News & Blog

An engineer is someone who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems, such as implementing plans or building machines.  It is not just technical expertise that makes an engineer, but also ability to develop solutions that are sensible and realistic.  As I have heard said, an engineer is someone who can build for ten cents…

On August 16, 2016, brush fires in California created multiple line faults on the 500 kV transmission system. During these events, the inverters at multiple bulk electric system (BES) solar sites ceased injecting current into the system, with the most significant event dropping 1200 MW of generation. In general, the solar sites did not trip,…

Part one of this two-part series used a thought experiment to illustrate the sub-optimal outcomes that occur when the meteorological characteristics of renewable resources are not considered holistically. In the thought experiment, policy incentives encouraged maximizing annual energy output and no value was ascribed to variable resource quality. This is the situation today with renewable…

Currently I am on Sabbatical as the James M. Flaherty Visiting Professor hosted by the Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering Design (TISED), at McGill University, Montreal. TISED, as its title indicates, is broadly interested in sustainability and recently hosted a workshop on Quebec’s resource recovery potential.  I attended this workshop out of interest and was pleasantly…

During the past year renewable energy has passed two important milestones.  The combined capacity additions of renewable resources exceeded those of any other resource, and both wind and solar reached price points where they are unquestionable competitive with traditional generation types and are the cheapest option in many locations.  Now all we need to do…

We have distorted memories about the good old days, but there is no denying that things keep changing. Take jobs, for example. The jobs of 200 years ago were based on farming and trade. Then there was a major structural transformation as manufacturing jobs became the norm, and this resulted in significant economic gains for…