Electricity and The Grid Back to PSC 320 Main Website
Monday’s Class : The Electrical Grid
Before Class
- “The Grid” is the interconnected electricity generating facilities that carries this electrical power to all the consumers. The internet is to information as the grid is to electrical power. Read about it on wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission
- Please know what the Independent System Operator is: http://www.caiso.com/
- Please watch Electrical Grid video and see Grid Slides.
- Learn about how electricity is purchased with the video Electricity Markets and see slides from first part of Markets/Crisis/Smart Grid
- Read about the EPA’s struggles with the Trump Administration and the issue of whether facts exist as a provable truth.
- Check out Big Exam! #3 that we never took. I posted it and some solutions on the main class website.
- I sent you all an invitation to join the Appropriate Technology pages, so you could edit the self intervention website. Please join with FirstnameLastname, Like PeteSchwartz so I can tell who you are. Then, please tell your “don’t buy anything” narrative.
- Slides from Lecture 9 on Grid and Electricity Markets
During Class
- Do you have questions?
After Class
- Improve your note sheet for the test: 50 facts. A drawing is worth 10 facts.
Wednesday’s Class
Before Class
- I posted some information about MT#1 on the main class website under Exams
- See video: California Energy Crisis and the Smart Grid with slides from grid video.
- Make sure you understand the California Duck Curve and what we are doing to mitigate the challenges to stabilize the grid with increasing renewable energy. Read The Duck Has Landed.
- Read about our **New Invention** and consider how introducing a dispatchable load would help the California ISO (Independent Systems Operator) meet demand, or meet load.
- What we will learn is that California has not been acting as a regular state. On some levels, California has lead or been in direct opposition to Washington DC. Jerry Brown has brought this to a head with respect to Climate Change an Immigration: read CNN.
- This is not new. As recently as //republican// Arnold Schwarzenegger initiated “international” climate change mitigation talks with UK’s Tony Blair saying that President George W. Bush was “late to the after party party”
- Please read about the interesting legal struggles in our near future regarding states’ rights and climate change
- PS1 solutions posted on main class website.
- Art Rosenfeld passes. Read about it more if you like at his LBL website.
During Class
- Discuss all this stuff and prepare for Midterm.
After Class
- Prepare
Thursday: Midterm #1
Before Activity
- Practice some questions with formula sheet
- Watch this Smarter Every Day video about internal combustion engines. It’s optional, but you won’t regret it, it’s great.
- I posted solutions/commentary about PS#3 on the main class website.
- Improve your note sheet for the test: 50 facts. A drawing is worth 5 facts.
During Activity
- We will spend about 20 minutes in discussion
- 60 minutes in exam
- 20 minutes in discussion
After Activity
- Prepare for class tomorrow (see below)
Friday: Peak Oil
Before Class
- Please see Peak Oil and the Peak Oil Slides
- Please see Getting Tight Oil and Gas and the Tight Oil Slides
- Please read Fracking and Earthquakes NPR
- NPR new reserve found Haas publication of fracking and learn by doing
- US Gasoline Consumption Back Up Again
- Political Tension? What happens when the world’s most powerful country tells Saudi Arabia to increase oil production and they respond, “no, the problem is your budgetary mismanagement.” Take a look here.
- I should have invited you to be a member of the Appropriate Technology wikispaces – please join and log your “don’t throw anything away” self intervention.
During Class
- Review Midterm
After Class
- There is still a problem set due Monday – mostly corrections from the Midterm