Social Context
Why are we looking at microgrids?
In the past decade there have been global strides to address climate change as it becomes an ever larger problem. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are one of the main causes behind this change and are motivating smaller communities and groups to make changes (IPCC 2018). The Lafayette Climate Action Plan developed in 2011 and recently overhauled in the fall of 2018 exemplifies the commitment Lafayette has made to the Lafayette community. This plan addresses the ACUPCC’s (American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment) focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The ultimate goal of this commitment is carbon neutrality by 2035 (Lafayette College, 2011). Lafayette’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) outlines “specific strategies to ultimately lower greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and achieve climate neutrality” (Lafayette College, 2011). These strategies have been implemented in stages, starting with energy conservation measures (ECMs) to ultimately lower Lafayette’s GHG emissions in the future (Lafayette College, 2011). In October of 2018 the board of trustees were presented with a revised climate action plan with modified goals. One of the goals, zero emissions by 2035, may seem ambitious but there have been over 20 alternatives identified for reducing campus emissions that could help Lafayette achieve zero emissions. Microgrids are one alternative that can address emissions problems on campus. Microgrids offer Lafayette several benefits, namely emissions reductions and energy security.
Microgrids facilitate zero emissions, something various other colleges have already been working towards (Farzan, 2013). Lafayette has the capability to compete with these schools such as Trinity College and Dickinson College who have installed microgrids on their respective campuses (Hermes, 2018, Lyons 2014 ). There are other colleges and universities, like University of California at San Diego, that have developed their own microgrids and are researching more efficient methods to run microgrids, (Washom, 2013). Lafayette’s competitors are taking steps towards carbon neutrality, and alternatives like a microgrids, giving Lafayette an opportunity to catch up.
Another benefit microgrids would provide Lafayette is their convenient implementation on campus. Lafayette’s infrastructure is aging and inefficient, making the emissions problem worse. Updating the steam heating infrastructure with a combined heat and power plant controlled by a microgrid could help alleviate these emissions problems by increasing overall efficiency. Besides combined heat and power, microgrids are able to be installed with most other green energy alternatives like wind, solar, or distributed energy resources. The adaptability of a microgrid enables it to encompass multiple different energy sources. Microgrid have the ability to operate “off the grid,” or, in island mode. Being able to function as an island allows Lafayette to have a secure power source. This energy security would allow Lafayette to maintain critical functions like heating and power during crisis situations and allow students to stay safe. Decentralizing the power source allows the buildings in the microgrid to act independently, so the college gains control over its power.
Installing a microgrid will have long term impacts on the college with monetary savings and competing with other schools. Microgrids could attract new students who may be interested in grid engineering, alternative energies, or power generation. A microgrid and other sources of clean energy generation will allow Lafayette to open up new courses in energy management with the opportunity to work on Lafayette’s microgrid. This could attract more students and add educational opportunities to Lafayette’s students. Therefore, a microgrid can intrinsically benefit Lafayette’s community. Intrinsic social benefits are benefits to the community that are not assigned a monetary value. Important social benefits can persuade prospective students to view Lafayette as a more sustainable community, competing with other schools and opening up the possibility of more donations from alumni who support this cause. This means that alumni can help to fund the installation costs and become more involved in emissions reduction at their alma mater. Social benefits are hard to assign a real monetary value to because they are uncertain, but they have the capability of having a real impact. Non-market values would have a long term pay off for the college and could do a lot to make a better school image as well as address the Climate Action Plan. Being ‘intangible externalities’ means Lafayette would have to assign its own values to these attributes.
Lafayette College’s emphasis on the Climate Action Plan to change to no emissions by 2035 means that there is a social cost of carbon being accounted for. One of the largest social costs to grapple with in any talk of emissions reduction is the social cost of carbon. The reason we want to look at the social cost of carbon is because the market omits it while it still contributes to climate change, and can have a large impact on the decisions the college will make (Parker, 2018). An outline for creating a cost of carbon created by Ms. Parker at Smith College is an example of the emphasis placed on carbon emissions as a real cost to account for. Parker was able to internalize the social cost of carbon and view it in a financial setting. Including this cost will allow the college to judge each alternative fairly with what the current energy supply situation is. Microgrids will only help reduce emissions as well with the capability to use both on site power and utility power depending on demand.
In the past, Director of Facility Operations, Bruce Ferretti was able to bring up natural gas-based-microgrids to the board of trustees, but infrastructure and 3rd party barriers halted any advance (Ferretti, 2018, Hayes, 2018). A natural gas fed microgrid is possible, but that is outside the scope of the Climate Action Plan as well as require UGI, Lafayette’s natural gas provider, to invest in updating natural gas infrastructure. The Climate Action Plan calls for a reduction in emissions, and a switch to green energy sources (Lafayette College, 2011). Natural gas is viewed as a ‘cleaner’ fossil fuel, but there are still emissions. The existing infrastructure at Lafayette would support natural gas fed power, but while natural gas is a more efficient fuel source, natural gas is not a renewable energy. Feasibility of this goes up when it is applied in a combined heat and power (CHP) setting.
