Category: Policy

How Trimming Trees Near Transmission Lines Could Increase Infrastructure Resilience in Drought-ridden Areas

How Trimming Trees Near Transmission Lines Could Increase Infrastructure Resilience

02/28/19

“How could hot areas become more resilient by trimming trees?”

Electrical transmission lines can fault for a variety of reasons. But one of the most common is from being near untrimmed trees. These can fall onto the power lines, causing power disruption. In the case of extreme drought, static buildup can even rupture a fire, as seen in the 2018 Northern Californian Camp Fire. To prevent this, we can simply trim the trees. This allows for increased safety against extreme weather. This is How Trimming Trees Near Transmission Lines Could Increase Infrastructure Resilience in Drought-ridden Areas.

Wholesale Electricity Markets

Wholesale Electricity Markets

02/23/19

“How do utility companies purchase electricity generation?”

Utility companies are responsible for transmitting electricity. However, they do not always own generation facilities. Instead, they may purchase it on a competitive platform known as a wholesale electricity market. This decoupling of electrical generation and transmission can create a multitude of opportunities for Power Purchase Agreements.

How Grid Defects Can Increase Climate Change Resilience

How Grid Defects Can Increase Climate Change Resilience

02/22/19

“How can grid defection increase infrastructure resiliency to climate change?”

Grid-islanded systems are typically thought of as expensive alternatives to their grid-depended counterparts. But with the advent of ever-increasing storms and floods induced by climate change, their constant reliability will make them a more reliable alternative. Since they can provide power in the case of natural disasters, they can provide extra resilience to communities such as Puerto Rico who experienced a grid shutdown from Hurricane Maria.

How Tree Trimmings Could Help Build Power Resilience

How Tree Trimmings Could Help Build Power Resilience

02/21/19

“How could trimming trees help prevent blackouts?”

Grid failure happens all the time. But one of the most common causes actually stems from something very simple, trees! Tree foliage produces an area that is sensitive to burning and is also liable to falling down, crushing distribution. By taking away some of this foliage, some of this resiliency liability. This is How Tree Trimmings Could Help Build Power Resilience.

Why HVDC Can Hurt Fire Resilience

Why HVDC Can Hurt Fire Resilience

02/17/19

“Why are the most serious drawbacks to HVDC lines?”

HVDC lines are one of the hottest topics in the renewable energy world nowadays. Their ability to transmit a large volume of electricity across great distances with minuscule losses can make them a vital part of easing the duck curve. However, their high voltage also means that if they get sapped, they have a much higher potential to produce a fire. This will have great implications for the regionalization of California, where increased connectivity to other states could bring grid stability but exacerbate the potential for chaos.

Marginal Cost

Marginal Cost

02/16/19

“What happens to total cost if one more unit is produced?”

Everything in economics has a cost associated with it. And these costs and can be divided into different categories. Take a factory producing solar panels for example. There is already a base cost with operating the factory, and the total cost for each unit of production. This is known as the Marginal Cost and can be used in risk assessment of engineering projects. Sometimes when more units are produced in a given span, the cost goes down because of economies of scale, while other times it goes up.

Image credit img.tfd.com

Renewable Energy in Brownfields

Renewable Energy in Brownfields

02/14/19

“How can renewable energy be used in unusable land?”

Brownfields, or areas where pollution has made habitation unfit for humans, are often thought as unusable. However, since renewable energy is often immune to a lot of the toxins present in these areas, they have no problem being installed there. As a result Renewable Energy in Brownfields can open up a lot of sustainability potential in blighted areas.

Image credit thumbor.forbes.com

How Community Choice Aggregators Can Offer Cleaner Energy at Lower Rates

How Community Choice Aggregators Can Offer Cleaner Energy at Lower Rates

02/12/19

“How can community-sourced energy be cheaper and greener?”

There is a revolution brewing in the renewable energy world. While in the past residents and businesses were tied to one electric utility based on their geographic area, organizations known as Community Choice Aggregators are starting to sprout up and challenge this. Community choice aggregators or CCAs are non-profit organizations that procure power generation and deliver it to customers through a utility’s transmission lines. Since these do not operate for investors and only need to pay for energy and staff, they can give their customers better rates than traditional electricity service and focus on particular resources. To illustrate, just look at the CCA San Jose Clean Energy. Even though their energy portfolio is 45% Renewable Energy/80% carbon-free, they sell energy at rates 1% lower than the standard San Francisco Bay Area PG&E service which is 33% Renewable Energy/78% carbon-free. This is How Community Choice Aggregators Can Offer Cleaner Energy at Lower Rates!

How Wave Energy Can Help Island Nations

How Wave Energy Can Help Island Nations

02/11/19

“Why is wave energy really helpful for island nations?”

Island nations are strapped when it comes to energy resources. Their small land area limits the potential for distributed energy resources and centralized power plants pose a large resilience risk and monetary expense. However, there might be one form of power that can be a game changer. Since islands are surrounded by water, the can harvest the kinetic energy from the waves crashing onto their beaches. Complimenting this with other renewables, island nations can achieve true self-sufficiency. This is How Wave Energy Can Help Island Nations.