Smart grids have been backed by energy experts for their potential to reduce the peaks and valleys associated with the availability of wind and solar energy at an international conference this week.
Credit: U.S. Department of Energy
WATERLOO: After three days of working sessions, the participants at an international energy conference have buckled down to develop a path towards a low-carbon future.
The scientists, emerging leaders and policy experts gathered at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo for the Equinox Summit have left their mark on the many blackboards that grace the hallways and lecture halls of the building.
They have spent days drawing on the expertise of international scientists to understand how emerging technologies can be incorporated into our electricity system, with the single goal of reducing the use of fossil fuels while meeting our future energy needs.
Scrutinising electricity system
The red, green and white chalk marks on the blackboards graph energy costs over time and chart the maturity of technologies. They identify our most pressing electricity needs and scope out attractive projects that could accelerate the research and development of some of these technologies to make them commercially viable.
The entire electricity system - generation, distribution and storage - has been scrutinised.
As the information gathering phase of the summit wound down, participants were asked to think about the resiliency and reliability of these technologies and the world's increasing reliance on electricity.
Balancing peak energy demand
As renewable energy sources start to supply a greater fraction of our electricity, utility companies will have to find a way to keep the lights on - or the electric car charging - when dull winter days force solar farms into dormancy and wind lulls bring wind turbines to a stop.
Batteries and smart grids could reduce the peaks and valleys associated with the availability of wind and solar energy, and balance peak energy demand.
“Smart grids will enable us to make real progress in our emissions and our greenhouse gas impact,” Bill Rosehart, an electrical engineer at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, said. “They will be game changers.”
Electricity in a bottle
“Storage will be an essential element of the smart grid,” said Maria Skyllas-Kazacos, a chemical engineer at the University of New South Wales. Batteries that store the excess electricity generated by solar and wind can be drawn from to charge electric vehicles overnight or run washing machines.
The vanadium battery is a chemical battery that has been used in several demonstration projects and is on the cusp of commercialisation, said Skyllas-Kazacos. “It's like electricity in a bottle.”
Having wrapped up the technical sessions, all that remains is to put the final touches on the research and development strategy that will be the outcome of this summit, and to brief tomorrow's visiting science and technology leaders about their vision.