Combined heat and power systems could use this and reduce costs of implementing new infrastructure. Combined heat and power uses excess heat from power generation to heat up water, or another heating substance, to heat buildings. This makes the power generation more efficient by taking the excess heat and put it to use for heating the buildings, making the inefficiency of power generation suddenly seem ‘more efficient’. This fits well into the current infrastructure, and natural gas can be substituted for an alternative fuel such as gasified wood (Wallace 2010)
Microgrids differ from the macrogrid because they are more localized and easily changed. This flexibility allows microgrids to adapt to many different situations. Every state, county, and town has different social contexts that must be thought about before choosing the best microgrid option for that area. For Lafayette College, with the recent Climate Action Plan revision in late 2018 and the new goal of carbon neutrality by 2035, microgrids may make sense. Looking at the identities that make a location unique is the key to understanding the social contexts and knowing emissions and energy production sources may be up in the air helps to establish microgrids as a plausible part of the overall plan.
Microgrids have a variety of different technological options that can be used to meet specific needs of a the facility considering them. Lafayette is currently considering three types of microgrids. The first would provide solely backup power generation in case of emergency or need. The second option would be able to operate outside of emergency situations, and potentially buy or sell energy depending on need. The third option would provide power for the campus completely independently of the macrogrid. A microgrid at Lafayette can be used as a emergency response to ensure that critical processes like: power for lighting, heating, or air conditioning stay on during natural disasters or blackouts. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the college, and facilities had to decide whether to continue operation and allow students to stay on campus or send students home due to the lack of power. This was an especially tough decision because while the power was out the college, the dorms lacked heat during the cold weather that moved in after the storm. Students were encouraged to go home to alleviate the load on the college and to ensure their safety. At the very least, emergency response systems could help to sustain critical processes on Lafayette during an outage. This emergency response would provide a sense of safety and energy security among the student body, as well as parents peace of mind during an emergency.
The second option is similar to the first type of microgrid except with demand response added. This would provide energy to the school in times of desperate need. The department of energy states that “Demand response provides an opportunity for consumers to play a significant role in the operation of the electric grid by reducing or shifting their electricity usage during peak periods in response to time-based rates or other forms of financial incentives.” (energy.gov, n.d., 25). Demand response technology can reduce electricity prices for users by managing the supply and demand of energy. This type of microgrid will be economically beneficial and appealing to the College and stays in the scope of the Climate Action Plan. Demand response technology is meant to help add a dynamic to the microgrid that analyzes which areas have the most and least energy usage on top of energy audits that have already been done (Fechik-Kirk & DeSalvo, 2018). Students will play a big roll in this type of technology because they can help review this dynamic analysis of the demand for electricity in certain areas. Having this type of microgrid at Lafayette college will allow greater energy security and more data on how energy is used at the college.
The last option would be a microgrid that incorporates combined heat and power (CHP) technology. CHP is a specific type of energy production that incorporates the production of electricity and heat. Microgrids that use CHP technology have three main benefits. First, they provide electricity and thermal power from a single source of energy increasing power generation efficiency. Secondly, CHP has a type of distributed generation that decentralizes energy generation in that the generator would be close to the grid, unlike central station generation other renewables like solar could do this but not to the extent CHP does. Lastly, the ability to use the heat from energy generation to provide heat to buildings that would have otherwise been lost through generation. According to the Department of Energy, a CHP system will run at around 65-75 percent unlike the national average of 50 percent (energy.gov, n.d., 28). Having this increased efficiency when looking at the social context will show that even without renewables, a CHP microgrid can still stay in the scope of the Climate Action Plan. Using energy, especially energies that are nonrenewable, in an efficient manner will provide another example of an educational institution using alternative energy and promote CHP with renewable energies. This possible momentum of efficient energy usage will put pressure on power companies to further increase their own efficiency. UGI is one of the main power companies that provide electricity to the Pennsylvania population and to give them another example of successful CHP will only help. Installing a CHP microgrid in Lafayette could create this momentum for energy efficient microgrids and will put pressure on companies to promote more efficient uses of power and electricity. Allowing Lafayette to compete with schools doing the same thing as well as lead by example.
All of these microgrid options have the opportunity to give back the community in a variety of forms. An example would be providing a community center during the middle of a natural disaster. A community center will provide power to the people that are in need. Having this available to the residents of college hill and maybe even Easton could possibly improve Lafayette’s reputation. An increased reputation will help with a variety of facets involving the college. A few examples could be donations, recruitment, and a more positive view on Lafayette expansion.