It sounds sci-fi but it really isn’t.  Los Alamos National Labs (LANL) announced that it has successfully demonstrated quantum cryptography, using a single photon to generate secure random numbers between devices.  LANL successfully tested this quantum crypto transmitter against an electric grid test bed.  (Perhaps the bigger surprise is that someone is actually developing a security solution not aimed at social networking.)

According to the press release, this marks “the first-ever demonstration of securing control data for electric grids using quantum cryptography.”  That gives me a mild case of heartburn:  cryptography is one method of protecting data, but to say that any cryptography on its own secures data is to overstate the accomplishment.  But this is genuine innovation – rare as hen’s teeth in grid cyber security – so let’s press on.

If this were just another way to encrypt data, I might say, “Neat!” and stop there.  But the most nearly intractable problem in securing smart grids is protecting legacy devices that sit side-by-side with modern IP- and Bluetooth-enabled devices.   The cryptographic transmitter, invented by LANL and called a QKarD, is tiny by comparison with other encryption devices and introduces line latency well within tolerances for a control network.  Testing was done on a 25-kilometer (15.5-mile) length of optical fiber.

New Intelligence Required

As Los Alamos points out, integrating renewable energy supplies into grids requires new techniques, and new telecommunications.  Most grids were built for the steady, predictable inputs from fossil-fired generation.  Adding variable rate inputs such as solar or wind requires new intelligence and new controls.  Those new controls assume that data received from the field is reliable and from a trusted source.

Cryptography can fulfill both of those functions.  While enterprise IT shops rely upon cryptography first and foremost for confidentiality, data integrity is more important for control networks.  Cryptography is not by itself a total security solution, but its role in preserving useful and accurate data is key.  LANL’s solution may move the industry one step closer to a painless way to protect all that data.

A recurring theme from my 3 years of research is that there is precious little innovation in cyber security.  Along with quantum cryptography, I have recently seen promising new approaches for network anomaly detection, network cleansing, and device ID protection, among other things.

Perhaps the tide is finally turning.

Innovation is what happens when we think our way out of a problem.  Engineers at the University of California, San Diego have developed sophisticated algorithms designed to run lithium ion batteries more efficiently and to do what chemistry can’t do:  reduce the cost of lithium ion batteries by up to 25%.  The algorithms would also be used to charge batteries up to twice as quickly.

Considering how many products use lithium ion batteries, the consequences for the market would be enormous.  Anxious to charge up your smartphone before a big day out?  What if you’re on a remote or fragile grid and need to charge a piece of critical equipment in a hurry? Nervous about driving your electric car on a long trip?

For that matter, what if there’s a superstorm approaching and you’ve got a limited amount of time to charge multiple devices?

Although the improved performance of lithium ion batteries could be a game-changer, so could lower costs, particularly in emerging markets like grid storage.  In a market where flywheels, advanced batteries, compressed air, and pumped storage are competing for market share, a system that’s more cost competitive on a power or energy basis will get much more attention and traction.

In the energy storage space, advanced batteries get a great deal of airtime but are typically dinged for two fatal flaws (depending on the chemistry involved): it’s difficult to eke out more efficiency and to reduce costs, and the batteries frequently need to be “oversized” to perform properly in applications that don’t quite align with the electrochemical limitations of the technology.

Undeterred, the researchers at UC San Diego are using mathematics to estimate where particles in the battery are so that the anode could be filled to capacity safely and efficiently (thus charging more quickly).  These innovators claim that the algorithms they have developed can estimate how a battery degrades over time and could reduce manufacturing costs for lithium ion batteries by up to 25%.

Thanks to the forward-thinking program managers at the Department of Energy’s advanced research arm, ARPA-E, this innovation will get a chance to be tested and demonstrated using a $460,000 grant and real batteries.