The July 2018 issue of Scientific American provides an insight in one of the key ICT challenges for a sustainable planet: Weather-Smart Electric Grids
The messages are:
Wind and solar power will not become the major energy sources until a nationwide transmission grid is designed based on local, daily weather variations.
Models that use detailed weather data can optimize the siting of renewable energy sources and direct-current power lines to connect them.
One model raises renewables to 67 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. But resistance by states and power firms to long DC lines has stifled weather-smart grids.
Both, weather-based almost real-time computer models and sufficiently interconnected electricity grids are needed. In Europe there is an EU-energy directive which concentrates in particular on theses interfaces.
There are already several organisations competing for the best weather-smart electric grids model, such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Vibrant Clean Energy in Boulder, Colorado.
Green IT SIG will follow the development of weather based ICT solutions in particular for regional and local energy users, such as energy-plus neighbourhoods.
