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A Disaster in the Making: NoEnergy Means No Food and NoWaterJorge B. WongPublished online: 10 Nov 2011.

To cite this article: Jorge B. Wong (2011) A Disaster in the Making: No Energy MeansNo Food and No Water, Distributed Generation & Alternative Energy Journal, 26:4,5-5, DOI: 10.1080/21563306.2011.10462200

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21563306.2011.10462200

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A Disaster in the Making:No Energy Means No Food and No Water

You areprobably aware of the recent blackoutwhich impacted SouthernCalifornia,southwestArizonaandnorthwestMexico.ThenewspaperThe EconomistconsidersthepoweroutagewhichparalyzedmostofthegreaterSanDiegoareatobetheunequivocalsignofadisasterwaitingtohappeninNorthAmerica.Today,thefactisthateverycity,building,facilityoractivity,anywhereandanytime,de-pendsinsignificantquantitiesandspecificqualitiesofenergytobeconstructed,used,operated,maintainedorserviced.So…

howcananenergy-dependentfirmorfacility(beitabank,refinery,hospital,airport,mallorrestaurant)secureitssurvivalintimesofinsecureorunreliableenergysupply?

Therearenosimpleanswerstosuchacomplexquestion.However,sinceitsinception,thisjournalhaspresentedprovenandpracticalapproachestothisques-tionfromcogeneration,distributedgeneration,andalternativeenergyviewpoints.Thus,inthisissue,abusinessapproachtosuchaquestionisintroducedbyMi-chaelC.Overturf,WojciechM.Chrosny,andRichardStinewhoproposeanenergysufficiencyKaizenmethodology, toachievezeroenergycost andvariancewithsufficiency-inclusiveprivateenergyportfolios.Theyuseanenergyindex(PDSA)cycle.Nevertheless,weconsidertheDeming,Kaizenorlean-thinkingmethodtobeuniversalinscope:Itcanbeappliedinprivateandpublicorganizations,forprofitornot-forprofit,largeorsmall. Whatifweaskthesamequestionforawholecountry?SeeGraceLin’sap-proachtoguideTaiwaninthepromotionanddevelopmentofsolarphotovoltaicindustryinthatcountry.Attheregionallevel,authorsGandhi,Chelladurai,andKumarandiscusstheperformancefindingsofrefiningandusingbio-dieselfromavegetableoilintheWesternGhatsectioninIndia.Next,continuingresearcheffortstooptimizedistributedgeneration,Dr.LalithaandherteamfromIndiareportacomputationalmethodfordistributedgenerationsourceallocationby“FuzzyandClonalSelectionAlgorithmforMinimumLossinDistributionSystem.” Doyouwantyourirrigatedcornfortortillasorforethanol?Energyisveryintertwinedwithfoodandwater.InPeru,forexample,ColegiodeIngenierosdelPeru(Peru’soldestandtopengineeringsociety)isspearheadingPlanPeru2040(www.planperu2040.org)whichcomprehendsanintegratedandsystemicapproachtostudyandproposesustainableandviablecountry-widescenariosandpathsforthesupply/demandofenergy,foodandwaterinconjunctionwith60otherstrategicareas (education,health,poverty reduction,nationaldefense, etc.).This journalanditssisterjournal,Strategic Planning for Energy and the Environment,willreportprogressaboutsuchcountry-wideinitiativesinforthcomingissues.

Jorge B. WongEditor-in-Chief

SEEhttp://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/09/reliability-grid

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