Why Battery Energy Storage Needs to Be Strategically Placed to Build Flood Resilience
11/11/19
“Why do we need to strategize battery placement to ensure flood resilience?”
Energy storage from batteries is critical for building resilience against blackouts. However, due to its delicate chemistry, even a minor flood could have devastating effects on it. As a result, batteries will need to have strategic placement to stay safe during floods. A few ways to accomplish these include keeping batteries at elevated heights and in floodproof containers. This is Why Battery Energy Storage Needs to Be Strategically Placed to Build Flood Resilience.
“How can we communicate the hazards that a facility may contain?”
Facilities have all sorts of hazards, whether it be flammability in a home or the presence of toxic chemicals in a scientific lab. To ensure the safety of everyone who works in and inhabits the building, these dangers must be communicated to them. As a result, facility operators need to set up Facility Hazard Communications that make this information clear to everyone. This can come in the form of the chemical hazard diamond, written warnings, or anything useful that can be thought of!
“What is one of the most important metrics to measure electric vehicle adoption?”
One of the primary energy goals of governments around the world is to increase the penetration of electric vehicle adoption in their fleet mix. However, in order to accomplish this, metrics will need to be developed to measure the level of success that their policies are having. One of these is measuring the number of Electric Vehicles per Million Population, or dividing the number of electric vehicles per million people in a designated area. This is useful to measure how much electric vehicles are selling but may be distorted for countries with low vehicle ownership rates.
How Electricity Blackouts Can Be Detrimental to Health
10/09/19
“How can electricity blackouts harm human health?”
Electricity blackouts are infamous for their threats to economies. But their harm extends far beyond the monetary. Since appliances such as HVAC systems and plug-in medical devices cannot function properly, individuals will be exposed to much more harmful conditions without any aid. For example, the loss of refrigeration will cause food to spoil, a lack of AC can cause people to be exposed to extreme temperatures, and a lack of medical support can be fatal to the unprepared. All of these show how How Electricity Blackouts Can Be Detrimental to Health.
“How can a solar panel receive energy from both sides of its panel?”
Solar modules are usually well-known for looking out into the sun with only one side capable of absorbing energy. However, the ground often reflects usable sunlight back. To capture this, a second solar module can be installed on the opposite side, dramatically increasing energy yield. These Bifacial Solar Modules are starting to become market ready technologies and may soon become a common sight.
“How can we quantify how effective an air filter is?”
Air filters come in all sorts of varieties. However, sometimes we may need to work on a project or be exposed to conditions that require a desired level of protection. For this reason, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers have developed the Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, commonly referred to as the MERV scale,which quantifies the level of minimum particle size that can be filtered. The scale starts at 1 (for particle sizes greater than 10.0 μm) to 20 (for particle sizes less than 0.3 μm).
Levees are used by civil engineers to prevent rivers from overflowing. However, this can cause the flood to become worse at the other end of the levee, and harm an area further down which does not have the capabilities to defend themselves. This is How Levees Can Perpetuate Climate Inequality.
