|
Tip of the Week | Blog | Upcoming Events | What's New | About | Subscription
Welcome to the Green Career Tip of the Week
|
Online Version of this Issue Green Career Tips Archive
Are you hesitant to move toward a green career? Read more about Carol's next free teleclass, then sign up to learn the facts about green careers, and actions you can take toward yours now.
Does the energy grid baffle you? In this week's article, Carol helps you understand the basics with fabulous maps from NPR, and shows you ways delve deeper for more information.
Did you get a f.r.e.e month on the Green Career Central site this week? Scroll down to see if the beginning of your email is next to the treasure chest. We do this every week!
Connect with us on these social networking sites:
Linked-In Twitter iTunes
  
Highlighted Event: NOW Is The Time to Prepare for Your Green Career
A Free Teleclass
Call Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Call Time: 6 pm Pacific Time/ 9 pm Eastern Time
Call Duration: 1 hour
Are you asking yourself any of these questions about the green economy?
- Should I act on my desire to have a green career NOW? Or should I wait?
- How do I choose a career direction when the economy keeps changing?
- What happens to my career if this move toward a sustainable economy is just a fad?
In this free teleclass, Carol reveals five actions you can take right NOW to move toward your green career - even in an economy that's shifting and growing.
During the call you will:
- Learn how to read the signals that the green economy is real and not just a fad.
- Discover why NOW is the perfect time to begin your quest for a green career.
- Find four ways you can prepare yourself to move into the green economy.
- Understand why having time to explore your options puts you in a position of power.
- Learn how to build your path to your green career while you are employed in another job.
- Uncover ways you can move toward your green career if you are currently out of work.
Sign up now!
Tip of the Week: Moving from the Electric Grid to the Smart Grid: What You Need to Know Now
Our current electrical supply system is a collection of regional networks that were built to generate, transmit, and distribute power from fossil fuels and river dams. As more and more power comes from renewable energy sources, the grid must be updated to transmit and distribute power from different areas in the country and different kinds of power generation systems.
The electrical supply chain incorporates several key components:
- Power generation. Power is generated through several means: from coal, oil and nuclear, to wind, solar, and geothermal.
- Power transmission. Power is then transmitted throughout the country using high voltage lines.
- Power distribution. The next step in the chain is to distribute the electricity from the substations to commercial, industrial, and residential users.
As the smart grid evolves, two components will become more evident to all users.
- Energy storage. Although utilities have always used energy storage systems to manage power, a wider range of users will use energy storage systems to store power from more variable sources of energy.
- User consumption management. A new component to the system is software that enables residential, commercial, and industrial customers manage their own power consumption in real time.
As more hi tech elements are added to the grid throughout the electrical supply chain, we’ll all be able to fine tune our use of power in real time. Experts indicate this transformation to the smart grid will touch everyone in multiple ways. In the near future, we’ll be highlighting some new developments in the smart grid sector.
Current Electric Grid
Before you start exploring the range of developments in smart grid, take some time familiarizing yourself with our current electric grid. Thanks to a recent series by NPR, you can get a good visual overview of the current electric grid, and some indications of potential enhancements to the grid with the help of a few maps.
When you open the map, click on each of the tabs, to find a visual representation of the following five topics.
The Grid:
This first map shows the current electric grid (blue lines) and the proposed grid and linkages (orange lines and the link symbols through the middle of the country.)
Please note: You can click on various parts of the key area to turn on and off various features of each map. By turning off various features you can see the elements you want to focus on.
Sources of Power:
The second map provides an interactive map that allows you to explore how various states are powered. For example, move your mouse over various states to access a pop up note with the mix of power sources for that state.
If you want an overview of how many states use a particular power source, select the power source in the drop down menu. Seeing the pattern of power sources used by various states provides insights into the political climate throughout the country.
Power Plants:
This map uses various sized dots to indicate the amount of power plants generate throughout the country. If you want to learn more about a particular plant, hover over the dot for the details.
If you want to see where the power plants are for a particular kind of power, use the drop down menu to make your selection.
Adding Renewables to the Grid
Solar Power:
The color in this map shows where the most solar energy hits the United States. At a glance you can see the Southwest is a key location for solar.
The gold lines indicate proposed transmission lines to get solar power to the grid. (Remember you can click on the key to turn elements of a given map off to help you see the details better.)
Wind Power:
The dark gray color in this map shows where the wind blows faster. You’ll notice a number of these locations are off the coast. Offshore wind turbines are a bit tricky and expensive to install, so we’ll have to see how that industry develops.
