Smartgrids – a new method of economic innovation
The communications revolution is shifting the national and global focus towards e-health, e-education and smart grids. Increasingly we are seeing governments around the world undertaking national broadband initiatives as awareness grows that broadband infrastructure can also be used by other sectors such as healthcare, education and government services as well as by smart grids and digital media. Another key reason is that, in the context of the recent economic crisis, they see this development as a new method of economic innovation.
Such an approach will increasingly need to be based on a trans-sector concept and these digital developments need to be able tap into the economic and social multiplier effect that new broadband and smart grid infrastructure investments have to offer – the same infrastructure can be used by all. For this to become economically viable, open infrastructure needs to be available to these sectors on a utilities basis. It does not make economic sense for all of these sectors to develop and run their own communications infrastructure. The economic and social benefits of such an approach makes it necessary for the government to take a leadership role to make this happen.
Countries around the world are now recognising the urgent need to address issues such global warming, CO2 emissions and the need for energy savings. Electricity generation is the single largest contributor to global CO2 emissions, but also offers the greatest potential for reducing such emissions in the short and medium term via smart grids and smart metering.
The USA and Australia are two countries that are leading the world in smart grid development and in October 2009, as part of its economic recovery package, the US government awarded over $3.4 billion of matching grants for the development of smart grids. The funding will underpin more than $8 billion worth of intelligent energy technology projects and will provide a significant stimulus to growth of this sector.
Around the world, many of us now live in cities and over the last century, cities that hold more than one million people have increased from around 20 to 450. The infrastructure systems used in these cities to manage water, energy, food supply, transport, communication, economic and social structures are faltering however, so it now makes sense to explore what city communities can do to survive, and even thrive, in the changing environment. Cities are also the major polluters, as they generate the vast bulk of CO2 emissions. This leads us to the concept of smart communities, of which smart grids and intelligent infrastructure based on broadband are an integral element.
Before these smart communities can be built, trans-sector policies and strategies need to be developed. They simply can’t be built from the current silo structure that dominates our thinking and require a holistic approach. This includes considering environmental issues such as self sufficient energy buildings, energy exchanges for renewable energy and e-cars, delivery of e-health, e-education, e-government services as well as digital media and Internet services.
The Smart Grid Virtual Summit 2010 running on March 18 is a one day online conference focused on the very latest technology advances, standards, deployments, and business, issues driving the smart grid industry.
For more information on the Summit see – http://www.smartgrid-vsummit.com./
For more information see –
- Australia – Smart Grid Market
- Global Smart Grids – Intelligent Energy Technology
- Global Next Generation Telecoms – FttH and Trans-Sector Strategies
Tagged in: Global
