Modular Energy Storage and Control Systems

The excessive burning of fossil fuels into our atmosphere is causing our climate to change rapidly. This change in climate will have detrimental effects on home security, crop yield, energy security, and water scarcity. Many geopolitical and social pressures are present to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As of now over 70% of electricity in Nova Scotia is being generated by fossil fuels, more specifically over 50% of all electricity in Nova Scotia is coming from coal fire power-plants, one of the heaviest GHG emitting sources of energy. Renewable energy is emerging as the best solution to mitigate the amount of fossil fuels burned for production of electricity. Throughout the last few decades Nova Scotia has implemented a variety of renewable, most abundantly wind from wind turbines. Nova Scotia has ideal conditions for wind generation; however, the weather and environmental patterns are very difficult to predict which lead to high intermittency in generation of wind.

Due to the intermittency or renewables, energy generation does not always coincide with energy consumption. Thus, with an energy mix heavily favoring renewables it is necessary to use energy storage.

Faculty Supervisor:

Lukas Swan

Student:

Mark Elliott

Partner:

Springboard Atlantic

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Dalhousie University