Energy Storage Tech Oozes Ahead

Sometimes I like to take a breather and set pure Smart Grid security to the side for a moment, and look at some of the new technologies being developed that may have a significant impact on what the grid of the future looks like.

Living just across the Charles River from the MIT campus, I've been lucky to have great access to lots of early energy tech breakthroughs and announcements. While this most recent one, a radical revision to the flow battery concept, is still too early in its development to know whether it can ultimately prove commercial viability, it sure is thought provoking.

For me, electric vehicle adoption and grid-scale energy storage are two of the biggest drivers of the future Smart Grid that supports a higher percentage of renewables (centralized and distributed) in its generation portfolio. And of course, as we always say, the more we build it, the more 2-way comms, intelligent devices and sensors we add, the more we come to enjoy its many new capabilities, the more we've got to make sure it's secure.

Here's a nice light intro to the goo-based battery from Discovery Tech that focuses on the EV potential, while CNET gives you a bit more technical detail and points to grid applications as well.

Photo credit: Lunchbox Photography on Flickr.com

Get Ready, Grid - First Wave of Volts Being Born

Lovingly hand-assembled one at a time like a Phantom?  Uhhh, no.  The Volt manufacturing process seems to draw more from Tron than from Rolls Royce. Check it great video HERE.

So GM has invested big time in being able to create a large number of Volts fast. Good thing, because GE recently committed to buying 12,000 Volts next year, and sales are just beginning in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, Texas, Washington, D.C., and Michigan.

I've always felt that the huge efforts to accelerate the arrival of the Smart Grid at residences was a case of too much spending for too little benefit, and that the prospect of trimming 5-15% off their home electric bill would not be a sufficient motivator for the majority of Americans to change their behaviors

But electric vehicles (EVs) like the Tesla Model S and Nissan Leaf, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) like the Chevy Volt, depending on their rate of adoption, may have me revising that opinion. You see, while they are charging, each of these cars draws the electricity of another entire house (or more). That's enough electricity use to make savings more desirable, and enough additional demand to prompt utilities to closely monitor which neighborhoods are adding EVs the fastest, so as to avoid overloading local transformers through preemptive, targeted upgrades.

Let the good times roll. Oh, and this just in via a sharp-eyed colleague and worth your time: Why Electric Cars will Drive the Smart Grid.

Photo credit: Betsy Weber on Flickr.com

Cyber Security Car Talk

Though I'm writing you from the land of Click and Clack, this piece is about a topic you'll probably not hear covered on their show. CNET journalist Elinor Mills, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the first Smart Grid Cyber Security Summit in San Jose in August, recently keyed: "Cars, the next hacking frontier." And as electric cars (and cars in general) have been on my mind lately, this really caught my eye.

As we've noted in previous posts, there are some surprising similarities in the ways previously isolated systems are being (often wirelessly) connected in the electric and automotive sectors. For most consumers, computers + code + communications = fun. But for security watchdogs, these same elements = trouble. And ultimately, cars and the grid will marry (and their coupling will produce precocious new security challenges) in a space industry calls V2G - meaning Vehicle-to-Grid.

Elinor links to an earlier CNET article of hers, "Hacking a Car", in which Stefan Savage of UC San Diego invokes history to make the connection:

If you look at PCs in the early 1990s, they had all kinds of latent software vulnerabilities. It didn't matter so much because PCs were at home and not connected to everything else. Then they were connected to the Internet and the latent vulnerabilities were exposed to outside attack. We see cars moving in much the same direction. There is a strong trend to provide pervasive connectivity in cars going forward. It would be good to start working on hardening these systems and providing defenses before it becomes a real problem.

And so it begins. I've begun research for a white paper on vehicle and V2G cyber security which I will try to have ready in early 2011, if not before 2010 is through. What's the motivation?  Here's how one gloomy CNET commenter cast it:

Someday the cyber terrorists will strike, locking everyone into their cars and disabling the engines, thus ensuring a swift and bloodless invasion of the United States. Then it will be up to the Amish to defend the country. We is doomed ..." 

