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More info about the Smart Grids!

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The Smart Grid

Maybe you have heard of the Smart Grid on the news or from your energy provider. But not everyone knows what the grid is, let alone the Smart Grid. "The grid," refers to the electric grid, a network of transmission lines, substations, transformers and more that deliver electricity from the power plant to your home or business. It's what you plug into when you flip on your light switch or power up your computer. Our current electric grid was built in the 1890s and improved upon as technology advanced through each decade. Today, it consists of more than 9,200 electric generating units with more than 1 million megawatts of generating capacity connected to more than 300,000 miles of transmission lines. Although the electric grid is considered an engineering marvel, we are stretching its patchwork nature to its capacity. To move forward, we need a new kind of electric grid, one that is built from the bottom up to handle the groundswell of digital and computerized equipment and technology dependent on it-and one that can automate and manage the increasing complexity and needs of electricity in the 21st Century.

What Makes a Grid "Smart?"

In short, the digital technology that allows for two-way communication between the utility and its customers, and the sensing along the transmission lines is what makes the grid smart. Like the Internet, the Smart Grid will consist of controls, computers, automation, and new technologies and equipment working together, but in this case, these technologies will work with the electrical grid to respond digitally to our quickly changing electric demand.

What does a Smart Grid do?

The Smart Grid represents an unprecedented opportunity to move the energy industry into a new era of reliability, availability, and efficiency that will contribute to our economic and environmental health. During the transition period, it will be critical to carry out testing, technology improvements, consumer education, development of standards and regulations, and information sharing between projects to ensure that the benefits we envision from the Smart Grid become a reality. The benefits associated with the Smart Grid include:

More efficient transmission of electricity

Quicker restoration of electricity after power disturbances

Reduced operations and management costs for utilities, and ultimately lower power costs for consumers

Reduced peak demand, which will also help lower electricity rates

Increased integration of large-scale renewable energy systems

Better integration of customer-owner power generation systems, including renewable energy systems

Improved security

Today, an electricity disruption such as a blackout can have a domino effect-a series of failures that can affect banking, communications, traffic, and security. This is a particular threat in the winter, when homeowners can be left without heat. A smarter grid will add resiliency to our electric power System and make it better prepared to address emergencies such as severe storms, earthquakes, large solar flares, and terrorist attacks. Because of its two-way interactive capacity, the Smart Grid will allow for automatic rerouting when equipment fails or outages occur. This will minimize outages and minimize the effects when they do happen. When a power outage occurs, Smart Grid technologies will detect and isolate the outages, containing them before they become large-scale blackouts. The new technologies will also help ensure that electricity recovery resumes quickly and strategically after an emergency-routing electricity to emergency services first, for example. In addition, the Smart Grid will take greater advantage of customer-owned power generators to produce power when it is not available from utilities. By combining these "distributed generation" resources, a community could keep its health center, police department, traffic lights, phone System, and grocery store operating during emergencies. In addition, the Smart Grid is a way to address an aging energy infrastructure that needs to be upgraded or replaced. It's a way to address energy efficiency, to bring increased awareness to consumers about the connection between electricity use and the environment. And it's a way to bring increased national security to our energy System-drawing on greater amounts of home-grown electricity that is more resistant to natural disasters and attack.

Giving Consumers Control

The Smart Grid is not just about utilities and technologies; it is about giving you the information and tools you need to make choices about your energy use. If you already manage activities such as personal banking from your home computer, imagine managing your electricity in a similar way. A smarter grid will enable an unprecedented level of consumer participation. For example, you will no longer have to wait for your monthly statement to know how much electricity you use. With a smarter grid, you can have a clear and timely picture of it. "Smart meters," and other mechanisms, will allow you to see how much electricity you use, when you use it, and its cost. Combined with real-time pricing, this will allow you to save money by using less power when electricity is most expensive. While the potential benefits of the Smart Grid are usually discussed in terms of economics, national security, and renewable energy goals, the Smart Grid has the potential to help you save money by helping you to manage your electricity use and choose the best times to purchase electricity. And you can save even more by generating your own power.

Building and Testing the Smart Grid

The Smart Grid will consist of millions of pieces and parts-controls, computers, power lines, and new technologies and equipment. It will take some time for all the technologies to be perfected, equipment installed, and systems tested before it comes fully on line. And it won't happen all at once-the Smart Grid is evolving, piece by piece, over the next decade or so. Once mature, the Smart Grid will likely bring the same kind of transformation that the Internet has already brought to the way we live, work, play, and learn.

