As the pace of change relentlessly marches on, one thing seems clear: We’re going to need more electricity pretty soon.
There are at least two important signals of this. One is the growth of the electric vehicle market. American icon General Motors is among the carmakers that says its entire fleet will be electric-powered by 2035, and the company is not alone in making such plans.
This means that in a few years, a lot more people will be recharging their car batteries regularly, whether at home or at other places, and they will need electricity to do it.
Presumably, utility companies are planning accordingly for this increase in demand. Think of how much gasoline is sold each day in any Mississippi county, and then swap part of that for electricity. It’s going to be a large amount.
And then there are rising temperatures. If this continues over the next few years, many people will have to endure longer, and perhaps hotter, summers.
That means more air conditioning, and this summer made it clear that at least two large markets in America are unprepared for the surge in demand.
A couple of months ago, Texas officials warned residents to conserve energy because high temperatures had placed so much air-conditioning demand on the electricity grid that it was at risk of shutting down. And last week, California officials issued a similar warning, as temperatures above 100 degrees increased the use of AC and put the state’s grid perilously close to “rolling brownouts,” where everyone takes turns losing electricity for a little while.
In both Texas and California, people cut back and the lights stayed on. But The Washington Post website had an interesting story predicting that more homes will install air conditioning units as the temperature keeps rising. It also said researchers and start-ups are hard at work coming up with new cooling systems that will save energy and don’t use refrigerants that, if released, can contribute to global warming.
Air conditioners are ripe for innovation. On the electricity end, the Post says that on very hot days, AC efficiency falls, which increases electricity demand. And during heat waves, air conditioning can account for 60% to 70% of electricity demand.
Newer air conditioners are using different refrigerants, which have less potential for harm and require less energy to do their work. Others are built to sense the outside temperature, using more energy when it’s 100 degrees but less when it’s not so hot.
Other prototypes are going for even bigger energy savings by eliminating today’s common refrigerants in favor of other ways to cool the air. One, for example, removes moisture from the air and stores it in a tank to control a building’s temperature.
The requirements for air conditioning are clear: Keep our buildings cool, use less energy, protect the environment. This is another perfect mission for American innovators.
Jack Ryan, Enterprise-Journal
