While every sports fan appreciates the power of hope, few comprehend the zombie-like power variable rewards can have on the brain.

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Google is testing a fleet of plug-in hybrids and software that would turn them into load-balancing tools for utilities flooded with variable power from wind and solar generators.

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Dorothy Thompson, chief executive of Drax, told BBC News that biomass was the ideal fuel to balance variable wind power.

BBC: Biomass may hinder climate fight

Journe created this lightweight Octa Sport with 120-hour power reserve and a variable inertia balance wheel for stability even at high speed.

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These alternatives are highly variable, with power generation going in and and out with cloud cover and wind gusts.

FORBES: Energy Sec Chu Says Global Warming Is Real; Nat Gas Will Be Bridge Fuel

The NGIPS platform is critical for clean energy, especially variable resources like wind power and solar photovoltaics.

FORBES: Microgrids: Ten Clean Technologies Needed to Win the Next Naval War

But doing so will mean replacing high-power-density sources that are reliable and low cost with low-power-density sources that are highly variable and high cost.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The subsea power grid encompass pumps and compressors and large variable speed drives to transport the oil and gas from the wellhead to a processing facility.

FORBES: World's First Subsea Smart Grid Changes Offshore Oil and Gas Game

China has targeted procurement policies for clean energy, and a variable feed-in tariff for wind power.

FORBES: Cap And Trade Wasn't The Answer

That they are not including the cost of connecting wind power to the grid, the necessary costs of dealing with variable supply, of needed back up and so on.

FORBES: Grantham Inst. Report Shows That We Should Abandon Wind Power Subsidies