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Smart Grid: The Smart Grid | SmartGrid.gov

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SmartGrid.gov is the gateway to information on federal initiatives that support the development of the technologies and policies transforming the electric power industry. This site is supported by the Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability within the U.S. Department of Energy.

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This article has some interesting statistics!

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Energy Production & Changing Energy Sources

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Access to energy is a key pillar for human wellbeing, economic development and poverty alleviation. Ensuring everyone has sufficient access is an ongoing and pressing challenge for global development.

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"The heterogeneity of energy use across the world is due largely to different natural resource endowments and purchasing power. For example, a country with large coal deposits will likely make wide use of this resource to industrialize its economy. The people living within this country will likely use it as the primary means of power generation."

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The sustainable development goals (SDGs) proposed by the Open Working Group of the General Assembly of the United Nations recognize the importance of the natural environment and its resources to human well-being. As a whole, it is definitely a worthy charter for the twenty-first century, as it addresses the diverse challenges that we face as a global community. SDG 7-to "ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all"-is a challenge confronting every country, that touches everyone. To understand the necessity of meeting this goal, and what is required to do so, we should unpack the statement of the goal itself. The four dimensions of SDG 7 are affordability, reliability, sustainability and modernity. These different dimensions are not mutually exclusive. They overlap, and in some cases even entail each other.

Consider what it means to have access to affordable energy. The heterogeneity of energy use across the world is due largely to different natural resource endowments and purchasing power. For example, a country with large coal deposits will likely make wide use of this resource to industrialize its economy. The people living within this country will likely use it as the primary means of power generation.

On the other hand, people living in places without ready stocks of fossil fuels may rely on more primitive methods of combustion, such as wood fibers or perhaps even animal dungs. Indeed, this is the condition that prevailed for the vast majority of humankind throughout its history, and continues to be the condition for many parts of the developing world. For instance, approximately 2.7 billion people (about 40 per cent of the world's population) now rely on traditional biomass fuels for cooking. ¹ Such low-quality fuels can be a major source of indoor air pollution. Even with the expansion of energy accessibility and economic development, the annual death toll from indoor air pollution will still be over 1.5 million people-a higher rate than that from both malaria and tuberculosis. ²

As globalization continues to bind the world in deeper networks of trade, countries can augment and diversify their energy endowments by import. However, if the development level of a country is low and the costs of energy-which are increasingly determined by global financial forces-are high, then people will lack access to energy no matter how large or diverse its country's endowment. Thus, an essential condition of affordability is raising income levels (and hence purchasing power) and controlling the impacts that impersonal economic forces operating at global levels have on the costs that people face on an everyday basis.

Affordability is meaningless, however, if energy provision is unreliable. In many parts of the developing world, energy sources are often scarce and their supply intermittent. Today, 20 per cent of the world's population still lacks access to electricity, and a larger share suffers from persistent power failures. ³ In 2012, the massive, nationwide blackout that struck India affected nearly 700 million people, paralyzing transportation and communication systems and causing an unknown number of fatalities. ⁴ This disaster was caused not just by supply issues, but also by mismanagement and an underdeveloped energy infrastructure. Thus, basic economic activity depends on a steady supply, robust governance, and an efficient and stable distribution system. There are multiple socioeconomic dimensions of energy reliability.

Electricity, automated transportation and information technology are essential to economic development. They are also basic features of modern society, and thus energy sources and systems that meet these needs reliably and affordably can be considered as "modern". Population growth will continue in India, sub-Saharan Africa, and other parts of the developing world. Per capita economic consumption will also increase, creating much greater demand for the services described above, and consequently for access to modern energy. Over the next quarter century, about 90 per cent of the growth in energy demand will come from countries that are not members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), i.e., countries outside of the rich Western economies and Japan. 5 Meeting this rising wave of energy demand will be one of the paramount challenges of the twenty-first century, and is a reason why it occupies such a central place in the SDGs. It also brings us to the final dimension of SDG 7: sustainability.

Energy should generate a consistent stream of power to meet basic human needs, maintain and improve social functioning, and advance living standards. It should also fulfill these functions as sustainably as possible-that is to say, the power generated by energy use should be much greater than the resulting waste and pollution. All sustainable energy must be modern, although not all forms of modern energy are sustainable. Coal is perhaps the most important case in point. Historically, coal has been indispensable to industrialization and the advancement of human well-being. If more of the world's people enjoy previously unimaginable living standards today, it is in large part because of coal. Offsetting its many virtues-for instance, abundance, wide distribution, and ease of use-is a long list of serious problems, however. In an age of population growth and environmental decline, this list is still growing.

