Just a few years ago, Japan and the US were global leaders in the efforts to cut down on carbon emissions, use renewable energy sources and reduce the reliance on coal and oil. Now, though, for the first time in history, China jumps ahead of the pack with its new energy-efficiency programs, many of them quite in tune with the country’s love for gadgets, wireless technology and „smart” electronics.

The latest effort is China’s unprecedented investment into smart-grid technology. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, in 2013 China overtook the US in this area, also for the first time in history. The People’s Republic spent a massive USD 4.3 bln, which is a significant increase compared to last year. Over the same period of time, the US spent USD 3.6 bln, a 33% drop on the year previous, while global smart-grid spending rose by 5% to a total of USD 14.9 bln. This means that China’s industry now accounts for almost a third of all global outlays on new electrical grids. An analyst at Bloomberg’s New Energy Finance, Colin McKerracher says that „Asian and European markets will drive growth through 2020, while in North America the focus will continue to shift from hardware to software as utilities look to squeeze additional value out of the vast amounts of grid data now available.”

What’s a ‚smart grid’?
But what exactly is a smart grid? In essence, it’s an answer to the problem that has plagued electricity suppliers since the first electrical grids had been installed more than a century ago. The basic issue with all utilities of that type is the cost of work and maintenance: any repairs or upgrades in the infrastructure have to be done on an ongoing basis and are very costly. And yet, generators malfunction over time, wires and stations wear out. And such is the reality of our civilization that almost everything depends on electricity. Many appliances, computers and electrical equipment require continuous and very steady energy supply in order to function properly, and a break or fluctuation can be disastrous.

It can happen any time a very popular televised event starts – like during the Winter Olympic Games, when a million people, all at once, turn their television sets on to see a figure skater get her coveted gold medal. In summer, during the hottest days whole cities turn on their air conditioners simultaneously. This means that energy consumption is never a flat line, there’re almost entirely unpredictable sudden spikes in electrical energy usage that account for about 1% of the time the grid is functional. This requires an additional 10% of overhead capacity, made available by electrical current generators that are always running (a „spinning reserve„), even though 99% of the time their operation is not needed, simply because otherwise the system would take too long to start them up in time to avoid breaks in power supply. It is a huge waste of money and resources.

Thankfully, it’s not all bad. Newer technology makes some devices „aware” of that „peak” time, by sending specific signals via wireless technology to the appliances and asking them to „ease up” on the juice in peak hours. This is one of the basic elements being used in smart grids, the other being a network of simple meters that check how much electricity is being used this very moment by this exact machine or household. Smart grids are essentially comprised of such meters, installed over the grid or within electrical equipment, and capable of measuring single-household energy consumption and possibly communicating with „intelligent” devices, like Smart TVs or fridges.

The idea is very simple: a special program is running at the utilities company that collects all of the data from all of those meters in real time. This data is analyzed against time, peak use, how long it takes, etc. Then, regularities are estimated and parts of the grid that are less or more used can be appropriately „boosted” or slowed. This is possible because most electrical grids already have certain redundancies built into them aside from the abovementioned running generators. For example, if one cable somewhere breaks, there’s always an alternative route by which energy can be delivered to people’s houses.  In case of floods, earthquakes or severe storms, this may be compromised, but under regular circumstances, technicians can eventually find the way to deliver electricity omitting the broken part or cable. It takes time, and people’s money, to restore electricity when it goes out, though.

With smart grid the whole process takes milliseconds. The system is „aware” of how the electricity is being transferred, where to direct possible reroutes and which generators need to be kept „spinning”. Peak use can not only be measured and predicted – it can also be controlled. All of that is possible because data is being collected and processed in real time from thousands or millions of homes at once, and power stations can respond to that use very fast. It would not have been possible 20 or 30 years ago, but since the advent of Wi-Fi and the whole range of similar wireless data transfer technologies, meters can be very easily implemented.

The first smart grid called Telegestore was installed back in 2005 in Italy. There, an initial investment of EUR 2.1 bln has been recouped many times over: every year, the company saves on maintenance and cost of electricity to the tune of EUR 500 mln. Another good example is a system that has been continuously upgraded in Austin, Texas, since 2003. There it’s a mesh network of meters, smart thermostats and sensors. Currently more than half a million devices are being continuously monitored and adjusted, saving the region a lot of money and preventing blackouts.

Is China faking it?
China seems to be genuinely willing to clean up its act, as evidenced by a recent WWF research carried into the future of renewable energy in China. The researchers are adamant that China can use up to 80% of energy from just renewable sources by 2050, becoming the cleanest technologically advanced country in the world. That future would be within reach of the People’s Republic „by fully embracing energy conservation, efficiency and renewables,” according to WWF China’s Lunyan Lu. In 2012, China was the world’s top green energy investor, leading the pack with USD 65 bln investment compared to the US’ „paltry” USD 36 bln.

However, at the same time, analysts claim that it’s mostly a last-ditch effort to make the streets in China’s cities less smoggy. Even though Premier Li Keqiang recently sat at the meeting where USD 1.65 bln were set aside to combat air pollution, 16 of 20 of the world’s most polluted cities are still located in the country. Recent Greenpeace study cites air pollution as the cause of more than 8500 deaths at the cost of more than 1 billion dollars in 2012; that’s in just four largest cities in China.

According to a recent Global Post article, China invests heavily into green technology in numbers only. Data provided by the US Energy Information Administration show that China’s energy in 2011 came mostly from fossil fuels – it was 69% from the „dirtiest” source, coal, and 18% from its nearest „dirty cousin”, oil. China’s addiction to coal grows, not lessens in time: by 2015, Beijing plans to increase the amount of coal it mines by an additional 860 million metric tons a year, which is more than 150% of what India outputs annually.

