Category: Engineering

Urban Electric Vehicle Charger Placement Metrics

Urban Electric Vehicle Charger Placement Metrics

10/24/19

“What are the best ways to implement electric vehicle charging stations in an urban area?”

Electric vehicles are one of the hottest topics in the automotive and energy world. Given their current and projected rate of adoption, they’re expected to overtake petroleum vehicles by 2038. However, in order to ensure that they can still be readily adopted, infrastructure needs to be in place to support them. One of these factors will be making sure that vehicle users in urban areas will always have quick and easy access to a charging station. By developing Urban Electric Vehicle Charger Placement Metrics, municipal planners rely on quantitative data on how best to serve communities in need.

Grid Sectionalizers

Grid Sectionalizers

10/23/19

“How can we isolate a section of the grid when a fault is detected?”

Faults happen in grids all the time. Whether if its from a branch falling on a transmission line or an over surge of current. However, if these faults are not contained, then it can spread to the rest of the system and cause a cascading failure. To prevent this from happening, one proactive method is to isolate a portion of the grid with the failure. This can be accomplished through appliances called Grid Sectionalizers, which can detect when too much current is going the wires they’re attached to. Grid sectionalizers are being deployed by PG&E in Northern California to build resilience against wildfires.

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How to Properly Dispose of Batteries in the United States

How to Properly Dispose of Batteries in the United States

10/22/19

“How should one properly dispose of batteries in the United States?”

Although incredibly commonplace, batteries are also some of the most toxic devices manufactured today. Their corrosive electrolytes and elements make them dangerous to throw away without any consideration. For this reason, some batteries must be disposed of in a special manner. If you live in the U.S in a state that is not California, all batteries except for watch batteries can be disposed of in the trash. If you would like to recycle a single-use battery, you must contact a local solid waste district to learn if there is a nearby collection program or upcoming event, find a battery recycling center, or find a mail-in battery recycling program. This is How to Properly Dispose of Batteries in the United States.

Battery Leakage

Battery Leakage

10/21/19

“What causes a battery to leak and what are the repercussions?”

Batteries are usually formed by storing potential energy in an electrolyte. But if there’s a rupture on the external structure, then the electrolyte can leak out. If this liquid comes in contact with the human skin before it reacts with oxygen in the atmosphere, then the Battery Leakage can cause great harm.

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Resilience Drills

Resilience Drills

10/20/19

“How can we prepare emergency response teams against drastic events?”

With the advent of climate change, weather disasters are becoming not only more common but also more severe. As a result, emergency response teams need to become prepared to take action at any moment. This can be accomplished using having them go through Resilience Drills, in which they act out potential scenes of disasters and finding a quick solution.

Flood Resilience

Flood Resilience

10/19/19

“How can we build resilience against floods?”

With the advent of the changing climate, floods are becoming much more commonplace, whether it be as a result from hurricanes, rainstorms, or overflowing rivers. As a result, humanity will need to build resilience against these issues using Flood Resilience.

The Carbon Footprint of Wind Energy

The Carbon Footprint of Wind Energy

10/18/19

“What is the carbon footprint of wind energy?”

As we discussed earlier in the carbon footprint of solar energy, even the greenest of technologies have an environmental impact. Wind energy is no exception to this rule. During manufacturing, rare-earth minerals have to be scavenged up and forged to produce the technology, creating CO2 emissions in the process. Although these problems are caused by the creation of wind turbines, research has shown that their operate produces only a 90th of greenhouse gases of coal plants and a 40th of natural gas plants (Dolan et. al 2012), making their energy payback period as quick as six months in some areas! (Haapala and Prempreeda 2014). As a result, when discussing The Carbon Footprint of Wind Energy, one must realize that most of it is simply concentrated in the manufacturing phase.

References

Dolan, S. L., & Heath, G. A. (2012). Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Utility-Scale Wind Power. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 16(s1), S136–S154. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-9290.2012.00464.x

Karl R. Haapala; Preedanood Prempreeda. Comparative life cycle assessment of 2.0 MW wind turbines. International Journal of Sustainable Manufacturing, 2014 DOI: 10.1504/IJSM.2014.062496

The Carbon Footprint of Solar Energy

The Carbon Footprint of Solar Energy

10/17/19

“How does solar energy have a carbon footprint?”

Renewable energy is marketed as being clean and healthy for the planet. However, like all industrial processes in this world, its manufacturing phase produces pollutive byproducts. Solar panels are made through the extraction of minerals such as quartz and the use of high temperatures. All of these actions are not only energy intensive but also creates greenhouse gasses. But even through solar panels have a carbon footprint associated with their construction, the fact that they do not produce any climate externalities during operation mean that they will emit much less carbon over their lifetime than traditional energy sources. In fact, research has shown that by displacing other more carbon intensive energy sources they can pay back their production pollution in as little as a few months (Comodi et. al. 2016) ! And with more and more factories adopting renewable energy as their power source and using cleaner production methods, the The Carbon Footprint of Solar Energy will only shrink in the future.

Comodi, G., Bevilacqua, M., Caresana, F., Paciarotti, C., Pelagalli, L., & Venella, P. (2016). Life cycle assessment and energy-CO2-economic payback analyses of renewable domestic hot water systems with unglazed and glazed solar thermal panels. Applied Energy, 164, 944–955. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.08.036

Why Electric Vehicles Are Better for the Environment Despite Their Batteries

Why Electric Vehicles Are Better for the Environment Despite Their Batteries

10/15/19

“Why are critics wrong about electric vehicles being worse for the environment than their petroleum counterparts?”

Electric vehicles are often marketed as being cleaner than their petroleum alternatives. However, many critics point out that the carbon intensity of their battery manufacturing process makes them much more harmful for the environment. Although this is true, by taking into account that electric vehicles pollute much less over their lifetime, this carbon debt is paid off. In fact, studies have shown in some areas of the world electric vehicles can cross this mark in only two years! And with future improvements in the manufacturing process and grid decarbonization, this payback can be achieved on an even faster timescale. This is Why Electric Vehicles Are Better for the Environment Despite Their Batteries.