They don\u2019t seem to spend quite as much time, how\u00adev\u00ader, think\u00ading about how the pow\u00ader will get from A to B. But the clean\u00adest method of ener\u00adgy use will only bring about real glob\u00adal progress when users can reli\u00adably draw pow\u00ader from the sock\u00adet. And that is pre\u00adcise\u00adly what we are unable to guar\u00adan\u00adtee with the means we cur\u00adrent\u00adly have avail\u00adable, as the grids are not yet fit for the future. What does that mean? To answer that ques\u00adtion, let\u2019s take a look at the con\u00adcepts of con\u00adsump\u00adtion and gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion.
\n<\/p>\n
More, More, More!<\/h2>\n
There is no stop\u00adping the growth of the world\u2019s pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion. In a few decades, it will pass the 10-bil\u00adlion mark. All of these peo\u00adple need ener\u00adgy: for elec\u00adtri\u00adcal pow\u00ader, for cook\u00ading, for mobil\u00adi\u00adty, and for heat\u00ading and cool\u00ading. At the moment, almost 80 per\u00adcent of pri\u00adma\u00adry ener\u00adgy sources are fos\u00adsil fuels. And we all know what the con\u00adse\u00adquences are when we burn these fuels. Experts agree that rapid elec\u00adtri\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion is the only way to achieve the decar\u00adboniza\u00adtion that we urgent\u00adly require. This shift, com\u00adbined with the growth in pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion, will increase the absolute elec\u00adtric\u00adi\u00adty demand.<\/p>\n The increas\u00ading demand per capi\u00adta will result in fur\u00adther accel\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion. This also applies to mature economies, even though tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy is becom\u00ading more and more ener\u00adgy effi\u00adcient. The sim\u00adple truth is that once you start using devices, you find you need more and more of them. The accu\u00admu\u00adla\u00adtion of lots of lit\u00adtle ener\u00adgy guz\u00adzlers is an inte\u00adgral part of the con\u00adcept of the smart home, to say noth\u00ading of the serv\u00ader farms that will be pop\u00adping up every\u00adwhere. In the new\u00adly indus\u00adtri\u00adal\u00adized coun\u00adtries, demand is ris\u00ading even more quick\u00adly. As it would be far too expen\u00adsive to estab\u00adlish line con\u00adnec\u00adtions to a pow\u00ader grid, remote regions plan to use off-grid solu\u00adtions \u2013 sup\u00adplied via a com\u00adbi\u00adna\u00adtion of renew\u00adable sources \u2013 for the pur\u00adpos\u00ades of elec\u00adtri\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion. Pow\u00ader will bring light and inter\u00adnet access \u2013 accord\u00ading to soci\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgists, these are the key pre\u00adreq\u00adui\u00adsites for achiev\u00ading social devel\u00adop\u00adment through edu\u00adca\u00adtion in these regions.<\/p>\n Away from the remote regions, the glob\u00adal trend toward urban\u00adiza\u00adtion will result in large met\u00adro\u00adpol\u00adi\u00adtan areas \u2013 by 2035, it is esti\u00admat\u00aded that two thirds of the world\u2019s pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion will be liv\u00ading in cities. It is impos\u00adsi\u00adble to imag\u00adine an infra\u00adstruc\u00adture for clus\u00adters with 30 mil\u00adlion inhab\u00adi\u00adtants or more with\u00adout exten\u00adsive elec\u00adtri\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion. Thanks to advanced bat\u00adtery tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy, com\u00admuters will use autonomous elec\u00adtric taxis to get to work. The next gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion after that may well be using elec\u00adtric heli\u00adcopters.<\/p>\n So the mes\u00adsage is clear: Decar\u00adboniza\u00adtion is only pos\u00adsi\u00adble with exten\u00adsive elec\u00adtri\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion. Just under a quar\u00adter of the world\u2019s pri\u00adma\u00adry ener\u00adgy con\u00adsump\u00adtion is cur\u00adrent\u00adly used to gen\u00ader\u00adate elec\u00adtric\u00adi\u00adty. Over 75 per\u00adcent of the elec\u00adtric\u00adi\u00adty is still pro\u00adduced from fos\u00adsil fuels. So if the experts believe that every\u00adthing should be elec\u00adtric, is this a gigan\u00adtic glob\u00adal prob\u00adlem that can\u00adnot be solved? Not at all \u2013 because elec\u00adtri\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion pro\u00advides a huge range of options when it comes to con\u00advert\u00ading between dif\u00adfer\u00adent types of ener\u00adgy (\u201cpow\u00ader-to\u2011X\u201d) as well as a choice between cen\u00adtral\u00adized and dis\u00adpersed solu\u00adtions.