I beg to disagree on three counts:

1. The Amish are tougher than you think.  See this short clip on Amish Rake Fighting
2. Bikers are even tougher than the Amish, and they won't be locked out
3. We're going to figure the security angles out up front and make sure cars remain as safe or safer than they are today -- though I'm not sure how safe that is

Photo credit: TechnaBob.com

Blazing EV and V2G Trails at the Texas State Fair 2010

You know we try to keep it calm here, but what an incredible experience I just had !!!  Just returned from a week in the Lone Star State speaking in Dallas and Houston, then back to Dallas again, the second time for the Electric Vehicle (EV) Showcase just around the corner from Big Tex. Man, was it worth the flight back to Love Field, and not just for the fried butter and fried beer.

On the first day I got to meet spokes-model (and true product expert) Alicia, then take the Volt (they had three on hand) for a spin on a curvy test track. I loved the way it looked, sounded and handled. A well-informed Chevrolet-rep named Brian gave me plenty of good details before during and after the drive, and I felt that many others like me will feel comfortable welcoming this car, that on most days will consume no gasoline, into their lives.

Now's here's a few details from the Executive Panel on day two to give you a broader look at what's going on behind the scenes to pave the way for this (plug-in hybrid) electric car and others like it. A panel moderated by Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) chairman Barry Smitherman included leadership from GM, IBM, Texas transmission and distribution utility Oncor, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and construction firm Beck. Here are some highlights of what they discussed:

• EPRI is working three main focus areas at present: 1) understanding consumer attitudes and expectations re: EV's, 2) early preparation of EV charging infrastructure, and 3) ensuring adequate utility infrastructure, particularly distribution transformers
• Texas is one of the initial wave of seven states for Volt deliveries in late 2010, starting in Austin then fanning out from there. In 2011, expect to see Volts available for sale in all 50 states
• Oncor sees two critical EV roll-out success factors: 1) the practice of off-peak (night-time) charging, and 2) early (and I do mean early) notice to utility co's when an individual is considering the purchase of an EV
• IBM is all about the information layer surrounding EVs and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) infrastructure and is looking at it 3 ways: 1) knowing how much energy from renewable sources is available at any time, 2) how utilities can have access to enough right info to know how much they need to spend on infrastructure, and 3) market and business-related IT that helps consumers as much as possible, particularly enabling ease of use, as well as providing national standards running from the charging points to the cars to the utilities themselves
• To help move 18 Gigawatts of clean wind energy, the moderator noted that Texas is spending $5 billion to run high voltage transmission lines hundreds of miles from windy west Texas to its cities
• Here's one I hadn't thought of before ... it's kind of subtle. According to EPRI, range anxiety is eased by the presence of charging stations outside the home and business, whether EV drivers use them or not
• The electricity required to go a full 40 miles in a Volt costs about $1.10
• Finally, the best part from national security security as well as environmental/climate points of view: most Americans drive 20 or fewer miles per day. The great majority drive fewer than 40 miles on work days as well as weekends. When these folks drive Volts, they are going to be using gasoline only rarely. Think about what that means when the number of Volts, Volt 2.0's and other EVs hit the roads in the millions and tens of millions

In keeping with this blog's security focus, are there going to be cyber security issues with these software-centric, wireless-enabled cars running on rapidly assembled IT and OT networks?  You bet, and we'll get to those soon. But for the time being, just wanted to note that it's a privilege to be alive at this moment, watching so many talented, creative, energetic and caring people pull out all the stops to help change our world in ways it sorely needs.

And I'll leave you with this nugget from a sign you pass upon entering the incredible Cowtown Diner in downtown Forth Worth:

     Never ask a man if he's from Texas.
     If he is, he's most likely already told you.
     If he's not, there's no use in embarrassing him

Photo: Volt dashboard power display

An Early Glimpse of V2G in Texas ... and a Volt Test Track

State fairs are big. Texas is big. So the Texas state fair is a monster (see BigTex.com). This year's version has something big in the electric vehicles/V2G space, with an Electric Vehicle Showcase (EVS) on Thurs and Friday, Sep 23 & 24. Here are a few of the details from the site:

Auto Show: Witness the evolution into the next generation vehicle. Visit with companies, agencies, and municipalities involved in the development of the electric vehicle and infrastructure grid in North Texas in the adjacent exhibit area.