So far, China’s track record with green tech is rather chequered, even though they are clearly trying very hard to reverse the over-industrialization trends. Their smart-grid plans appear to be a little more realistic than other green efforts, especially since already more than 250 million smart meters have been installed. Unlike the small-scale experiments in smart grids in Italy, the US and elsewhere, where there’s simply too many companies to make a large-scale move to a unified smart grid, China’s centralized economy may actually be an advantage. The State Grid Corporation which owns most of the electrical utilities market in the People’s Republic can introduce a smart grid much more efficiently than a dozen competing free-market companies ever would. That, at least, may be the key to making China a little greener in the future, if not right away.

VOCABULARY
to cut down on sth – ograniczyć (spożycie) czegoś
carbon emissions – emisje węgla (dwutlenku węgla)
renewable energy – energia odnawialna
reliance on sth – zależność od czegoś
coal – węgiel (np. do opału)
ahead of the pack – przed konkurencją
efficiency – wydajność
in tune with sth – zgodnie z czymś, pasując do czegoś
wireless – bezprzewodowy
unprecedented – bezprecedensowy
smart grid – inteligentna sieć energetyczna
to overtake sb – wyprzedzić kogoś
the People’s Republic – Republika Ludowa (o Chinach)
significant – znaczny
to account for X – stanowić X, wynosić X
outlays – nakłady, wydatki
to drive – napędzać, zasilać
shift from sth to sth – zmieniać się z czegoś na/w coś
utilities – spółki dostarczające media (prąd, gaz itp.)
to squeeze – wycisnąć
value – wartość
vast – ogromny
data – dane
in essence – w gruncie rzeczy
century – wiek
maintenance – utrzymanie techniczne
upgrade – modernizacja
on an ongoing basis – stale, bez ustanku
to malfunction – mieć awarie, źle funkcjonować
to wear out – zużywać się
to depend on sth – zależeć od czegoś, polegać na czymś
appliance – urządzenie, sprzęt gospodarstwa domowego
to require – wymagać
steady – stały
supply – dostawa
fluctuation – wahanie
disastrous – katastrofalny
televised event – wydarzenie transmitowane przez TV
to turn sth on – włączyć coś
figure skater – łyżwiarka figurowa
coveted – upragniony
air conditioner – klimatyzator
simultaneously – jednocześnie
consumption – zużycie, spożycie
unpredictable – nieprzewidywalny
sudden – nagły
spike – gwałtowny, krótkotrwały wzrost
overhead – tu: nadmiarowy
capacity – pojemność
electrical current – prąd
spinning reserve – rezerwa wirująca
to take long – zająć dużo czasu
waste – marnowanie
resources – zasoby
device – urządzenie
aware – świadomy
peak – szczytowy
specific – konkretny
via – za pośrednictwem
to ease up on sth – odpuścić sobie coś, dać z czymś luz
juice – tu: prąd
meter – miernik, licznik
this very moment – (w) tym dokładnie momencie
exact – konkretny, precyzyjny
household – gospodarstwo domowe
essentially – w gruncie rzeczy
to comprise of sth – składać się z
equipment – sprzęt
capable of sth – zdolny do czegoś
fridge – lodówka
in real time – w czasie rzeczywistym
against sth – tu: w kontekście czegoś, w porównaniu do czegoś
regularities – regularności, zależności
estimated – szacowany
appropriately – odpowiednio
to boost – wzmocnić, pobudzić
redundancy – tu: redundancja, wykonanie nadmiarowe
abovementioned – wyżej wymieniony
route – droga
to deliver – dostarczyć
flood – powódź
earthquake – trzęsienie ziemi
severe – ostry, silny
to compromise sth – narazić coś na szwank
technician – technik, specjalista
eventually – ostatecznie
to omit – omijać
to restore sth – przywrócić coś
to go out – tu: wysiąść (o elektryczności)
to direct sth – skierować coś
reroute – przekierowanie
to measure – zmierzyć
to predict – przewidzieć
to process – obrabiać, przetwarzać
power station – elektrownia
to respond – odpowiedzieć
advent – nadejście
to implement – wdrożyć
initial – wstępny
to recoup – odzyskać (straty)
to the tune of X – w okolicach X (sumy)
mesh network – sieć o strukturze siatki/kraty
thermostat – termostat
sensor – czujnik
to adjust – dostosować
to prevent sth – zapobiec czemuś
blackout – przerwa w dostawie prądu
to fake sth – udawać coś
genuinely – autentycznie
willing – chętny
to clean up one’s act – wejść na dobrą drogę, zacząć dobrze się prowadzić
to evidence sth – świadczyć o czymś
research – badania
to carry sth (out) – przeprowadzić coś
adamant – stanowczy, przekonany
within reach of sb – w czyimś zasięgu
to embrace sth – zaakceptować coś
compared to sth – w porównaniu do czegoś
paltry – mierny, śmiesznie mały
last-ditch effort – ostatnia szansa, ostatni wysiłek
smoggy – pełen smogu
to combat sth – zwalczać coś
air pollution – zanieczyszczenie powietrza
fossil fuel – paliwo kopalne
addiction to sth – uzależnienie od czegoś
to mine – wydobywać
metric ton – tona metryczna
to output – produkować
annually – rocznie
track record – historia dokonań/sukcesów
chequered – nierówny, pełen sukcesów i porażek
to reverse – odwrócić
small-scale – małej wielkości, na niewielką skalę (tylko przed rzeczownikiem)
large-scale – duży, na wielką skalę (tylko przed rzeczownikiem)
unified – ujednolicony
advantage – zaleta, atut
dozen – tuzin
competing – konkurujący

-by Prochor Aniszczuk

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