<\/p>\n At the moment, west\u00adern indus\u00adtri\u00adal nations and emerg\u00ading economies such as India, Chi\u00adna, and South\u00adeast Asia gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly have large-scale fos\u00adsil-fuel pow\u00ader plants with large rotat\u00ading tur\u00adbines and gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtors which were built fair\u00adly close to the load cen\u00adters and to each oth\u00ader (effec\u00adtive\u00adly region\u00adal\u00adly cen\u00adtralized).<\/p>\n This approach has sev\u00ader\u00adal advantages:The large rotat\u00ading mass\u00ades of the cen\u00adtral\u00adized pow\u00ader plants have so much stored ener\u00adgy that they have a sta\u00adbi\u00adliz\u00ading effect on con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adal con\u00adsump\u00adtion fluc\u00adtu\u00ada\u00adtions and increas\u00ading volatil\u00adi\u00adty in the grid caused by feed-ins from renew\u00adable sources \u2013 when a sub\u00adway train starts up, it doesn\u2019t cause the grid to wob\u00adble. There is no need for long cables to trans\u00admit pow\u00ader over large dis\u00adtances. The rel\u00ada\u00adtive prox\u00adim\u00adi\u00adty ensures high lev\u00adels of resilience and avail\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty for the over\u00adall sys\u00adtem.<\/p>\n \u201eIn tomorrow\u2018s world, the Focus will be on charg\u00ading rather than burn\u00ading. If we want to save the plan\u00adet, the pow\u00ader we use Needs to be clean.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If we are going to form teams for the future, there are essen\u00adtial\u00adly two sides to choose from: the cen\u00adtral\u00adized solu\u00adtion and the dis\u00adpersed solu\u00adtion. The first team wants elec\u00adtric\u00adi\u00adty to con\u00adtin\u00adue to be gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded in large-scale pow\u00ader plants based increas\u00ading\u00adly on renew\u00adable sources. These kinds of plants already exist in the form of off\u00adshore wind farms, large-scale PV pow\u00ader plants, and hydro\u00adelec\u00adtric pow\u00ader plants.<\/p>\n These cen\u00adtral\u00adized renew\u00adable approach\u00ades require a tran\u00adsre\u00adgion\u00adal \u201csuper\u00adgrid\u201d with a high trans\u00admis\u00adsion capac\u00adi\u00adty (and there\u00adfore poten\u00adtial\u00adly high vul\u00adner\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty) to even out the sup\u00adply and com\u00adpen\u00adsate for the volatil\u00adi\u00adty of the renew\u00adable sources. And solu\u00adtions also need to be found with regard to the loss of the iner\u00adtia from the large rotat\u00ading mass\u00ades. This is not such an impos\u00adsi\u00adble task \u2013 the gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtor of the decom\u00admis\u00adsioned Bib\u00adlis nuclear pow\u00ader plant, for exam\u00adple, is now used as a \u201crotat\u00ading phase shifter\u201d for pre\u00adcise\u00adly this pur\u00adpose.<\/p>\n In all prob\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty, we won\u2019t have a cen\u00adtral\u00adized solar pow\u00ader plant orbit\u00ading the Earth in 150 years. But why should we assume that our children\u2019s chil\u00addren \u2013 who might well greet our cur\u00adrent approach\u00ades with an indul\u00adgent smile \u2013 won\u2019t find their own new solu\u00adtions? And if, in 150,000 years, we are putting the fin\u00adish\u00ading touch\u00ades to a Dyson sphere around our sun, many of our prob\u00adlems could indeed be solved.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not con\u00advinced by the cen\u00adtral\u00adized ap\u00adproach, you might be a fan of the dis\u00adpersed solu\u00adtion instead: Hav\u00ading lots of small-scale pro\u00adduc\u00aders of renew\u00adable ener\u00adgy gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00ading pow\u00ader, tak\u00ading what they need, and feed\u00ading the rest into the grid in order to com\u00adpen\u00adsate for the deficits of oth\u00ader pro\u00adduc\u00aders. Per\u00adhaps in 150 years every cen\u00adtime\u00adter of roof space will be cov\u00adered with high-per\u00adfor\u00admance pho\u00adto\u00advolta\u00adic instal\u00adla\u00adtions so that every\u00adone can help each oth\u00ader out. This won\u2019t make the megac\u00adi\u00adties self-suf\u00adfi\u00adcient. They will still need an \u201cumbil\u00adi\u00adcal cord\u201d to con\u00adnect them to large ener\u00adgy sources from the grid.