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1 Infrastructure Transformation
Pages 1-10

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From page 1...
... Chair, and executive director of the Strategic Energy Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology • Leslie Shoemaker, president of Tetra Tech • Catherine Peters, George J Magee Professor of Geosciences and Geological Engineering, chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and director of the under­graduate Geological Engineering Program at Princeton University • Mohammad Shahidehpour (NAE)
From page 2...
... A recent study done at Princeton University called Net Zero America demonstrated what a net zero economy would look like, where remaining releases of carbon dioxide are balanced by capturing carbon from smokestacks or from the atmosphere and sequestering it away from the atmosphere. In this study, minimizing aggregate societal costs requires much greater use of electricity, but fossil fuels still account for about a quarter of energy use, offset by large amounts of carbon capture and sequestration.
From page 3...
... In the United States, Georgia is the site of the only new nuclear builds in decades, which has created significant workforce challenges. Nuclear is "certainly doable," Lieuwen said, but "it remains to be seen whether we can tackle the nontechnical regulatory issues." Some renewable fuels, like hydrogen, would require a large amount of new large-scale infrastructure.
From page 4...
... systems have been foisted on some of the systems have been foisted on some most vulnerable members of our of the most vulnerable members of society…, and we don't want that our society, those with the fewest to happen going forward." resources, and we don't want that to happen going forward." As an example of these social challenges, Lieuwen cited the transition away from coal, which peaked at about 20 percent of energy generation in the United States and now is at about 10 percent. That transition involved massive societal disruptions that the country still has not entirely absorbed.
From page 5...
... 10,000 pieces of green land that you put across an entire "How could one small patch of land landscape and its additive impact that filters water from a parking lot on water, environment, and the or a building development be some- resulting outcomes." thing that is going to change the world or address climate change? " But blue-green infrastructure is the sum of its parts.
From page 6...
... Many of the municipalities Shoemaker works with are building robust and smart asset management systems that are integrated with financial planning, economic analysis, climate change mitigation plans, water management systems, and water quality controls. As with the energy infrastructure, the implications of climate change for blue-green infrastructure are not evenly distributed across com­
From page 7...
... "We value and understand things and can take action when we have data." "Engineering has a big role to play in turning blue-green from an idea and a concept that's been around for quite some time to a practical, on-the-ground, and highly innovative implementation," Shoemaker said. "Climate change is a global challenge, and I see a new way of doing water management as integral to how we address it." IMPROVING THE ELECTRICITY GRID The consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly obvious: large and intense wildfires, more destructive hurricanes, lethal heat waves.
From page 8...
... Building similar microgrids throughout Chicago would create a "smart city" that would enhance the sustainability, reliability, resilience, security, and economics of the electric power system, he said. Another advantage of renewable energy sources and microgrids is that not as much transmission is needed, because very large generating plants in the past had to be placed far from residential areas with a large transmission system to bring power back to where people live.
From page 9...
... "These underdeveloped and developing countries will get to be ahead of the United States at some point when we think about net zero." Microgrids come in different sizes and shapes. With microgrids in Africa, for example, local resources might include hydro, solar, biomass, or other available energy sources.


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