Overview and Evaluation of the Smart Grid

Overview and Evaluation of the Smart Grid The Smart Grid, Smart City Program was arguably one of the widest-ranging technology assessments of smart grid products in the world. It saw: The deployment and testing of several smart in-grid and customer-focussed technology groupings across the Ausgrid network and EnergyAustralia retail business in New South Wales Examined the impacts and benefits of additional distributed generation and distributed storage solutions Involved approximately 17,000 electricity customers in consumer-focussed trials examining how residential customers could contribute to peak demand management through behavioural changes The Smart Grid, Smart City Program focused on residential customers, as they represent the largest user group in Australia, and generally have more discretion over when and how much energy they use. Little was known before the Smart Grid, Smart City trials about how customers perceived, or how they might respond to, the opportunities that smart grid technologies offer. Most residen tial electricity customers in Australia are currently provided with limited information and very few incentives and tools to manage their domestic electricity use. A quarterly electricity bill is the main source of customer feedback, and this only shows the total amount of energy used during the previous three months, limiting the opportunities to systematically modify behaviour in order to save electricity and money. Based on the trials undertaken, this final Smart Grid, Smart City report, Shaping Australias Energy Future: National Cost Benefit Assessment found the potential for a net economic benefit of up to $28 billion ($2014) over the next 20 years from the deployment of smart grid technologies in Australia. This report demonstrates that there are four key aspects to realising these benefits and improving consumer pricing outcomes: Technological development and deployment of enabling (smart grid) technologies The introduction of cost reflective electricity pricing including d ynamic tariffs Consumer behaviour change with respect to electricity consumption (to better manage any future growth in peak demand) Energy market reform4 (many aspects of which are already underway) Realising the potential benefits requires an integrated solution if any one aspect is not implemented, then the extent of net national economic benefits available will be reduced. A large proportion of the net benefits identified can be derived from the economic deployment of a number of in-grid technologies which improve operational efficiency, reduce capital investment (through better managing peak demand) and deliver improved reliability for consumers at a lower cost. There are vast differences across Australias electricity grid, from highly populated suburban areas to sparsely populated rural areas, and different smart grid technologies are better suited in different circumstances. For those Australians living in suburban areas, there are significant potential benefits from certa in in-grid technologies. Likewise, for less densely populated rural networks, there are alternative in-grid technologies which can assist in improving the reliability and cost of managing the grid. Smart grid can simply be defined as the deployment of Information technology and also communication technology with the aim of improving the way electricity is generated, transported, distributed and stored. Across Australia, the distribution and the retail value chain elements primarily makes up the smart grid system. However, the impact also cut across how electricity is generated and transmitted. In this report, the smart grid smart city program which was funded by the Australian Government will be examined. The smart grid study focused primarily on residential distribution network and also with the introduction of a data centre for information processing. Smart grid technology find application in several purposes which can be grouped into customer side application, key enabling application, grid-side application, renewables, distributed energy and electric vehicles, data collection, processing and back-office. Several logical layers can also be used to represent each of the appli cations which could be traditional power systems equipment, communications network, computing capability, and also smart grid application layer. The Smart Grid Smart City (SGSC) program is one of the largest smart grid projects in the world. It was announced in 2009 by the Australian government with the aim of implementing smart grid technology at a large scale in line with the National Energy Efficiency Initiative (NEEI). It happen to be the first large scale smart grid project in Australia which was executed by Ausgrid and its partners. The project was aimed at showcasing the importance of the deployment of smart grid technology in commercial scale, building both public and corporate awareness of the economic and environmental benefits of smart grids, gathering an elaborate data with the aim of informing wider industry implementation of the various applications of smart grid across Australia, and also to investigate the interaction with other existing infrastructure. So many trial s were examined in the program which includes the deployment of smart meter infrastructure, distributed generation and distributed storage, and also the utilisation of electric vehicles in the Australias electricity distribution network. So many trials were deployed in the program. Part of the trials that is of interest to me is the deployment of the smart meter infrastructure. This trial entails the installation of smart meter at various residential buildings. The various components that make up the smart meter infrastructure are the communication technologies for information transfer to and from the smart meters communication unit, the meter management system, home-office operational systems. (Energy Australia, Sydney Water and other partners) and also the customer acquisition application. With the deployment of smart meter, data for electricity usage, storage and delivery were obtained for participating household. Another fascinating part of the Smart Grid Smart City program is t he distributed generation and distributed storage work stream which was initiated with the aim of providing critical data and information to help understand the implication of greater penetration of the combination of distributed storage and generation in conjunction with other smart grid technologies. In addition to the aforementioned, the electric vehicles project is also a part of the Smart Grid Smart City program I find interesting and it was aimed at understanding the potential impact of the utilisation of electric vehicles in Australias electricity distribution network.