<\/p>\n In this con\u00adtext, China\u2019s govern\u00adment is already dream\u00ading of a glob\u00adal grid capa\u00adble of mov\u00ading pow\u00ader all over the world. Along\u00adside the nec\u00ades\u00adsary tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy, the dis\u00adpersed solu\u00adtion also requires bet\u00adter stor\u00adage options than the ones cur\u00adrent\u00adly avail\u00adable. \u201cPow\u00ader-to\u2011X solu\u00adtions\u201d for exam\u00adple, where hydro\u00adgen or methane is pro\u00adduced from wind or solar pow\u00ader in sev\u00ader\u00adal stages, stored in huge cav\u00aderns, and then burned in a cli\u00admate-neu\u00adtral process in a pow\u00ader plant or mobile sys\u00adtem when need\u00aded.<\/p>\n Now we have reached the point where we have to talk about trans\u00adport\u00ading pow\u00ader \u2013 the part that sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion so shame\u00adful\u00adly fails to address. Whether you favor the cen\u00adtral\u00adized or dis\u00adpersed solu\u00adtion, the gigan\u00adtic amounts of pow\u00ader that we will need by 2168 will have to actu\u00adal\u00adly get to the con\u00adsumer some\u00adhow. Peo\u00adple often cite analo\u00adgies of our tran\u00adsi\u00adtion from a wired tele\u00adphone sys\u00adtem to broad\u00adband wire\u00adless trans\u00admis\u00adsion as proof that we could switch to wire\u00adless pow\u00ader trans\u00admis\u00adsion in the future. But although they might not belong in the realms of sci-fi, there are often sim\u00adple phys\u00adi\u00adcal rea\u00adsons why these ideas can\u00adnot be achieved in real\u00adi\u00adty.<\/p>\n We might poten\u00adtial\u00adly be capa\u00adble of send\u00ading ener\u00adgy from a solar pow\u00ader plant in geo\u00adsta\u00adtion\u00adary orbit to the Earth via microwave radi\u00ada\u00adtion even now \u2013 but good luck to any crea\u00adture or device that gets in the way of the rays. Bridg\u00ading large dis\u00adtances using induc\u00adtion is a sim\u00adi\u00adlar\u00adly capri\u00adcious process from a phys\u00adi\u00adcal per\u00adspec\u00adtive. So we won\u2019t be aban\u00addon\u00ading cables that quick\u00adly, par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly as we can\u2019t sim\u00adply replace the exist\u00ading infra\u00adstruc\u00adture overnight.<\/p>\n But the grids are still going to change, partic\u00adularly when it comes to grid man\u00adage\u00adment and state assess\u00adment solu\u00adtions. This will present grid oper\u00adators \u2013 and there\u00adfore man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adtur\u00aders like MR \u2013 with major chal\u00adlenges. If we are head\u00ading toward a dispers\u00aded solu\u00adtion in the future where the grid is divid\u00aded into micro-grids for sep\u00ada\u00adrate parts of the city or nano-grids for sin\u00adgle house\u00adholds, we will need a new way of think\u00ading.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s cen\u00adtral\u00adized approach to man\u00adag\u00ading pow\u00ader gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion and dis\u00adtri\u00adb\u00adu\u00adtion will become obso\u00adlete, as decen\u00adtral\u00adiza\u00adtion will cause grid man\u00adage\u00adment require\u00adments to rise expo\u00adnen\u00adtial\u00adly. Grid oper\u00ada\u00adtors will have to keep track of count\u00adless inter\u00adde\u00adpen\u00addent fac\u00adtors. What lev\u00adel of ener\u00adgy demand is expect\u00aded tomor\u00adrow? What will the weath\u00ader con\u00addi\u00adtions be like? How full are my ener\u00adgy stores? And so on and so forth. All of this will result in huge vol\u00adumes of data that can only be processed with a quan\u00adtum com\u00adput\u00ader linked to the cloud. But will such a thing exist in 150 years? That is why we need the right soft\u00adware solu\u00adtions.