Holes in the electricity grid cause wasted energy and unnecessary emissions

Loss of electricity in the grid causes wasted energy and the emission of hundreds of millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year. Small and local electricity grids are a green and profitable alternative to the centralized grids used today, and the Israeli economy may also benefit from this

By: Dor Sandler, Angle - news agency for science and the environment

The way in which information is distributed around the world has undergone a fundamental change in recent years. Distributed networks that do not depend on a central administrator are becoming more and more common (cloud services, blockchain), and they allow receiving services in a much more efficient and stable way. But will other networks be able to catch up? The familiar structure of the electricity network was established in the first half of the last century - a network that is built around a few high-power production centers and flows electricity unidirectionally to all consumers through long transmission lines. It turns out that this outdated structure has an environmental price. This is what an American study published in Nature recently found, which examined the climatic consequences of losing energy in the global electricity grid.

In the face of the climate crisis, the main efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector are focused on clean supply (switching to renewable energies, for example) or on reducing demand and encouraging energy savings and efficiency. But what happens to the energy on the way from the power plant to the outlet? In any electricity network, a certain percentage of the energy produced is wasted before reaching the consumer. And so, the greenhouse gases that are emitted in the production of this energy actually constitute excess pollution. Dr. Yael Perag, Deputy Dean of the School of Sustainability at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, explains: "The location of the electricity production is of great importance. The loss in the network is, among other things, a function of the space". She cites Texas as an example - which is indeed the leading country in the production of wind energy in the US, but the electricity there is produced hundreds of kilometers from the centers of consumption. As the distance between the center of production and consumption increases, the potential for power loss along the way increases. Most of the energy loss in networks around the world occurs as a result of technical reasons, but human factors are also considered in this calculation, such as pirated connections to the network or falsification of meter readings.

According to the study, during 2016 approximately 1700 terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy were lost in electricity networks worldwide (an amount equal to approximately 30 times the total amount of electricity consumed in Israel per year). In terms of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere, it is about 950 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent that were emitted and fueled the greenhouse effect unnecessarily. According to European Union data, this is a greater amount than the total emissions of France, Italy and Spain together in the same year. However, there is reason for optimism: the authors of the article stated that up to half of the unnecessary emissions at the global level can be prevented by a combination of technological and economic measures.

Microgrid: Electricity produced down the street

One tool that is gaining popularity in recent years in this context is the "microgrid". According to Pereg, these are local electricity networks that can function as an independent "island" of production, distribution and consumption. Although there is no single definition for the dimensions of such a network, it usually covers a small settlement, an industrial area or designated complexes such as a university campus. A consumer in a microgrid can generate electricity using renewable energy and sell the excess, which will then be used by his neighbor. The prices are flexible and allow optimal management of network loads while encouraging consumption savings. The environmental advantage is twofold - paving the way for the use of non-polluting energies and reducing the loss of energy over long distances. In Israel, in addition, there is a security advantage to establishing decentralized power generation networks and facilities, this is due to the ever-increasing threat of precision rockets and cruise missiles on security facilities and various infrastructure facilities, including power plants.

A new Israeli study led by Dr. Pereg and Malcolm Einspan tried to translate all these benefits into economic benefit. Along with the environmental consideration, using a microgrid may save the investment in expensive transport infrastructure, provide local employment opportunities and reduce damage to supplies in cases of natural disasters or military conflict. The study was based on data relevant to Israel and examined the usefulness of a microgrid with a power of 10 megawatts (for comparison, the power plant in Hadera has a power of over 2500 megawatts). Even under conservative assumptions, the advantages of the microgrid generate a profit worth more than 250 thousand dollars per year compared to the conventional equivalent, thanks, among other things, to considerable savings in transmission and distribution infrastructures.

learn from the kibbutzim

Israel is considered one of the most efficient countries in the world in the field of energy loss, thanks to a relatively modern electricity network that is spread over a small area. As of 2016, only 4.3% of the electricity produced in Israel is considered wasted, compared to the OECD average of 6.4%. But the authors of the article claim that we definitely have something to gain from weaning ourselves off centralized networks. The electric company itself estimates that annual energy loss costs the economy tens of millions of dollars due to excess burning of hundreds of thousands of tons of fuel (mainly polluting coal). These emissions alone produce pollution equivalent to that emitted by approximately 150 private vehicles per year.

"There is currently no use of a microgrid in Israel, and a regulatory change is required," states Pereg. "There is no dedicated series of the subject. There are regulations for production, storage or trade, but microgrid is not looked at as a holistic system." Absurdly, precisely in Israel, microgrid-like networks developed naturally in kibbutzim, "but the regulation killed their ability to function as a real microgrid", she says. The kibbutz is responsible for the distribution of electricity in its area independently, but the law forces private producers (for example solar ones) to sell excess production back to the national grid instead of directly to the dairy down the street."

An encouraging interim step in this area was announced a few months ago, when the Electricity Authority began regulating small natural gas-based installations for the combined production of electricity and heat (CHP). According to the Authority's forecast, in 2020 this type of combined production may reach 18% of the electricity sector's output. Local production on a small scale is certainly expected to reduce energy losses, but continuing to think in terms of the old world, which insists on separating producer and consumer, makes it difficult to fully utilize the smart, distributed and green microgrid.