For most, where one’s energy comes from is of little concern. So long as the lights turn off and on, people can rest easy. However, for the scientists working within Harvard, the MIT Energy Initiative and Goddard Space Center, it is precisely the issue of energy infrastructure and allocation that keeps them up at night. For researchers to optimize the energy production of a particular city, 4 to 5 potential energy sources must be considered along with their associated market costs, availability, carbon profile and power output. These variables are then further complicated with factors like demand, market fluctuation, and the time of day or year. The result of all these considerations are tremendously complex differential equations without analytical solutions. Computer algorithms alone simply cannot tackle the issue.
Enter the Nova Labs Energy Challenge. After registering for an account, users are presented with a goal; optimize the city’s energy needs by providing the most energy for the least total cost and carbon emissions. The difficulty of the challenge ranges from installing solar panels in Tucson, Arizona, to balancing geothermal, wind, solar and biomass together in Los Angeles.
Participants are presented with potential maps that describe the availability of various energy sources across the United States. After the city to be optimized has been selected, its current energy profile is brought up (which usually illustrates a high dependance on coal or natural gas) in conjunction with average monthly demand, peak demand, as well as a projected budget and energy production target.
Energy Profile of Las Vegas–Click to Enlarge
Designing the system consists of moving a set of sliders, each of which corresponds to a different form of energy production. In this stage, not only is the number of solar panels, wind turbines or geothermal facilities considered, but their overall efficiency too. More efficient technologies are often orders of magnitude higher in cost. Increasing the efficiency of solar power from 12% to 13%, for example, put my project $30 million over budget. Also considered here, is the amount of land area available for development. Some cities, especially those in the southwest, have a larger area that can be lent to development, while cities on the eastern and western seaboards typically have less space for large construction projects.
System Design–Click to Enlarge
After your system has been created, the design is put to the test with a simulator that pits your model against the city’s energy consumption patterns for the past week or year. If your design diminishes CO2 emissions, has the least total cost and produces enough energy, then your score might be placed on the leader board. Presumably, it is the leaderboard profiles that are contribute the most to the research with their en pointe optimization practices.
System Simulation–Click to Enlarge
What is so striking about citizen science initiatives such as these is the way in which both parties, the researchers and the participants, can come away with new information. The Nova Labs Energy Challenge allows users to take a peek into policy issues and see why, exactly, it is so very difficult to systematically apply clean energy technologies. Surely, the scientist who acquire their data will be using it for societal benefit, however, what might be even more important than the impacts of the results of this experiment is the general public awareness that the process of experimentation begets. With initiatives such as these, the fundamental challenges of energy production become more tangible. The act of budgeting resources and money, as is done on the Nova Labs website, shows us how very difficult it can be to create a cleaner tomorrow. However, with Nova Lab users crafting solutions using today’s technology and today’s market prices, it also shows us how very near a clean energy future is.