As with the solar map, moving power generated from wind farms into the electric grid is going to take some additional transmission lines. Although these lines don’t represent where the lines will exist, they do indicate the size of the transmission lines required to do the job. There is one set that will need to be installed before 2030 and another set after 2030.
For more detailed information about the grid, check out NPR’s series of stories on this topic.
Key organizations
These organizations provided information for these maps.
Actions You Can Take
- Familiarize yourself with the overall structure of this sector. It’s going to be a big influence on every industry as the specifics of the smart grid unfold. You must have a general understanding of this sector, at a minimum.
- Dig a bit deeper. Choose a couple of the associations and governmental agencies to explore. In my experience, these websites are a treasure trove of information. Bookmark these websites, visit often, take your time, learn as much as you can.
- Look at what’s happening in your geographic area. Understanding the mix of power in your region gives you insights about the challenges your state faces in going green and becoming more sustainable.
Copyright © 2009 Transition Dynamics Enterprises, Inc.
Green Career Central Blog:
Green Career Trends: The trends this week point to turning biomass into useful chemicals, a new light bulb technology, and new water management tools by a large hi tech company.
Follow the Green Money: Money is flowing to hydro power projects, energy efficient data storage units, and chemicals made from renewable biofeed stocks. Several companies have job openings now! Discover details on the blog.
Membership Has Its Advantages!
The discussion forum topic, audios, ebook, and articles listed below are available to members of GreenCareerCentral.com as a part of their membership. If you're not a member and would like to have immediate access, we'd love to have you join us now!
Green Career Central is a membership site with a comprehensive set of easy-to-use programs, resources, and events to help people achieve their green career dreams whether they want to find a green job, start a green business, or get a green education.
  
"It's a hard to find an investment these days that pays for itself many times over but the annual fee for joining Green Career Central is certainly worth every penny. The process laid out is structured and easy to follow. It takes you through the steps to get a truer understanding what your interests and skills are and makes you excited about researching your career options, while giving you a sense of progress and accomplishment. The weekly tips and "how to" resources on the website are time saving and are in of themselves an invaluable resource. Thanks Carol."
~WG Becoming an Energy Systems Consultant
Read what other members are saying about Green Career Central here....
|
|
This Week's Drawing for a
30-Day Trial Membership: julies
If this is the beginning of your email address, contact us with a subject line of "Trial Membership" and we'll tell you how to get signed up for your 30-day trial membership to GreenCareerCentral.com. You must reply within 2 weeks of the date of this newsletter.
Current Members...you didn't think we'd leave you out, did you? If you see the beginning of your email address, we'll add one more month to your membership.
|
What's New at GreenCareerCentral.com
New Industry Profile
If biodiversity, care for ecosystems and the protection, conservation and restoration of wildlife habitats and wildlife populations appeal to you, consider a career in Wildlife and Fisheries Management.
Feeling Stuck? Learn How to Move Forward
It’s not a matter of if you will get stuck during your search for your green career; it’s a matter of when. When you are feeling stuck, visit this section of our site to read articles that will help you find new ways to look at your situation. It’s likely you’ll find something to shift you focus.
Listen to the Tip of the Week Podcast
Now you can listen to the Tip of the Week in our new Podcast. Download or listen to it at our website or subscribe through iTunes.
Did You Know...
...if you missed a Tip of the Week, you can read the archived publications?
Green Career Tips Archive
About Us
|
|
Green Career CentralTM is a virtual career center for motivated professionals who are ready to find a green career that fully expresses their passions, skills, values, and talents.
Carol McClelland, PhD, founder and Executive Director of Green Career Central, has helped thousands of people discover their dream career through her book Your Dream Career For Dummies and her work with individuals, groups, and students. Together with her team of experts, researchers and writers, Carol has pulled together eighteen years of experience into a broad collection of how-to articles, resources, support, and teleclasses to help you find your way to make a difference and prosper. Carol is currently writing Green Careers for Dummies, which will be available in bookstores in late January/early February 2010.
Why not have the green career you've been dreaming of? You can struggle on your own or gain support throughout your journey. The decision is obvious ... Join Us Now!
|
Copyright (c) 2007-2009. Transition Dynamics Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Green Career CentralTM is a trademark of Transition Dynamics Enterprises, Inc
PO Box 354, Menlo Park, CA 94026
650 322 8661 | Contact
Subscriber Information
|
