If you know how the power grid works in most countries and areas inside of our country, you know that we rely on a very archaic system that has remained largely unchanged from the power grid envisioned by Nikola Tesla over 100 years ago, but the emergence of faster data transfer (ie: the internet) has led to some exciting new possibilities in saving energy intelligently. So what does this new "smart" system do?
"A smart grid delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers using two-way digital technology to control appliances at consumers' homes to save energy, reduce cost and increase reliability and transparency. It overlays the electricity distribution grid with an information and net metering system.
Such a modernized electricity network is being promoted by many governments as a way of addressing energy independence, global warming and emergency resilience issues. Smart meters may be part of a smart grid, but alone do not constitute a smart grid.
A smart grid includes an intelligent monitoring system that keeps track of all electricity flowing in the system. It also incorporates the use of superconductive transmission lines for less power loss, as well as the capability of integrating renewable electricity such as solar and wind. When power is least expensive the user can allow the smart grid to turn on selected home appliances such as washing machines or factory processes that can run at arbitrary hours. At peak times it could turn off selected appliances to reduce demand." - Wikipedia
If you know anything about "green" or "alternative" engergy, you probably know that there's just not enough of it to supply our current (and growing) energy needs. Sure, there are a few places in the world where wind or solar or geothermal energy can feed the area's energy needs, but by and large, this is not true, especially as China's energy use per capita nearly doubled between 1990 and 2005, and although I have yet to find data to back this up, I am guessing it is continuing to rise, and likely at a faster rate.
This being said, I don't think that we will cut our dependence on fossil fuels anytime soon, but the use of efficient energy use and delivery systems can be part of the road that gets us closer to that goal.
Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts
June 22, 2010
May 4, 2010
Hey! You got oil in my Gulf!
Since one of my first posts was pertaining to the coal-mining disaster in West Virginia, I find it fitting to say a little something about the recent oil leak that BP and the US Government are working on stopping in the Gulf of Mexico.
This is a horrible environmental disaster, and while it is not likely that humans will die as a direct consequence of the spill, it is extremely likely that people in the area, and possibly along the whole East Coast will feel the consequences of this disaster. I wish I were more experienced in the exact way that a deep-water oil rig works, but from my basic understanding, a leak has developed in the pipeline that brings oil from under the sea floor, and to the top of the rig, where it is transported to refineries, etc. This leak has been directly channeling oil from underground and into the sea for the past few days, and because of its depth (about a mile down), it has been very difficult to fix.
So, now the problem is two-fold: fixing the leak before it gets worse and simultaneously cleaning up the oil that has already escaped. Here are a couple interesting news stories related to the topic, if you feel like knowing a little more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6430AR20100504
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-05-03-how-risky-is-the-dispersant-strategy-for-addressing-the-gulf-spi
Okay, so this is a big deal, but what does it mean for the oil industry in America, or even abroad? I think nothing. They will have to be careful to guard against this kind of failure in a deep-water rig again, but it's unlikely that our government will be able to (or even want to) cut back our domestic oil supplies. Personally, I don't think we should stop drilling anywhere just because of this accident, but it may make it a little scarier for some people who don't want off-shore drilling a few hundred feet from their back-yards.
Of course, oil drilling has brought us an amazing age of new technologies and transportation, so for that, it is assuredly an advancement, but it's never that simple. No engineer can design a perfect machine that will never fail, never break down, and never have an unforeseen problem. James Carville had a good point the other day on CNN. He said that no matter what kind of fuel we are using - coal, oil, nuclear, hydroelectric - we have a chance of disaster, and the more we use that kind of fuel, the greater our chances are for something to go wrong. There is no known perfectly safe, perfectly clean, perfectly unobtrusive way to produce energy on this earth. We can only keep improving our processes and looking for new advancements, but I feel confident that we will.
This is a horrible environmental disaster, and while it is not likely that humans will die as a direct consequence of the spill, it is extremely likely that people in the area, and possibly along the whole East Coast will feel the consequences of this disaster. I wish I were more experienced in the exact way that a deep-water oil rig works, but from my basic understanding, a leak has developed in the pipeline that brings oil from under the sea floor, and to the top of the rig, where it is transported to refineries, etc. This leak has been directly channeling oil from underground and into the sea for the past few days, and because of its depth (about a mile down), it has been very difficult to fix.
So, now the problem is two-fold: fixing the leak before it gets worse and simultaneously cleaning up the oil that has already escaped. Here are a couple interesting news stories related to the topic, if you feel like knowing a little more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6430AR20100504
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-05-03-how-risky-is-the-dispersant-strategy-for-addressing-the-gulf-spi
Okay, so this is a big deal, but what does it mean for the oil industry in America, or even abroad? I think nothing. They will have to be careful to guard against this kind of failure in a deep-water rig again, but it's unlikely that our government will be able to (or even want to) cut back our domestic oil supplies. Personally, I don't think we should stop drilling anywhere just because of this accident, but it may make it a little scarier for some people who don't want off-shore drilling a few hundred feet from their back-yards.
Of course, oil drilling has brought us an amazing age of new technologies and transportation, so for that, it is assuredly an advancement, but it's never that simple. No engineer can design a perfect machine that will never fail, never break down, and never have an unforeseen problem. James Carville had a good point the other day on CNN. He said that no matter what kind of fuel we are using - coal, oil, nuclear, hydroelectric - we have a chance of disaster, and the more we use that kind of fuel, the greater our chances are for something to go wrong. There is no known perfectly safe, perfectly clean, perfectly unobtrusive way to produce energy on this earth. We can only keep improving our processes and looking for new advancements, but I feel confident that we will.
April 8, 2010
All hail mighty coal
Is it just me, or does the coal mining industry seem to be stuck in the 1950's? I understand that the nature of digging a massive mine into rock and pulling out tons of coal is dangerous by its very nature, but while manufacturing in the US has become a very safe and highly automated process, coal mining has not come up to par with the safety standards held in other industries.
The recent mine explosion in West Virginia has reminded me of this fact again. In 2006 the federal government passed new regulations on mining safety in the US, but last year, only 1 in 10 mines across the country had made the upgrades to conform to these standards. I'm not a huge fan of coal as a power source to begin with. It's environmentally one of the more destructive forms of energy production, and the working conditions for miners and coal power plant workers are far less than ideal in most of the country, but I am a realist. I understand that our infrastructure is based on coal in much of the country, but companies need to be held accountable for the safety of their workers. Many times a violation of federal safety standards that leads to an accident will cost the company some fines, but the fines are often less financially detrimental to the company than upgrading the mine's safety.
It is likely that we will be moving away from coal within my lifetime as supplies diminish and nuclear energy becomes more prevalent, but respect for human life is a huge issue here. Federal regulators and companies themselves should not turn their back on this accident.
The recent mine explosion in West Virginia has reminded me of this fact again. In 2006 the federal government passed new regulations on mining safety in the US, but last year, only 1 in 10 mines across the country had made the upgrades to conform to these standards. I'm not a huge fan of coal as a power source to begin with. It's environmentally one of the more destructive forms of energy production, and the working conditions for miners and coal power plant workers are far less than ideal in most of the country, but I am a realist. I understand that our infrastructure is based on coal in much of the country, but companies need to be held accountable for the safety of their workers. Many times a violation of federal safety standards that leads to an accident will cost the company some fines, but the fines are often less financially detrimental to the company than upgrading the mine's safety.
It is likely that we will be moving away from coal within my lifetime as supplies diminish and nuclear energy becomes more prevalent, but respect for human life is a huge issue here. Federal regulators and companies themselves should not turn their back on this accident.
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