Bigger steps... Much harder to take...

Hi everyone,

In my last post I talked about how efficiency was a relatively achievable goal in terms of energy usage. Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFBs)in our home, recapturing braking energy in our cars (the basis for hybrids), more efficient use of insulation in appliances - there are a number of ways to do this. Once these changes are made, it is difficult to go backward, for example, in far less than 10 years it will be difficult to buy incandescent bulbs which consume 4 time the energy for the same light generated as CFBs. I firmly believe that hybrid and flexfuel systems in cars will be the minimum standard in 10 years as well and all new televisions, appliances and the like are much more efficient than their predecessors.

Still, efficiency alone will not do it. Generation is the problem and further, peak generation is really challenging. If you have a certain generation capability which is appropriately sized to a community there will be times when the community uses less energy than it does at others. Sometimes the demand will be very high, sometimes lower. When you design your generators, how do you decide what load you are aiming for? The highest level possible? The lowest? The average? If it isn't for the highest then what happens when peaks occur? Where do you get that energy. Bear in mind, you cannot store it - if you generate it, it is available only then, if not used it goes to waste - another efficiency problem. The way generators deal with this is complex but basically it comes down having a good understanding of your customer's needs and scaling generation as required. So you have a nuclear or hydro plant that can produce a certain number of Megawatt Hours (MWH) and that is sufficient during the day but peak power usage comes at 7 PM when requirements jump by 20%, well, at that point, the generator can either produce more power with the existing plant or add other sources to the mix, usually coal or natural gas generators, which, alas produce a lot of waste carbon.

So we have a predicament. If we size our generation capability to meet with maximum need, then we are inefficient and power will cost significantly more. If we maximumize efficientiency, power may cost less but it's carbon footprint is much larger and we utilize more non-replaceable fossil fuels in the process. The answer is partly a behaviour management issue on the part of consumers. In my area, we pay less for power in the evening and are encouraged by the utility to use appliances such as washers, dryers and dishwashers only after 9:00 PM. Further, we have an agreement with Ontario Hydro that they can shut off our air conditioner during summer if power requirements get to close to generation capabilities.

Interestingly enough, however, it is power requirements during summer which may provide a hint at a good way to manage peak loads. During hot summer days, air conditioning demands go up - quite a bit. But hot summer days also have something other than heat to offer - the sun is out and solar energy could be in abundance. One of the schemes that some friends of mine in the utility business are trying is to put solar panels on top of buildings and feed that peak summer energy back into the grid to help with peak summer loading. A simple idea - can't see why we haven't been doing it for years! Like CFBs and hybrid drive trains...

Next we will talk about the bigger questions - generation. The why, the how and whether efficiency is the answer...

Paul

Little steps in the right direction...

Hi everyone

I wanted to write a blog about baby steps - they add up. One time I asked someone how do you actually train to run a marathon and the answer "One foot after another" was quickly forthcoming. It's a little like that with sustainability, as a society we consume a massive amount of energy - the majority of it from fossil fuels. Fossil fuels have a carbon output, of course, but a more important pair of issues with respect to a major source of energy is that the folk who own a large amount of it, hate us and large percentages of their citizenry want us dead, or converted to Islam. The second of these issues is that they are a limited resource - there is only a certain amount of it out there. In other words, climate change aside, there is the issue of rational sustainability.

So, what can be done about this issue? Well, two things - energy usage is going up and there is no realistic expectation that with a growing global economy (present hiccups aside) it will do anything other than that. First we can improve efficiency. Second we can find new sources of energy. We will, of course, have to do both.

So this brings me to baby steps. You are driving a car - every time you hit the brakes you extract energy from the moving car and radiate it out as heat (from friction). In other words you generate heat energy and mechanical energy to slow down the moving car. Hybrids take a slightly different approach, they take a percentage of that energy and use it to charge a battery. The drive train on a hybrid is modified to then take energy from that battery and re-apply it to the wheels which improves the overall fuel efficiency of the car by using less fuel to help move you on your way. Is it an electric car? No, it is a hybrid - it is an improved fuel efficiency vehicle and represents a baby step in using less fuel. What is the end game here? Well, perhaps it is a totally electric vehicle, perhaps it is a hydrogen vehicle, perhaps it is something not yet identified but in the mean time we have used sound engineering principles to improve efficiency and use less non-renewable resources.

It is exactly the same as using incandescent vs compact florescent light bulbs. You are using less power to achieve exactly the same result. Maybe you don't like the light as much but, hey, you are changing bulbs way less often and, on even a modest scale such as in a home, less power will be consumed. A change in technology will have an incremental improvement on efficiency and we will not move backward. Many jurisdictions have banned incandescent bulbs, for example, and I believe that hybrid vehicle technology while the next step on a journey, will become the norm and not the exception while we move further along on said journey.

As we move forward, energy utilization efficiency will improve and we should reward and encourage that.

Next blog will be on the question of generation...

Later!

Paul

It's been a while...

Sorry folks,

I have had a very busy summer and fall and have fallen away from blogging for some time.

A couple of personal updates.

1. Running season is with us again and while, primarily due to scheduling issues, I was only able to complete one of the three September runs I planned, I am now back with the Running Room and training for the Chilly Half Marathon in Burlington come next March. I will be relaunching my seperate running blog in a couple of days.
2. I have added a new role to my professional life as the Executive Vice President of eSCRIBE Solutions. You can find out about eSCRIBE and it's recent Microsoft IMPACT award at http://www.escribecorporate.com . I still have my old gig at MGCG but my business partner and I have started this new and very exciting endevour which I will talk about more in future blogs
3. I continue to maintain a Facebook presence and have linked this blog to it - I have now added LinkedIn to the mix - all this social networking going on!! Being the total technology wonk that I am, who knows what is next. Twitter perhaps?

So as to the life and recent suspended animation for this blog. As of this week, I will be maintaining it on a regular basis, at least once per week , more often should the need or the desire arise. Its focus will remain on science, society, politics and technology and I will continue in my ongoing diatribes against religious extremism, pseudo-science and social conservative ideologies.

I am back - be afraid, be very afraid...


Paul