Electrification & The Built Environment
The way humans live is rapidly changing; Temperatures are rising, air conditions are worsening, and weather patterns are becoming more extreme. People are forced to spend more time indoors as extreme heat, extreme cold, and smoke and smog cause more health risks every year. The current global, fossil fuel-centered economy pumps carbon into the atmosphere worsening these issues. In contrast, a concept known as Electrification has risen to the top as the most realistic approach to improving current conditions.
What is Electrification?
Electrification is the process and principle of using electric power as the primary source of energy and reducing or replacing reliance on non-renewable forms of energy. More specifically, electrical power generated by carbon-free and renewable sources replaces a reliance on fossil fuels. It focuses on big changes such as those to households, transportation, industry, infrastructure, and life changes over individual, daily actions. These changes are supported by overall lifestyle choices and the decisions we make as consumers. Resulting in the fundamental connection of households and communities directly to their source of power and energy.
What Are the Costs?
Electrification is ready to occur with the utilization of already existing technology. However, it requires a steeper upfront cost to update infrastructure as well as a transition period to wean people off of outdated habits and choices tied to fossil fuels. As part of this, energy costs will temporarily rise while current infrastructure and industry are disrupted. After this transition, though, the cost of energy will decrease to a third or less of current energy prices. Becoming almost free as energy becomes abundant and localized. This keeps the money normally spent on energy within the community and off of company balance sheets. Reducing both the monetary cost and the environmental costs as it eliminates the need for fuels to be purchased and later burned off at power plants.
Why is it a Good Option?
Electrification is more than using electric cars or putting solar panels on rooftops; it is a fundamental change to the grid and the way energy moves between consumers and producers. It localizes energy by using renewable energy sources to power households, commercial buildings, and public infrastructure. Thus making it easier to access energy and to keep energy funds within a community.
Renewable Energy and Energy Movement
It focuses on solar energy and wind energy as primary sources of energy. While hydropower, geothermal, and nuclear energy act as secondary sources of power to aid in combating energy peaks. These energy sources are able to generate electricity without depleting natural resources. The renewability of these sources makes them a great sustainable option, but the sources' output varies based on external factors. Factors like weather, time of day, and the season.
Energy Output
To handle the difference in output, energy storage methods such as batteries, pumped hydrogen storage, compressed air energy storage, and thermal energy storage are used to store energy generated during times of excess generation, such as when output is low or consumer demand is high. The combination of renewable energy production and energy storage allows for the energy supply to be constant regardless of the demand.
Changes the Grid
This coupling of energy sources and storage requires changes to the current energy grid. One of the main grid changes is the integration of smart grid management systems to track energy production, consumption, and storage levels thus increasing the functionality of renewable energy systems. This updated combination of renewable energy, storage, and tech to track energy levels throughout the grid ensures that there is never an energy deficit. Thus, preventing a need to turn back to fossil fuels in response to an energy crisis.
Localized Energy and Abundance
Localizing energy can look like solar panels on individual homes or like solar microgrids that power multifamily or commercial developments. By localizing energy, less energy is lost during transportation and distribution. This turns the almost 70% of energy lost as heat along easements and distribution pipelines into energy that is used by communities and businesses. With the decrease in the distance that the energy and electricity have to travel, money is able to flow back into the community. There is no need to pay an external distributor for energy when energy is being created within your own neighborhoods. Electrification also eliminates one-way power flow, where energy can only flow from power plants to individual consumers. Instead, excess energy can travel throughout the grid. An abundance of energy in one place can bring energy to other buildings, hub points, or back to power plants.
Mindset Shift
Electrification needs both an infrastructure and a mindset shift to get the desired results of less carbon emissions and cheaper energy. Current environmental and sustainable thinking continues to hold onto the 1970s mindset where small, individual changes are seen as more impactful than big, industry-wide changes. This thinking prioritizes actions like anti-littering campaigns instead of changes to the energy and fuel systems in order to keep the focus away from industry-wide changes. No big result can come about solely due to small changes. Yet, small, consumer changes shift the way governments and industry make decisions about future initiatives. An increased interest in electrical vehicles, solar panels, and energy-efficient systems increases the number of electric options offered as companies and governmental entities aim to cater to consumers.