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| These
images dramatically illustrate the extent of the
blackout on August 14, 2003. Columbia University
feels it is imperative that the development of the
new Smart Grid system being developed by Lamont-Doherty
scientists be a top National priority. Image Credit:
NASA. |
By 2050, it will
take between 15 and 20 Terawatts (TW) of electric power
to supply the North American economy. A little under
7 TW is currently used, with most of that consumed
in the United States. The “Smart Electric Grid
of the Future” must be able to efficiently and
securely deliver this two- to three-fold-increase in
power to all corners of the continent, in addition
to being invulnerable to security breaches, attacks,
natural disasters, and mechanical failures. The country
can ill afford more blackouts like August 14, 2003.
Researchers at Columbia University
have assembled a national team of scientists, technologists,
security and intelligence experts to spearhead development
of this “Smart Electric Grid”—a lean
and efficient electrical delivery system that can meet
the future energy and security demands of the nation.
Dr. Roger N. Anderson and Albert Boulanger from the
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, a member of The Earth
Institute at Columbia University, along with colleagues
from Rice University’s Center for Nanoscale Science & Technology,
the Texas Energy Center, and the Texas Superconductivity
Center, have developed the framework for a “Smart
Electric Grid,” and plans are underway to test
their system in Texas as well as the Northeast.
“We plan to integrate new
technologies with the public policies, economic incentives
and regulation changes that will be required to produce
the new electric power system. The plan calls for a
National Test Bed to put designs and innovations to
practical use. A smarter and more capable system is
essential to the future of economic growth and vitality
for all of North America, and we intend to build the
demonstration projects that will show the way to the
future grid” said Anderson.
 |
| The
top image was taken approximately 20 hours before
the blackout, and the bottom image was taken approximately
7 hours into the blackout, where you can see, among
other changes, that Toronto (upper, left) has gone
completely dark. Image Credit: NASA |
The technologies that the Columbia Team are working on
will smartly control the complex system associated with
the continent’s vast electrical power grid, which
must interconnect 200 million asynchronous house, block,
community, business, industry, town, and regional generation,
transmission, distribution and storage systems. In the
immediate future, vast new renewable energy sources from
wind, solar, and geothermal power generation must be
added to gas, coal, hydroelectric and nuclear sources
of the present. The new “Smart Electric Grid” must
improve efficiency by 50% or more in order for this power
technology revolution to be affordable. In addition,
it must be far more sophisticated from a computerized
control standpoint in order to deal with unpredictable
and time-varying green power sources such as giant wind
and solar farms located thousands of miles from metropolitan
users. Distributed generation and local power storage
at consumer and manufacturing sites must be designed
and tested to further fortify Grid stability and safety
from terrorism, as well as better defend it from the
usual weather and mechanical outages. Columbia feels
it is imperative that the development of the new Smart
Grid system be a top National priority and that it be
open to continual innovation unlike the current electricity
system with its limited Research and Development budgets.
Relevant Lectures:
“Our Energy Challenge”
September 23, 2003, 7:30 p.m. in the Low Library Rotunda, Columbia University
Nobel Laureate Richard E. Smalley , Rice University
“Shocked by the Dark”
October 30, 5:30 p.m, Davis Auditorium, Columbia University
Dr. Roger N. Anderson, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, a member
of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, is one of the world’s
leading research centers examining the planet from its core to
its atmosphere, across every continent and every ocean. From global
climate change to earthquakes, volcanoes, environmental hazards
and beyond, Observatory scientists provide the basic knowledge
of Earth systems needed to inform the future health and habitability
of our planet. For more information, visit www.ldeo.columbia.edu.
The Earth Institute at Columbia University
is the world’s leading academic center for the integrated study
of Earth, its environment, and society. The Earth Institute builds
upon excellence in the core disciplines earth sciences, biological
sciences, engineering sciences, social sciences and health sciences and
stresses cross-disciplinary approaches to complex problems. Through
its research training and global partnerships, it mobilizes science
and technology to advance sustainable development, while placing
special emphasis on the needs of the world’s poor. |