Today, coal still provides about 40 per cent of the world's electricity and nearly the same fraction of global carbon emissions. ⁶ Coal is also inefficient, with a low mass-to-energy ratio, and creates enormous pollution. Thus, coal is neither sustainable at the global scale because of its contribution to anthropogenic climate change, nor at the local scale because it is a threat to public health and ecological conditions (in addition to the polluting by-products of combustion, the process of coal mining creates myriad environmental problems). Given the scale of the use of coal, and the emergence of a global economy powered largely by fossil fuels, what can be done?

These are challenges that require a pragmatic, multi-faceted approach. Solutions need to be found at the global scale, where Governments and agencies must work together. International climate change agreements are the most visible fruits of such efforts. The SDGs have also helped set the tenor for cooperation and contributed to an emerging consensus on priorities. In terms of policies, the transfer of clean energy technologies to developing countries is an important example. Indeed, international climate change agreements-such as the clean development mechanism (CDM)-explicitly provide for such transfers. This is not enough, however. Solutions must also be developed locally. There is evidence that benefits from CDM, while necessary and net-positive generally, do not always reach the local level, particularly in impoverished rural areas. ⁷ Development should be sensitive to local conditions, and identify unintended consequences of energy policies. The heedless pursuit of biofuels at the global and regional levels may result in unintended yet severe environmental degradation. The countless acres of land deforested for palm oil undermine local well-being, and provide a stark reminder of the complexity of the energy problems that we face.

Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy is integral to global development in the twenty-first century. Not all the solutions needed to meet this challenge are yet available, and those that are may not be apparent. Figuring out these solutions and aligning them across scales will be difficult. Yet the task is achievable if international organizations have sufficient vision, if Governments can work together, and if communities and individuals are offered the right incentives and the necessary means. SDG 7 is, at the very least, an important step in that direction.
Notes
1 International Energy Agency, Energy Poverty: How to make modern energy access universal? Special early excerpt of the World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2010 for the UN General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals. (Paris, 2010) p. 9, 20. Available from http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/weo-2010---special-report---how-to-make-modern-energy-access-universal.html.

2 International Energy Agency, World Energy Outlook 2010 (Paris, 2010), p. 237. Available from http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/media/weo2010.pdf.

3 International Energy Agency, Energy Poverty: How to make modern energy access universal?, p. 9. Available from http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/weo-2010---special-report---how-to-make-modern-energy-access-universal.html.

4 Helen Pidd, "India blackouts leave 700 million without power", The Guardian, 31 July 2012. Available from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/31/india-blackout-electricity-power-cuts.

5 International Energy Agency, World Energy Outlook 2011 Factsheet: How will global energy markets evolve to 2035? (Paris, 2011). Available from http://www.iea.org/media/weowebsite/factsheets/factsheets.pdf.

6 Michelle Nijhuis, "Can Coal Ever Be Clean?", National Geographic Magazine, Vol. 225, issue 4 (April 2014), p. 30-40. Available from http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/04/coal/nijhuis-text.

7 Srikanth Subbarao and Bob Lloyd, "Can the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Deliver?", Energy Policy, vol. 39, issue 3 (March 2011), p. 1600-1611.

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Goal 7-Ensure Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable and Modern Energy for All

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The sustainable development goals (SDGs) proposed by the Open Working Group of the General Assembly of the United Nations recognize the importance of the natural environment and its resources to human well-being. As a whole, it is definitely a worthy charter for the twenty-first century, as it addresses the diverse challenges that we face as a global community.

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"While these gains are significant, a more dramatic utilization of clean energy technologies will be needed if we are to address the problem of climate change."

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Western Resource Advocates works to increase the use of renewable energy, energy efficiency and other low-carbon energy technologies.

Renewable Energy

"Renewable energy is the path to reliable, affordable, clean power. We can power our homes and our cars with clean power - but to do so requires commitment and that strategic policies be implemented in the next five years."

- Gwen Farnsworth, Senior Energy Policy Advisor

Producing Electricity from Coal, Oil, and Gas Pollutes our Climate, Air and Water

Climate change, caused by carbon pollution from the production and burning of fossil fuels, will take a particularly hard toll on the mountain and desert West. The consequences of climate change are already visible: increased risk and duration of drought and wildfires, reduced snowpack, and extinction of vulnerable wildlife species.

Conventional energy sources such as coal and natural gas are huge contributors to climate change. Electricity production accounts for more than one-third of U.S. global warming emissions, with the majority generated by coal-fired power plants.

Non-renewable electricity generation uses large amounts of scarce water, and pollutes both the air and water. Reliance on conventional energy sources exposes consumers to price fluctuations and harms our health and environment.