Exhibitors: DFW Clean Cities, North Central Texas Council of Governments, Oncor, TXU Energy, Green Mountain Energy, Chevy, Electric Vehicle North Texas, US Green Building Council North Texas Chapter, and others.

Chevy Ride and Drive Test Track: A unique opportunity to drive an Chevy Volt, activate the charging cycle, and learn how electric vehicles will not only be high performance, cost effective and convenient, but will also help air quality in North Texas.

Oncor Mobile Experience Center (MEC): The MEC will be on-site to demonstrate smart meter technology and give attendees a real-time look at managing electric usage that includes electric vehicle charging at home.

Location: Chevy Ride and Drive Test Track Pennsylvania Ave. Entrance - Gate 1

Sponsors: GM, Texas electric utility Oncor, IBM ...

You can mingle with executives from these and other companies at a VIP Reception Thursday evening. Tickets available HERE. And for more info on the EVS, click HERE.  I'll be there and hope you can make it too.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Car Companies and Utilities at the Dawn of the Smart Grid: Twins Separated at Birth?

Like fraternal twins separated at birth, these two seemingly unrelated and elderly sectors of the US economy have more in common than you might think. Both are poised for immense change as “Smart” technologies are completely re-writing the workflows and even the business models of these formerly static industries. One way to know they’ve haven’t changed much over the last century: their 2010 products would be instantly recognizable to their inventors (though this Shelby SuperCar might induce Henry Ford to do a double, or maybe a triple) take. Another thing they have in common is that they have viewed their customers’ usage data as primarily their own.

Some More Similarities

While both car companies and utilities manage their business functions with modern data centers and IT, it’s the OT that makes them their money. That’s operational technology, and for utilities OT refers to the infrastructure control system components that make the grid go: generators, power lines, transformers, substations, etc. The Smart Meters, currently being deployed and networked in the millions by many large-market utilities to enable remote trouble detection and billing, can also considered OT systems.

Internal Smart car systems behave less like data centers and more like control systems. On board performance monitoring and diagnostic computers and sensors, coupled with wireless communications systems, are beginning to allow car companies to detect and sometimes resolve problems without requiring that the car be brought into a garage for repair.

Similarly Siloed: Meter Rolls vs. Rolling Meters

Looking at the two platforms from a customer data perspective, the similarities are even stronger. Electricity usage data was the reason utility trucks ventured to homes and businesses across the country. Utilities had no other way of knowing how much electricity was used at a given address, and they needed that data to calculate how much they were owed. You could make a case that this usage data belonged to the utilities, or to the customers themselves, or both. And today, different states have different rules on this issue.

Prior to the advent of wireless car communications networks (e.g. GM’s OnStar, Ford’s Sync, Bluetooth, Wifi, etc.), automotive performance and diagnostic data remained in on board computers until technicians accessed them during visits to the repair shop. In-between regularly scheduled oil changes or check-ups, or without a break-down or crack-up, this data was out of reach. Now with communications enabled, daily access to this data is a new possibility. And as data on total electricity consumption and usage patterns in homes, the car companies clearly have rights, but the owner/drivers also have a stake as they own and operate the cars (especially if their identity is connected to the data).

But in both industries, there hasn’t previously been much thought given to the ownership or role of data in these scenarios. Or how that data might have value for new business lines or 3rd parties. Or how to protect that data in scenarios where multiple 3rd parties are allowed access.

Complexity

What cars and utilities shared in the past, even as they came to rely more and more on electronics, was that these systems were relatively simple, understandable, and isolated from the networks bad guys are known to frequent. The hardware and software in most OT systems are not familiar to most of us, as their functions are not related to web apps, productivity or back office management, but to control sensors, actuators and other types of real-time devices.

Trends over the past few years, however, indicate complexity and connectedness will soon rule both of these worlds. Note that current cars of the standard combustion engine variety now depend upon 200+ million lines of software code in applications from a variety of sources with dozens of interfaces. Once “dumb” disconnected meters are being replaced by Smart Meters - networked computers on the side of homes and buildings which communicate with utility systems as well as systems on the inside, like Home Area networks (HANs) and Smart appliances. And all over, IT and OT systems are increasingly being interconnected.

