Op-Ed Contributors

Need for smart electricity grids

By Roberto Bocca (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-13 08:17

We use electricity every day, but what we might not know is that most of the world's electricity today is still running on networks we used over 50 years ago. How does this impact us?

Purely in terms of costs, the US wastes $80 billion a year in power cuts, not to mention the energy waste - all due to an antiquated electricity system. In a world where we are shifting from old to new in every possible way, it isn't very smart for us to not require the same of what is vital to our everyday lives - electricity.

It is no surprise that today's world is facing a true energy dilemma: how do we deliver secure, affordable, low-carbon energy to everyone? It is widely agreed that energy conservation and renewable energy are critical to securing our energy future, but smarter electricity systems - smart grids - are imperative to tap the full potential of modern energy solutions.

A smart grid is an intelligent, digitized electricity system providing an energy network that delivers electricity in an optimal way from source to consumption, enabling better energy management, minimizing power disruptions and transporting only the required amount of power.

Just as the current grid facilitated the industrial innovations of the 20th century, smart grids could substantially support clean energy growth and innovation in the 21st century.

What a smart grid does better is maximize the contribution of clean energy and new energy solutions such as wind, solar power and electric cars. Today's grid was not built to handle large and increasing amounts of renewable energy production and send it from remote places to where electricity is consumed. Without a smart grid system, it would be virtually impossible for electric vehicles to work on a large scale. A smart and modernized grid is therefore the missing link for the use of clean energy to be within everyone's grasp.

A smart grid can also serve as a platform for innovation in energy services, which gives customers more information about their energy footprint and ways to manage their electricity consumption. There is a carbon emission reduction potential, directly through more optimal production and transmission of electricity, and indirectly through influencing consumer behavior.