I noted this exchange between Migeru and ATinNM about whether energy is a good (a "noun" / extensive) or a service (a "verb" / intensive)
To go back to AT's original question, I would say an extensive thermodynamical variable is a good, and an intensive variable is a service. Examples of goods: (Thermodynamic Free) Energy, (neg)-Entropy, Space/Size, (amount of) Matter, electrical charge/current, magnetic moment (i.e., strength of a magnet). Examples of services: Temperature, Pressure, surface/linear Tension, electrical Voltage, magnetic Field. Hah.
Examples of goods: (Thermodynamic Free) Energy, (neg)-Entropy, Space/Size, (amount of) Matter, electrical charge/current, magnetic moment (i.e., strength of a magnet).
Examples of services: Temperature, Pressure, surface/linear Tension, electrical Voltage, magnetic Field.
Hah.
First, in alternating current systems the underlying mathematics of the distribution system involves the use of complex variables, so it is difficult to point to a specific unit of energy and label it as one "unit" of electricity. This causes all sorts of headaches in commercial power pricing and grid design. Perhaps the message is to be careful not to take an overly simplistic model of the underlying electrical system technology when building an economic model.
Second, it seems to me that if there is going to be this huge change in the energy distribution system, perhaps some of the current assumptions might need significant review. For example, what is it that causes this need for a constant base load? Isn't it just the average of a number of household and commercial loads that all vary through the day, but average to a given "constant" demand? In that case, there may be a significant opportunity for demand management.
For example, how long can a fridge sit without power? Several hours at least. So if you have a wind-powered energy supply, and you have weather like we typically have here in Colorado, you could simply not run fridges during the morning when the wind is calm.
Or, why does everybody have to go to work at 8:00 in the morning? On a day-to-day basis, depending on the availability of supply, cannot our society figure out how to have flexible work schedules that change depending on the short-term availability of electricity? We already do this for snowstorms, with "snow day" phone tree activation at insanely early hours in the morning...