<\/p>\n Both solu\u00adtions also pose cer\u00adtain chal\u00adlenges in terms of resilience. Cen\u00adtral infra\u00adstruc\u00adtures in par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar, like the large \u201cumbil\u00adi\u00adcal cords\u201d, need to be pro\u00adtect\u00aded against attacks. More dis\u00adpersed solu\u00adtions have the intrin\u00adsic advan\u00adtage that they can form more inher\u00adent\u00adly sta\u00adble cyber\u00adnet\u00adic sys\u00adtems. If one part is switched off, the rest of the sys\u00adtem keeps run\u00adning. After an attack, traf\u00adfic would keep mov\u00ading, the lights would still be on in hos\u00adpi\u00adtal oper\u00adat\u00ading rooms, and Net\u00adflix 4D would prob\u00ada\u00adbly still be work\u00ading on most TVs (or, in 150 years\u2019 time, maybe on video inter\u00adfaces implant\u00aded on our optic nerves).<\/p>\n \u201cThe Change in the ener\u00adgy indus\u00adtry will be rad\u00adi\u00adcal. Intel\u00adli\u00adgent Soft\u00adware will increas\u00ading\u00adly replace func\u00adtion\u00adal Hard\u00adware.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Mean\u00adwhile, the fault can be iden\u00adti\u00adfied and rec\u00adti\u00adfied in the back\u00adground and every\u00adthing can quick\u00adly be brought back to full capac\u00adi\u00adty. How\u00adev\u00ader: Com\u00adplex, net\u00adworked, dis\u00adpersed sys\u00adtems require sophis\u00adti\u00adcat\u00aded, intel\u00adli\u00adgent sys\u00adtem archi\u00adtec\u00adture. It took evo\u00adlu\u00adtion a few mil\u00adlion years to cre\u00adate the semi-suc\u00adcess\u00adful, semi-resilient cyber\u00adnet\u00adic sys\u00adtem known as the human being. At least we keep breath\u00ading after a knock\u00adout \u2013 prompt\u00adly fol\u00adlowed by a reboot and a headache.<\/p>\n The change in the ener\u00adgy indus\u00adtry will be rad\u00adi\u00adcal, as decar\u00adboniza\u00adtion will push us toward more decen\u00adtral\u00adiza\u00adtion. This will change the hard\u00adware of today\u2019s work\u00adhors\u00ades \u2013 the actu\u00ada\u00adtors \u2013 and will require much more intel\u00adli\u00adgence when it comes to grid and sys\u00adtem man\u00adage\u00adment with sen\u00adsors and com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtion and soft\u00adware. Pow\u00ader elec\u00adtron\u00adic solu\u00adtions will grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly replace con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal trans\u00adform\u00aders. MR\u2019s prod\u00aducts will be focused on this area in 50 years\u2019 time \u2013 we know that already. Change brings great oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adties with it, and com\u00adpa\u00adnies need to take action if they want to be suc\u00adcess\u00adful.<\/p>\n We need to face the future with courage rather than fear. We don\u2019t know yet what life will be like in 100 years \u2013 that will all depend on what hap\u00adpens between now and then. And how\u00adev\u00ader huge this change may be for grid oper\u00adators and their sup\u00adpli\u00aders, the effect on the aver\u00adage elec\u00adtric\u00adi\u00adty con\u00adsumer in mature economies will not be so severe if politi\u00adcians final\u00adly man\u00adage to cre\u00adate the right frame\u00adwork con\u00addi\u00adtions for a comprehen\u00adsive decar\u00adboniza\u00adtion ener\u00adgy rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion. The impact is like\u00adly to be felt more strong\u00adly in the new\u00adly indus\u00adtri\u00adal\u00adized coun\u00adtries and megac\u00adi\u00adties \u2013 with rad\u00adi\u00adcal changes to ener\u00adgy use in a future that, for now, still seems to belong in sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion. We\u2019re ready for the future \u2013 bring it on!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What will the world look like when MR turns 300? Join us for an elec\u00adtri\u00adcal odyssey into the future. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":4171,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-12-2018"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3583"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8517,"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3583\/revisions\/8517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/de\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2018\/11\/Megacity.jpg\")
One for all or all for all?<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/de\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2018\/11\/E-Mobilitaet.jpg\")
Educational Mission for the Grids<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/de\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2018\/11\/Sonnenkollektor.jpg\")
Safe and Secure<\/h2>\n
What Does Disruption Feel Like?<\/h2>\n