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A new study by MIT researchers looked at the potential for grid-edge resources to enhance the ability of the electric grid to respond to unforeseen power outages. Grid-edge resources are devices found close to consumers rather than located near central power plants, substations, or transmission lines. These include residential solar panels, storage batteries, electric vehicles, heat pumps, smart thermostats and smart water heaters.

These grid-edge devices can independently generate, store, or tune their consumption of power and increasingly, they are online internet-of-things devices. The MIT study outlined a blueprint for how such devices could reinforce the power grid through a local electricity market. Owners of grid-edge devices could subscribe to such a market and essentially loan out their device as part of a microgrid or local network as on-call energy resources.

Electric vehicles could provide power rather than consuming it when necessary. Storage batteries could do the same. Devices like smart dishwashers and thermostats would reduce their power demands when necessary.

In the event that the main power grid is compromised, an algorithm would determine which grid-edge devices were available and trustworthy and would either use them to pump power into the grid or reduce the power they are drawing from it in order to help mitigate the power failure.

The MIT researchers illustrated this grid resilience strategy through a number of grid attack scenarios including failures from cyber-attacks and natural disasters. Their analysis showed that various networks of grid-edge devices are capable of defeating various types of grid failures.

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Rooftop panels, EV chargers, and smart thermostats could chip in to boost power grid resilience

Photo, posted October 10, 2019, courtesy of Noya Fields via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Northern White Rhinos are virtually extinct; only two female individuals survive in Kenya. Southern White Rhinos also nearly vanished early in the 20th century, mostly because of excessive hunting. A surviving group of fewer than 100 animals was identified in South Africa, and ongoing conservation efforts led to the existing population of southern white rhinos, which now numbers more than 16,000.

Among the most successful conservation efforts took place at a 30-square-mile farm, Platinum Rhino, that was set up in 2009 about 100 miles southwest of Johannesburg. The owner of the farm did a great job of maintaining genetic diversity of the herd and protecting it from poachers. Eventually, it was costing $175,000 a month just for security against illegal hunters seeking rhino horns.

Faced with unsustainable expenses, the farm put the herd of 2,000 rhinos up for auction in April with a starting price of $10 million. No bidders came forward.

Fortunately, in September, the conservation group African Parks announced that it had reached a deal to take over the herd. African Parks partners with 12 countries in Africa to manage 77,000 square miles of protected areas.

The plan is to start moving the rhinos into a series of new sites in the wild starting next year. Moving the 5,000-pound animals to new locations will be complicated and expensive, costing anywhere from $1,500 to move a single rhino by land within South Africa to $50,000 for far afield air transport. African Parks is now raising funds to relocate the animals.

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Now Available: 2,000 Rhinos, Free to Good Homes With Plenty of Space

Photo, posted September 4, 2023, courtesy of Eric Huybrechts via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio