In addition to providing more efficient energy delivery that can connect to clean energy sources, a clean energy smart grid also provides security to our power delivery system. In the report, “Powering America’s Defense: Energy and the Risks to National Security” the CNA provides a report that gives examples of how the decreasing resiliency of the grid is a threat to many of the services that are vital to our national security. The aging power grid is vulnerable to hackers, natural disasters, and terrorist organizations.

Power outages also cause loss of productivity for the American worker, and can be dangerous for those who are dependent on medical care that is dependent on electricity. The 2003 power outage across the Northeast was estimated to cost between  $7 and $10 billion in economic losses.

The smart grid will integrate telecommunication technologies into the power distribution system. The integrated communication ability will enable the grid to heal itself and increase energy storage options. Hopefully, we can take from this incident the importance to continue to push for the investment in America’s Smart Grid.

In Europe, a similar system has been advocated for by a  policy group lead by Antonella Battaglini, has proposed a Super Smart Grid. It combines the Super Grid, which is a system of long distance HVDC lines with the applications of a Smart Grid, that uses technological advancements to redirect power flows, adjust for peak hours, and keep better data of demand. Essentially, the HVDC lines would run over the local transmission, which would still deliver the power in AC form over short distances. Thus the best of both worlds can be achieved. The European system would connect all of Europe and connect it with North Africa and the Middle East. Much has been discussed about developing solar generators in parts of Africa and then transporting power all over Europe, thus reducing Russia’s hegemony over energy supply. The Super Smart Grid is an interesting proposal, that the US can hopefully take some ideas away from.

Source:http://www.supersmartgrid.net/

One topic of interest was the conversion between DC and AC power that takes place during the electricity delivery process. Homes and commercial buildings are all wired with AC power, but increasingly our electricity use is DC. For both lighting and HVAC, DC, digitally-controlled systems allow for a variable system that is more efficient and easier to control. The new trend in energy production is also toward DC. Wind, solar and fuel cells all produce DC power. When it enters a home or office building, it has to be converted to AC, then converted back to DC.  I’m no engineer, but this seems silly. The topic was presented at the conference by Brian Patterson of the Emerge Alliance. He argued that wiring a home or office building with DC power so that it could take DC electricity generated from solar panels and use it directly for lighting,  HVAC systems, and data centers (computers convert power to DC!) could increase the energy efficiency of the building by 15 %.

Another intriguing tech fix was the use of photocatalytic TiO2. This actually came up in a session on green cleaning. George Beveridge and Larry Eisenberg of the LA Community College District explained that they were coating campus buildings with photocatalytic TiO2, a substance that reacts with dirt, dust, bacteria, and even VOCs in the air, oxidizing them and reducing them to harmless elements (although one site I found named CO2 as one of these harmless elements). This meant they no longer had to wash the outside walls of their buildings, saving money and water. Beveridge also argued that the buildings cleaned the air, removing 80% of NOX emissions. I’m not one hundred percent sure what I think about this coating. I’ve only looked into it a little so far, so any research anyone else has done is greatly appreciated. There was one application that I found especially interesting – solar panels! A lot of community colleges have put up solar panels atop parking lots on campus (mostly funded by PG&E grants). As solar panels get dirty, their efficacy drops as much as 20%. Beveridge encouraged the coating of solar panels with TiO2 to keep them at the maximum efficiency levels.

In the current regulatory environment, most utility scale photovoltaic  projects are treated as any other development project. This means that solar developers have to jump through the same regulatory hoops that a housing or commercial builder would have to go through to get their projects started.

For solar, the ideal setting for a development is in a desert area that is relatively flat, hot, and sunny. However, in desert locations, developer’s are running into issues dealing with endangered species since the desert is home to many sensitive ecological environments. To compensate for ecosystem disturbance, some solar projects are finding that they are being regualted to provide mitigation areas of up to five times the project’s size, which makes most projects no longer financially feasible.

