). Examples include solar hot water heaters or wind turbines.

DE has also been called on-site generation, dispersed generation, embedded generation, decentralized generation, decentralized energy or micro-generation.

The purpose of my work is to conduct a review of developments on DE globally, particularly in Europe and the USA (such as California). Any help on good documents, studies or websites that relate to the questions below would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Business intelligence - what are the market trends for DE?
Public acceptance - what are the key issues affecting the implementation of DE for the public and politicians?
Policy instruments - what policies and programs are at the forefront of promoting DE?

A final question - How does DE "fit" with strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance energy security?

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