How Microgrids Can Help Communities Adapt To Wildfires
Since electricity first replaced gas lamps, the model for selling it has been to create a large generating station somewhere, and then distribute the electricity it makes using a network of poles, wires, and substations to individual homes and business customers. That was fine when no one had the ability to generate electricity on their own and storage batteries were just a dream.
“This is the first detailed, state level study that’s looked at how clean energy microgrids can minimize outage impacts on vulnerable communities, and how much it would cost,” said Tianzhen Hong, a co-author and senior scientist in the Building Technology & Urban Systems Division at Berkeley Lab. Using those tools, the researchers designed microgrids to meet the specific needs of households in wildfire-prone areas. Electricity is used primarily for heating and cooling homes and businesses in those areas. Diesel generators were included in the design of those microgrids, but only as emergency backup. The research suggested they would be used only rarely.
Hong said the most important benefit of clean energy microgrids is that they can promote energy equity through equal access to clean technologies and their associated benefits. Most communities in the wildland-urban interface are not wealthy and can be disadvantaged by issues relating to access, mobility, and public health.“We’re really talking about equity here,” Hong said. “The technology can be really good, but at the end of the day, if people can’t afford it then nothing happens.
The study was truly an international effort. It involved researchers from TU Wien, the HKUST Shenzhen-Hong Kong Collaborative Innovation Research Institute, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the University of California, Berkeley.This might be a good place to explain what a microgrid is. For that, we can turn to the“Microgrids are local energy networks for electricity, heating, and cooling that can supply buildings, campuses, or communities with energy.
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