"Wisdom begins in wonder" – Socrates
Category: Policy
How Rooftop Solar Can Be Used as a Grid Resource
04/13/19
“How can rooftop solar be utilized for the grid’s needs?”
Rooftop solar is one of the fastest growing types of distributed energy resources. However, right now they are only used to provide power to the buildings of the owner. But what if we could use that extra energy to provide power for the grid? This would increase grid flexibility and allow for further decarbonization. This is How Rooftop Solar Can Be Used a Grid Resource.
Urban Planning
04/11/19
“How do we design cities and municipalities?”
Today, around 55 percent of the world lives in urban areas and that number is rapidly growing. That means as cities expand and new towns are built, there must be significant planning done to ensure livability and proper operation of all infrastructure, whether it be in transportation, utilities, or amenities. This can be accomplished through the use of Urban Planning, or the study of how to design urban conglomerates.
Cascading Power Failures
04/10/19
“How can a large-scale power outage occur from just a single component failure?”
The modern power grid is a feat of human ingenuity. One of the most interconnected systems in existence, it allows for terawatts of power generated to reach millions of consumers. However, this great interconnection comes with one drawback. If even one component fails, then the additional stress on other parts can cause more failures which can cascade until a completed blackout occurs. These Cascading Power Failures are a utility’s bane and resilience strategies must be developed to counter the probability of these events.
Climate Change Attribution
04/09/19
“How can we attribute what is responsible for climate change?”
One of the biggest debates going on about climate change is what is causing it. Many political pundits will claim that everything can be explained entirely through natural factors such as the Earth’s tilt or volcanoes. However, to prove causation, mathematical analysis will need to be done to isolate each component and observe its effects. Using this Climate Change Attribution, we can see that these effects do not contribute greatly to global warming and that carbon emissions is the primary driver behind climate change.
Why Microgrids Would Be Great for Flood Resilience
04/07/19
“Why would microgrids be helpful to protect against floods?”
With the advent of climate change, ocean levels are rising and storms are becoming more powerful. This will make floods occur more frequently, causing continued devastation to critical infrastructure such as the grid. In order to continue to live in this new world, communities will need to adapt their infrastructure around this new reality. One way to accomplish this is to implement microgrids. When the main power system shuts down, batteries and distributed energy resources can ensure that electricity stays running. This is Why Microgrids Would Be Great for Flood Resilience.
Residual Value
04/06/19
“How can we predict the value of an item at the end of its lifetime?”
Due to the second law of thermodynamics, materials are bound to degrade over time, lowering both its function and value. Since an item might become less worthy in the future, then it would be very useful to know how it will change. Through analytical modeling and past experience, we can calculate something the Residual Value, or final worth of a product. Many leasing companies will calculate monthly payments based on this final value.
How Analysts Can Help Countries Meet Their Climate Change Goals
04/05/19
“How can analysts use their professional skills to help countries with their climate change goals?”
Whether it be the Paris Climate Agreement or internal policies, countries are implementing climate change goals. However, many times they will need assistance to meet these. This is where Analysts can step in to use their professional skills to assist countries with their goals. This is How Analysts Can Help Countries Meet Their Climate Change Goals.
How Blockchain Can Improve Energy Security
04/02/19
“How can we improve energy security with blockchain?”
With the advent of the renewable energy revolution, energy is becoming more and more distributed and intermittent. As such, many consumers, utilities, and companies are pushing for energy systems to become more autonomously operated to better integrate these resources. However, the difficulty to keep track of all energy coming in and out could open up a number of security backdoors, allowing for malicious hackers to penetrate critical infrastructure. To combat this, blockchain technology can be implemented by tagging and keeping track of where energy comes from and goes to. This is How Blockchain Can Improve Energy Security.
What Does the Energy Community Mean by “Behind the Meter”?
03/30/19
“What exactly does the term “Behind the Meter” mean?”
The term “Behind the Meter” is tossed around in the energy community a lot. However, what exactly does the industry mean by this? Well, when utility company companies sell their services, they typically use a meter to keep track of the amount sold.So when a customer does something to modify this, it is “Behind the Meter” so to speak. Installing generation by the meter could simply be attaching solar panels to a roof, and reducing consumption behind the meter might just come from an energy efficiency upgrade.
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