Solar renewable technologies and the Turkey and Syria earthquake: Lynn News View From a Shed column
View From a Shed by Kevin Holland
The recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria got me thinking about how renewable technologies are not only changing the way we live our lives with regards to our own electricity generation as we ramp up the decarbonisation of the grid, but also the sudden and immediate impact it can have in times of a crisis.
I know from my own experiences in emergency planning, albeit nearly 20 years ago now, how critical it is to set up communication hubs to coordinate a response on the ground during a 'sudden impact' event.
During earthquakes the grid goes down. No one has water, power or communications. When this happened in Chile nearly 13 years ago, an American company called Goal Zero was one of the first to respond with aid.
It came in the form of a few containers, full of folding solar panels, portable power packs and lights. Instant power to help a community coordinate a response.
There used to be a solar company in Swaffham where the owner had 'invented' a trailer. Fully loaded with batteries and various power outlets and a rig for a few solar panels to go on top. Capable of being towed, and indeed pulled or pushed to a suitable location.
Instant power for a building site reducing generator use. Instant power for field hospitals, instant power for community communication hubs where devices can be charged so people can 'get stuff done'. This was 12 years ago!
He also affixed solar panels to rucksacks and garden furniture, one to make power accessible anywhere, but also to remind people how simple it is to generate power.
The marine and travelling community understand all too well how to generate power on the move and through various incentives over the years on top of the recent energy price rises, renewable technology is becoming more and more popular for the savvy homeowner as well.
Bringing it back to what solar can do for us in an emergency here in West Norfolk? Well, we'd have to look at the various typical threats we have.
Here in The Fens we have overhead cables and high winds and the old boy down the road with his hay bailer all doing their best to ensure we have several outages a year.
Many homeowners now have the ability to run a few appliances and lights during an outage due to solar and battery systems they have had installed.
Some live fully off grid, purely down to renewables alone and whilst that is not easy to do on solar alone, it is possible for the lowest of energy users. On fully grid connected houses, the hybrid solar systems allow the solar system to operate in a power cut as well as any energy stored in a battery.
It's amazing to think how far the world has come in the last decade or so with regards to renewable energy.
As I write this column, I'm also tracking energy supplies across the globe through https://app.electricitymaps.com/map which shows energy used, where it comes from and how it's made.
At time of writing, 9am on a cold February morning, the UK is producing 33% of its energy from renewables. It's below freezing outside with a deep frost.
Portugal is currently 87% renewable, Iceland 100% renewable, most of Norway's district grids are running at 100% renewable energy, Lithuania 51% and what’s left of Turkey's national grid is running at 40% generated from renewables.
So whilst solar energy and other renewable technologies will be deployed in double quick time in disaster zones and at the ground zero of sudden impact events, they are also powering our lives to a greener, cleaner future.
And boy do we all need that in our lives.
