Page 135 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

112 Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

we will discuss soon, the target of using a portfolio of renewable energies is
gaining important governmental support and attracting significant private in-
vestment. Renewable energy technology is currently developing fast and is
becoming economically competitive.
President Barack Obama has championed for renewable energies as well as
the smart grid, and he has announced several billion dollars in US government
support along with private investment partnership toward this end (Associated
Press News Reports). The US President is encouraging the new grid system to
be smarter, stronger, and more secure in future. The following sections will
discuss how the aforementioned targets can be achieved and what the world
has achieved in terms of the renewable energy generation and smart grid power
transmission. To date advanced energy technologies have shown us that the
development of these technologies could potentially become the linchpin of a
new system of modern energy infrastructure. The aforementioned smart grid
project would install thousands of new digital transformers and grid sensors in
homes and utility substations to enable a grid-smart data system. The sections
titled The Solar Electricity Systems and Their Relationship with the Grid and
Wind Power show examples of solar electricity and wind power, which are
sustainable, abundant, and affordable energies based on excellent uses of
natural resources. The section titled Data Response and Power Transmission
Lines: Examples of the United States will show that the data response system
is to strengthen the grid system. This section along with the one titled The
Smart Grid and Market Solution will show the readers that the new system is
smarter due to its ability to monitor and control energy consumption
comprehensively in real time. The new system is beneficial in terms of demand
response, energy efficiency, and compatibility with large supply of renewable
energy sources. In the section titled China Rebuilds a Power System and Smart
Grid, we will present several cases and explore the key attributes and huge
merits of a Chinese-style smart grid.
The resolution to the energy and climate challenges has profound business
impacts as well as great societal effect; the effort to meet these challenges is
sometimes referred to as the third industrial revolution. Furthermore, most
developed nations are facing a major challenge of upgrading the current
electricity grid and the energy management infrastructure. The lack of new
grid infrastructure forms a bottleneck to the investment in generation of new
renewables and in tapping the full power of renewable energy such as the
utility-scale solar electricity system.
The strong and rapidly growing consumer demand for clean energy pro-
motes a new resolve to meet global needs with inexpensive electricity from
clean energy sources. The advanced energy technology requires a development
partnership among the elements of renewable energy, optimized energy effi-
ciency, and smart grid. In the following text, we illustrate the challenges and
share our knowledge of employing several renewable energies and optimal