Monday, April 28, 2025

Power Outages and the Possible Benefits of Energy Diversification and Localization

Energy resilience is helpful for business and daily life and as our energy system developed it also did so based on finance, company structures, policies, permits, etc. so thinking about a level of localization would seem to helpful. There has been increasing discussion in places like the Upper Peninsula of Michigan about utilization of various energy sources (i.e. RICE generators, solar, wind, starting old powerplants, propane, etc.). Much of this discussion revolves around climate and the long term sustainability of a consistent cost effective supply of energy (Different people will focus on different aspects of the same problem). 

Sometimes it is helpful to think of variability of sources, how the grid is structured (localized versus centralized), and supporting science to increase the available sources as well as the environmental impact of those sources (i.e. Ford's new water engines that relied in part on research in energy.). 

General energy diversity could improve optimization of price and source. Research into sustainable energy can lead to future technology breakthroughs that decrease the cost of energy financially and environmentally. Invent a new energy source and the game changes for many things. 

Localization of some of the energy so that it can feed local and regional grids to protect the energy structure of areas from large outages seems reasonable as a long term strategy. (I'm curious what is going on in Spain. It is a business and economics concern as to cost of outages and if there is some things we can do to avoid such problems that wold be nice)

This study highlights some of the issues and problems with energy structure (If you don't want to read the nitty gritty just browse the introduction, abstract and conclusions will give you the big picture of the research)Energy Resilience Study

(Keep in mind this blog is about theory development and exploring topics so different perspectives are always welcome. Just exploring the topics creates new knowledge.)

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