Ep. 354: Setting standards for renewable cities
Guest: Dr. Walter Mérida
As much of the world switches over to electric transportation, the “What about this?” and “What about that?” questions are popping up from those people who are saying, “Not possible.”
On the other side of that discussion is Dr. Walter Mérida, who prefers to ask “What if?”, as in “What if there was a way to integrate all of our disparate urban infrastructure systems to create a cohesive, comprehensive, and connected platform – driven by low or no-carbon technologies?”
Dr Mérida isn’t just asking – he’s doing. His labs, which are energy innovation hubs, recently secured $23 million in public and private funding to convert a city-sized block on the University of British Columbia campus into a smart energy district.
The plan is to build an advanced solar array on top of a parking lot next to a substation. The parking lot will be retrofitted with bidirectional electric vehicle charging stations. That means these stations are equipped so that when vehicles plug in, the stored energy in the battery is sent into the grid and back again. In other words, reversible EV charging.
Reversible EVs have passive energy in a sitting car that can be used by active participants in a smart energy storage network. Electricity is used on demand and will be directed to an electrolyzer to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, supplying the refuelling station for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
The hydrogen produced by this process is 100 percent renewable or “green hydrogen.” A secure 5G wireless technology platform will connect the system’s components to each other and to other on-campus systems and assets for optimal productivity and efficiency. It’s a complicated system, one that is needed to realize renewable cities.
Stuart McNish invited Dr Walter Mérida to join him for a Conversation That Matters about the complex and achievable process of integrating renewable energy into the transportation and energy grid we need to successfully transition to electrified transportation.