Renewable Energy Benefits our Climate, Health and Economy

Renewable energy provides substantial benefits for our climate, our health, and our economy. Most renewable energy resources emit no carbon pollution. In the Mountain West, we enjoy abundant renewable resources that can be used to generate electricity, like wind, solar, and geothermal. While geothermal energy systems emit some air pollutants, total air emissions are generally much lower than those of coal- and natural gas-fired power plants.

Further, wind and solar energy require essentially no water to operate and thus do not pollute water resources or strain water supplies by competing with agriculture, residential use, or fish and wildlife. In contrast, fossil fuels can have a significant impact on water resources. For example, both coal mining and natural gas drilling can pollute sources of drinking water. See our energy and water nexus page for more information.

Conventional hydropower is important in the region, especially in Arizona, but the prospects for additional hydropower generation capacity are very limited due to environmental impacts, absence of potential sites, and risk of persistent drought.

Western Resource Advocates Is a Leader in Advancing Renewable Energy

Western Resource Advocates leads efforts to develop and implement policies and market mechanisms in the West to increase the use of renewable energy while reducing carbon pollution from the power sector. We advocate before state public utility regulatory commissions and state legislatures. Our efforts also include direct outreach to utilities, regulators, community organizations, and other industry stakeholders.

Over the last 15ears, Western Resource Advocates has made considerable progress promoting clean energy. In 1995, there was no wind generation in the Interior West, and solar energy sources were rare. Today there are thousands of megawatts of wind generation providing electricity to consumers in the Interior West, as well as significant amounts of solar and geothermal power generation. In 1995, utilities in the region spent less than $2 million per year on energy efficiency; today that figure is well over $200 million per year.

While these gains are significant, a more dramatic utilization of clean energy technologies will be needed if we are to address the problem of climate change. Western Resource Advocates is defining a renewable energy vision by identifying and extending best practices, encouraging technological innovation, analyzing costs of continued operation of existing coal-fired power plants, and promoting more effective utilization of energy efficiency and distributed renewable generation.

Energy Efficiency

"Energy efficiency not only saves energy and cleans our air - it also saves consumers money. Increasing energy efficiency should be a priority for every utility, government, business and individual." - John Nielsen, Clean Energy Program Director

Energy Efficiency also Needed to Combat Climate Change, Clean the Air and Save Money

Every year, energy is wasted through transmission, heat loss, and inefficient technology -costing families and businesses money and leading to increased carbon pollution and climate change. Energy efficiency is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to combat climate change, clean the air, and save consumers and businesses money.

There are Many Options to Achieve Greater Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency can be achieved by:

Using energy-efficient devices for lighting, space cooling and heating, refrigeration, and so forth;

Designing our buildings and landscapes better (such as shade trees);

Changing our behavior (such as turning off the lights when we leave a room); and

Improving system operations to optimize many functions within a house, business, city, or other location and reduce energy usage as a result. These systems may employ real-time feedback or automated controls, for example.

Adopting local, state or federal policies and programs can greatly increase energy efficiency. Policy and program options include:

Building codes or other standards that establish baseline energy efficiency for products that may be sold or used within a jurisdiction. For example, requiring LED lights or minimum efficiency standards for new homes.

Inclusion of energy efficiency standards in municipal climate change or sustainability plans. Many local governments have prepared climate change or sustainability plans, some of which include action items that reduce energy consumption through efficiency measures.

Programs to promote energy efficiency. Some community-based organizations, utilities, and/or governments implement programs to educate consumers about energy efficiency and, in many cases, install or incentivize energy efficiency measures for residential or business consumers.

Businesses, governments or organizations establishing energy efficiency policies.Businesses, governments, or other organizations may establish their own internal energy efficiency objectives.

Western Resource Advocates Advances Energy Efficiency Policies, Programs and Market Mechanisms

Western Resource Advocates works to develop and implement policies, programs, and market mechanisms in the West to increase the use of energy efficiency, thereby reducing carbon pollution from the power sector. We advocate before state public utility regulatory commissions and state legislatures. Our efforts also include direct outreach to utilities, community organizations, and other industry stakeholders.

Our goal is to increase the use of renewable energy, energy efficiency and other low-carbon energy technologies so that by 2020, regional greenhouse gas emissions are 20% below 2005 levels and on a path to achieve an 80% reduction
by 2050.

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Western Resource Advocates works to increase the use of renewable energy, energy efficiency and other low-carbon energy technologies. "Renewable energy is the path to reliable, affordable, clean power. We can power our homes and our cars with clean power - but to do so requires commitment and that strategic policies be implemented in the next five years."