Preston Hot Zone :: essays research papers

Preston's Hot Zone Imagine walking into a tiny village in Africa, suffering and dying from some unknown virus. As you approach the huts you hear the wails of pure agony from the afflicted tribe members. Coming closer, you smell the stench of vomit mixed with the bitter smell of warm blood. People inside lay dying in pools of their own vital fluids, coughing and vomiting up their own liquefied internal organs; their faces emotionless masks loosely hanging from their skulls, the connective tissue and collagen in their bodies turned to mush. Their skin bubbled up into a sea of tiny white blisters and spontaneous rips occurring at the slightest touch, pouring blood that refuses to coagulate. Hemmorging and massive clotting underneath the skin causing black and blue bruises all over the body. Their mouths bleeding around their teeth from hemorrhaging saliva glands and the sloughing off of their own tongues, throat lining, and wind pipe, crying tears of pure blood from hemorrhaging tear ducts and the disinte gration of the eyeball lining and bleeding from every opening on the body. You see the blood spattered room and pools of black vomit, expelled during the epileptic convulsions that accompany the last stages of death. Their hearts have bled into themselves, heart muscles softened and hemorrhaging , the brain clogged with dead blood cells (sludging of the brain), the liver bulging and yellow with deep cracks and the spleen a single hard blood clot. Babies with bloody noses born with red eyes lay dead from spontaneous abortions of affected mothers. It is the human slate-wiper, the invisible ultimate death, the filovirus named Ebola. The theme of Richard Preston's Hot Zone seems deal with man's one predator, the invisible one, the one thing that man cannot seek out and conquer, the one that lurks unseen and undetected in the shadows waiting for a warm body to make its new breeding ground in, with total disregard for person, social class, or status. We are "meat", as the biologists at the USAMRIID Institute stated, no names, no faces, no "individuality", the virus rips through our bodies with no thought, mechanical reproducers who sabotage our cells and used them as incubators until their "offspring" replicate to the point the cell wall bursts, releasing hundreds of new virus particles. Literally thousands of these "killers", as humans see them can be held on the point of an ink pen.

