Could Diesel Provide Back-Up Power To The USA Grid?

We live in an era of shortages and rationing and so one thing on the mind of many businesses this winter is power outages, or blackouts. An online event looking at this problem from a USA perspective may be interesting for insurers and agents alike.

With national discussions on clean energy and increasing future reliance on electric power, a new focus on reliability and resilience of the grid to supply continuous electrical power is emerging. Leaders in electric power system solutions and the Diesel Technology Forum announced that registration is now open for a new virtual event to be held November 9, 2021 from 3:00 to 4:30 pm ET. The event will explore solutions for ensuring grid reliability and resilience through backup power solutions that include strategies for reducing greenhouse gas and other emissions and helping boost resiliency. The event is free but registration in advance is required.

“Heightened concerns and greater demands on the nation’s electric grid are growing topics of conversation, and our virtual event will speak directly to these emerging concerns and the solutions available featuring the leaders in backup power solutions including Caterpillar, Cummins, Rolls-Royce Power Systems, Volvo Penta and Johnson Matthey,” said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, a not-for-profit educational group.  

Extreme weather events in 2021 have brought the importance of backup power systems into greater focus. In recent months, freak winter weather conditions shutdown entire parts of Texas, Hurricane Ida ravaged the gulf coast to the Northeast with flooding and power outages, and wildfires necessitated the shutdown of electric grid in parts of California for multiple days. Earlier this week, the west coast experienced severe storms – a “bomb cyclone” – that left over 150,000 people without power.

Headlines in the October 25 Washington Post “Longer, more frequent outages afflict the U.S. power grid as states fail to prepare for climate change,” paint a broad picture of the challenges to fortify the grid against increasingly sever weather.

“Thanks to its response time, load carrying capacity and reliability, diesel is the gold standard for emergency backup power, and this segment will explore that role, the role of gaseous fuels and a glimpse at the future, as well as opportunities to upgrade existing units, utilize low-carbon renewable biobased diesel fuels and other strategies to reduce emissions and improve efficiency will be discussed at this event,” said Schaeffer.

“This session features global business leaders in electric power solutions with several decades of combined experience who will share insights on the state of electric power systems today – emergency backup and standby, the options for new installations and a glimpse at the future for existing and new technologies.

“Our national attention is focused on strategies to tackle climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide, with most attention going to the transportation sector, passenger vehicles and commercial trucks. But there are also important considerations and strategies for helping businesses and governments to prepare for more extreme climate-related weather events and ensure a resilient and reliable supply of continuous electrical power.”

Attendance at this virtual event is free, but pre-registration is required. Register now!

About alastair walker 12099 Articles
20 years experience as a journalist and magazine editor. I'm your contact for press releases, events, news and commercial opportunities at Insurance-Edge.Net

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