Digital Power – This is the path to a new grid running on renewables

To counter the threat of climate change, it’s essential to curtail carbon emissions. This will require a digital transformation of the power grid. In this 7-part course from Huawei’s talent development program Seeds for the Future, Mike MacDonald takes a deep dive into digital power and what it will take to complete the transition to a grid powered by renewables. 

Part 1: The need for a new grid

Despite all the talk about renewable energy, we still rely on fossil fuel for most of our power needs. In this introductory video, Mike provides an overview of the elements required to build a distributed power grid. It will involve large-scale energy storage, cars powered by batteries or hydrogen, wind and solar farms, and a lot of digitalization.

Part 2: Greener generation

Greener power generation involves far more than setting up lots of solar panels. It’s also about networking thousands of renewable energy sources and managing them in the cloud. In addition, digitalization can boost the performance of traditional power plants and prevent power wastage.

Part 3: Storage is key

The sun isnt shining at night and its not windy all the time. To create a grid mostly powered by renewables, energy storage is key. Batteries are one way to store energy, but there are many other ways.

Part 4: Low-carbon transportation

Transportation accounts for a signification portion of carbon emissions. Electric vehicles will help to reduce transportation emissions, especially once most electricity comes from renewable sources.  But what needs to happens for electric vehicles to be a practical solution? And how can digitalization help? Mike explains.

Part 5: Green sites

Digitalization plays an essential role in deploying a smart grid powered by renewables and in reducing energy wastage. But what is the ICT sector doing to improve its own carbon footprint? In part 5, we learn how the antenna sites that make wireless communications possible are constantly improving their sustainability.

Part 6: Energy-efficient data centers

We increasingly rely on data centers for cloud computing and data storage. ICT companies invest a lot of resources in reducing the carbon footprint and improving the energy efficiency of data centers. Here, we learn the very latest trends in how data centers are designed, built, and the technologies they implement.

Part 7: Living with a smart grid

In the final chapter, we learn what living with a smart grid will feel like. Smart homes, self-driving cars, windows that decide how much sunlight to let in, holographic phone calls… Living in a low-carbon world won’t diminish the quality of our lives.