Retail Management Essay

Bobcat India Limited revolutionized footwear selling in India. The company hit upon the idea of reaching customers through exclusive retail stores way back in 1932 and set up its own outlets, which numbered around 1,200. it was no mean task setting up such a large network of retail outlets, especially when 90% of them were owned and operated by the company, the rest being dealer-owned and operated. This chain store format identity has been a strong differentiating factor in the Indian retail sector, being the first of its kind. Combined with the high quality of the footwear, the brand soon had top-of-the-mind recall and stayed there for many years. Until a few years ago, the name ‘Bobcat’ Was synonymous with organized retailing in India, the only one of its kind. The Chain Store Format The Bobcat chain store format had its own credo a signature store-design with exclusive signage and windows in order to facilitate easy association in the minds of the Indian consumers. At present there are only two major categories of store in the Bobcat Chain Store format: a) Bobcat Family Stores b) Bobcat Bazaar a) Bobcat Family Stores These are sub-divided into two formats again, based on the size of the stores. They are: I) Super Stores, generally more than 5,000 sq.ft. catering to customers in the footwear category. II) High-street stores that are anywhere between 500 and 1,500 sq.ft., found in busy shopping areas. b) Bobcat Bazaar Bobcat Bazaar stores sell the company’s planned economy product lines and market- down merchandise round the year. Known as R-pair stores, their performance depends heavily upon the availability of marked-down merchandise. Such markdowns are done on products that have suffered quality accidents, are shop-soiled, lines that are closed-out etc. Recent Format Developments New retail formats have begun to supersede conventional ones. Independent big-box multi-brand department stores have started selling footwear as a category, especially in metros and cities. Malls are another new shopping format that is growing rapidly in the metros. Many upcoming footwear retailers are obtaining space inside the malls as mall partners to take advantage of the ready footfalls available. For the existing independent Bobcat stores it is expensive now to run campaigns and promotions to attain the required footfalls and expected conversions. Merchandising in Bobcat Family Stores The exclusivity of the ‘Bobcat’ brand to the Bobcat retail stores was the differentiating factor for customers until recently. However, a few years ago the company decided to sell Bobcat branded goods through its channel sales wing called Bobcat Wholesale. Hitherto, the wholesale channel had a different brand for itself called BSC. This wholesale channel supplies merchandise to footwear retailers across India through its authorized distributors. The brand Bobcat has now been extended to this wholesale channel too, which means that Bobcat branded goods are available in every other local footwear store. The exclusivity of the brand to its own outlets has come to an end. And, even as the sales of the wholesale division remain stagnant, what compelling reasons can a customer have to visit a Bobcat Store now? A peculiar feature of the Bobcat store was its odd price points: Rs 149.95, 199.95, etc. Merchandise Presentation and Visual Merchandising Bobcat pioneered the concept of show window displays in India with a style that was unique to the company. It was professionally managed, with an exclusive team handling the motif and the design. Every month the direction to decorate the show windows were given by a mailer prepared by special decorators. Sales personnel in each store were trained to be window decorators too. Recently, these windows had to be done away with because the company thought that they should follow the contemporary practice of free-access retailing, where all merchandise pairs are displayed in open shelves to enable customers to help themselves. Remember, in India footwear is always tried on a footstool and bought after considerable service extended by the salesperson personally. Free-access retailing may work when there is adequate space inside a store to move around. The effect of such ‘pigeon-hole’ free access is that they give an impression that they are Bobcat’s R-Pair outlets. What can now entice the customer into entering a bobcat store? Customer Service Though Bobcat faces tough manpower challenges (the store sales personnel and managers have separate labour unions), the sales personeel who are on its permanent rolls are trained in selling footwear. However, there is a large proportion of untrained temporary hands. Further, salespersons do not wear any uniform and hence customers can hardly identify them. There is as yet no loyalty programme to create customer stickiness to any store or the brand, and most of the stores are not connected by a central information system or ERP (enterprise-wide resource planning) as the organization has its limitations when it comes to investing in such initiatives. Organized retail companies need to have non-negotiable standards of customer service or they will lose customers to its competitors. The company is now losing its market share despite its strong position in categories like men’s footwear, children’s uniform shoes, etc. However, the number of stores it has around the country is around the same, at 1,200. The company now needs to put together a plan for both its survival and growth on a war footing. The top Management is revisiting its strategies in every functional area to turn the company around.

The Goals Of The Group Therapy - 987 Words

Group Counseling The goals of REBT group therapy involve encouraging members to think clearly, engaging group members in the process of finding solutions to difficult issues, and resolving pointless emotional misery. As with individual REBT therapy, group therapy sessions are regarded as an educational process. Through this form of group therapy, members learn to identify and dispute irrational beliefs that are self-directed. Group members learn how to identify and dispute their faulty thinking by the process of disputing â€Å"D.† This process includes identifying irrational beliefs and perceiving them as unrealistic. Furthermore, members come to discover that events do not cause our problems, but their understanding of these events causes their problems. Through group sessions, members acquire the knowledge to discriminate between irrational thinking and rational thinking. Next, members become skilled at replacing unproductive ways of thinking with effective and ratio nal cognitions. Through the group process, members are taught to stop absolutistic thinking, blaming, and repeating false beliefs. Finally, members are required to be committed and to put into routine what they are studying in the group. Group Leader REBT group therapy is a leader directed therapy session with the leader assuming the role of teacher and mentor. Leaders assumes the role of teacher and mentor. Moreover, leaders in REBT group therapy educate members on how to confront their assumptions.Show MoreRelatedThe Rate Of Children Between The Ages Of Five960 Words   |  4 Pages Goals The proposed program will be help increase the rate of children between the ages of five to seventeen manage their depression well. Objective There will be eighty five percent of children that will attend this program. There will be seventy five percent of children that will attend therapy sessions and recreational activities to help treat their depression. 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