Difficulty complying with the Endangered Species Act, has moved many prospective developers to California’s agricultural land. California land use statues make this option unavailable for many solar developers aswell. The Williamson Act, which currently contracts two-thirds of California’s farm and ranch lands, provides a lower tax base for agricultural use of the land. However, the Williamson Act does not allow for solar developments on the land, because it is considered a non-agricultural venture. The Farm Bureau has also been opposed to changing land use statutes to allow large scale photovoltaic projects, although dialog between project developers and farm groups is moving toward a solution.

The clear winner given endangered species issues and land use statues, would be residential and commercial rooftop solar, but there is no way that growth in rooftop solar will be able to meet RPS standards on it’s own by 2020. California will have to make changes in the legislative and regulatory process in order to meet RPS goals. While agricultural lands and ecosystems with endangered species need to be protected, it is important the solar projects be able to navigate the permitting process without excessive hurdles.

Much of the problem is that it’s hard to service the peak energy demand and bring on line giant power producers to service that needs of the grid and turn them off when power is no longer needed. Peak energy demand has been growing at 25% a year since 1982 due to population growth, bigger houses, bigger TVs, and air conditioners. This is where many experts believe that a smart grid would be able to improve the system. Even a grid with existing fossil fuel inputs that was 5% more efficient would equate to permanently eliminating the fuel and green house gas emissions from 53 million cars. The opportunities for savings by updating the grid will be sizable, and should be a key to the discussion in how the nation address climate change.

From Treehugger, you can also get a clarification on the official designation awarded by the PassivHaus Institute, which sets standards for homes to meet, in the same vein as LEED. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/05/passive-design-not-passive-house.php As the bar graph about half-way down illustrates, meeting this standard represents a tremendous energy savings over a normal house. To see the savings of good insulation visually, check out this thermal photo comparing a passive house to a normal house in the background. http://greenlineblog.com/passive-house-passiv-haus-building-standard/ (Again, you need to scroll about half-way down.)

There has been a lot of discussion on renewable energy lately and about whether renewable can provide enough energy to meet our demand. I think passive houses illustrate just how flexible and elastic that demand could be.

This is a great step, but I also hope Obama puts time and money into the solutions that I believe will ultimately solve the transportation issue: improved  public transportation, pedestrian, and bicycling routes. Here are two fun and inspiring stories about these options:

In Lecco, Italy, the school bus route has been converted into a pedestrian caravan, with children being walked to school in groups by volunteers or staff. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/world/europe/27bus.html?_r=2&hp 

Vauban, a  suburb of Freiburg, Germany, is a new development designed without a need for cars.  Yes, a suburb without cars. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/science/earth/12suburb.html?emc=eta1 And Hayward, California is working on a similar car-free development.

Merrian Fuller, a student of the Haas School of Business presented her research on why current models of financing programs had not reached their full potential. She studied 150 energy efficiency-financing programs and found that that only .5% of potential applicants actually take advantage of the programs and they don’t address the need of renters, which make up 40% of California residents. Federal weatherization programs help those in the lowest 1/3 of income levels, but more programs are needed for those in the middle 1/3 of income levels. Thus, her recommendations try to encourage longer term financing of 15-20 years, additional rebates, alternative credit measures, loan guarantees, and countywide programs. Hopefully, more programs like those of Berkeley and City of Palm Desert will be created national wide and such programs will encourage people to make their homes more energy efficient.

We can no longer be so inwardly focused when it comes to our economic development as a nation. In her speech, Lovins pointed out that by 2030 at current consumption rates China will demand 99 million barrels of oil a day, and right now the world only produced 79 million barrels of oil a day. If we have reached many scientists’ peak oil predictions then the natural world can no-longer support US style energy use.

However, the good news is that there are many actions that support both business growth and energy use reductions. Lovins showed that DePont was able to cut costs by $3billion from 2000-2005 by while cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80%. Walmart as even gotten into the game with pledging to become carbon neutral and use 100% renewable energy in the near future. Small companies can get into the action too by remembering to turn off computers at night, using natural lighting, and learning more about their own carbon footprint.

To see the original presentation go here