That’s only going to increase as we enter the Vehicle to Grid (V2G) and Smart Grid worlds, with individuals and new companies clamoring for ways to gain access to and open up these systems, access their data, and re-invigorate these previously stagnant sectors with innovative new technologies, capabilities and business models. Open standards (and advocacy campaigns like OpenOtto) will hasten the arrival of all of the above, but in both the power and the car worlds, the impulse to open up has been largely absent, at least until recently.

Security

Ah, we’ve saved the best for last. It’s been said before on this blog but it bears repeating: connecting systems that were once protected, in large part, by their isolation, creates many new vectors for attackers, and in general, many new ways to be insecure.

Designers of both Smart cars and Smart Meters share the objective that upgrades to software and firmware can be performed remotely, prolonging the lives, and increasing the flexibility, of these systems.

There are also use cases where the ability to remotely shut down meters or cars is highly desirable, and include, for utilities when they don’t get paid, or when a residence is changing owners or occupants; and for car companies, the ability to team with the police to stop car thieves and other criminals. These capabilities, like so much related to the Smart Grid, Smart Meters and Smart cars, open new pathways for attackers.

And the temptation to share customer usage data complicates both car and utilities’ thinking about their own data security measures. Ensuring proper data protections are in place in every entity that eventually has access, even with customer permission, is going to be a tough challenge. So let's get on it!

Photo credit: Bill Jacobus on Flickr.com

Do Androids Dream of Electric Cars?

Q: I'll repeat the question - Do androids dream of electric cars?

A: I don't know, but I do.

With apologies to the Philip K Dick novel that inspired Blade Runner's spinners (air cars), while they may not fly, the propulsion systems of mainstream automobiles are about to undergo a major transformation. Over the next few years our everyday vehicles are poised to make the leap from Popular Science to Car and Driver. But the implications for critical electrical infrastructure go far beyond quiet motors and cleaner air; the grid itself will transform to accommodate the new loads, and grid IT systems will be upgraded to take advantage of some exciting new grid management capabilities Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) will enable.

To whit, see the North American ISOs and RTO's "Assessment of Plug-in Electric Vehicle Integration with ISO/RTO Systems." Below are a couple of security related snippets from this report, but the whole thing makes exciting reading for anyone interested in building and/or using the energy future.

Recommended standard communication interfaces:

• DNP3
• ICCP or IEC 60870-6/TASE.2
• XML/HTTPS

Recommended encryption standards:

• Secure ICCP
• Secure DNP3; compliant with IEC 62351-5 for Secure Authentication
• HTTPS with digital certificates

The authors make it plain that there's a ton of work to be done and that these are just a few baby steps when they note:

In addition to the identified communication interfaces and security requirements (including standards in development for smart grid and the NERC CIP 002-009 Standards), there are other integration requirements either not covered or partially covered by existing standards or developing standards.

Jack and I will be beating a drum ... and watching ... to make sure software security requirements get prioritized. But from complex systems and business process engineering perspectives, not to mention the attention paid to interstate coordination and market signals:

Because PEVs are mobile loads, and because aggregators will serve as liaisons between PEVs and ISO/RTOs, consistency across ISO/RTOs is a concern. As such, standard processes, including validation and settlement processes, and common communication protocols, including security requirements and communication interfaces, are desirable. Therefore, the project team recommends continued participation by the IRC in ongoing standards development, such as with SAE, NIST, NAESB, IEC and IEEE. The project team also recommends ISO/RTO investments in IT and communications infrastructure to meet the unique needs of PEV resources and aggregators and ultimately to enhance system reliability and enable participation of PEV resources in ISO/RTO markets.

It may not be a moon shot, but the scale of this project, especially when as we go from hundreds, to hundreds of thousands, to many millions of electric cars, sometimes seems similar. Suffice it to say, keeping it all secure, while getting all the other parts right, will be a grand challenge.

Photo Credit: Tesla Model S at Industry.Bnet.com