Batteries May Vie With U.S. Oil Boom as Energy Changer

[bananas]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-06/batteries-may-vie-with-u-s-oil-boom-as-biggest-energy-changer.html

Batteries May Vie With U.S. Oil Boom as Energy Changer
By Bradley Olson and Mark Chediak 2014-03-06T07:21:16Z

The rapid development of rooftop solar and battery storage technology could be as transformative to the economy and modern life as the U.S. oil and gas boom, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said.

“It’s pretty dramatic,” Moniz said yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg News at the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston. “They are growing very, very fast.”

Batteries allow customers with solar panels to store energy during the day and then tap the excess overnight when the sun goes down. The widespread use of electric vehicles could reshape the development of cities, and applying the same battery storage technology to transform the U.S. energy system has “huge potential,” Moniz said.

Battery storage advances could threaten the 100-year-old monopoly utility business model that books about $360 billion in annual power sales. An increasing number of customers are reducing their dependence on the grid, turning to solar panels and battery storage as a way to reduce their bills.

“Storage is a huge deal,” Moniz said.

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[greatlaurel]

1. As long as the fossil fuel corps do not buy them up and shut them down.

This is a really big deal and could make a huge difference in the rapid switch to sustainable power.

[yurbud]

2. I hope the oil companies go the way of whale oil companies soon

[greatlaurel]

3. You got that right.

These corporations seem so all powerful, but they can be destroyed by consumers if we just stopped buying their products. They will go the way of the buggy whip and whale oil businesses. Personally, we have cut our fuel usage by more than half by switching to hybrid vehicles. What would happen if everyone who could afford it switched to hybrid and electric vehicles? The oil companies are terrified if we catch on that they are truly powerless to market forces. We consumers just need to wake up to how truly powerful we are.

In addition, they are terrified of our votes not our guns. That is why the big oil outfits are working through ALEC to suppress voting.

[Doctor_J]

4. They're going to need a lot of lobbying money

otherwise the whores in DC will make rooftop batteries illegal. I would bet the Cock brothers are already on this