INFEWS/T3: Coupling infrastructure improvements to food-energy-water system dynamics in small cold region communities: MicroFEWs

该研究项目旨在开发一个过程，通过该过程，研究人员和社区成员共同描述可再生能源基础设施如何影响孤立的北极和亚北极社区的食物-能源-水（FEW）关系。这项研究至关重要，因为美国及其他地区的北极和亚北极社区代表了世界上在食物、能源和水供应方面最不安全的社区。承认粮食、能源和水安全之间联系的系统方法为制定综合解决方案带来了巨大希望。这些社区非常适合作为少数民族联系的模式系统，因为它们在地理上是孤立的，通常没有道路，高度依赖进口的少数民族资源，并且经常依赖于孤立的微电网来分配当地的电力。由于这种隔离，与其他地方的大型互联社区相比，少数基础设施组件之间的联系更容易被观察到，并且可以更容易地预测系统的扰动。虽然将可再生能源基础设施引入这些社区的当地微电网可能会减少对进口化石燃料的依赖，从而增强能源安全，但这种引入也可能对微电网本身的稳定性产生不利影响，或对促进粮食和水安全的相关基础设施和过程产生不同的影响。在寻求一种直接让社区利益相关者和研究人员参与的综合方法的过程中，这项工作力求确保通过向北极和亚北极社区引入可再生能源发电基础设施对粮食、能源和水安全产生的任何影响都是普遍积极的。该研究项目代表了一系列的任务，解决了两个关键的研究问题：1)在北极和亚北极社区，可再生能源发电与少数安全的当地驱动因素之间有什么直接和间接的联系？2)在多大程度上可以优化可再生能源发电和与FEW相关的基础设施能源负荷的组合，以增强北极和亚北极社区的FEW安全？该项目汇集了两所美国大学、一所加拿大大学、三个阿拉斯加农村社区以及阿拉斯加各地的许多相关利益相关者的专业知识。关键任务包括：1)吸引社区参与并开发基于地点的FEW指标；2)衡量社区内现有的FEW流量和反馈；3)评估能够影响本地FEW联系的新技术；4)发展能源分布模型，优化并网基础设施组件；5)使用先前定义的指标，在局部FEW关系的更广泛框架中评估这些优化方案；6)沟通的结果是为当地居民和更广泛的科学界量身定制的多种形式。虽然在有可再生能源的情况下有优化电网配置的分析工具，但它们是针对时间平均性能设计的，不能考虑能源或需求的短期波动。该项目利用这些短期波动，以便在可用时将多余的能源转移到可调度的负载上，服务于少数增强目标。新的能源分配模型和控制正在开发，以在必要的时间尺度上运行，以优化间歇性可再生能源的性能，为少数增强的可调度负载供电。除了可再生能源管理和控制方面的进展之外，更广泛的过程代表了评估少数联系的创新方法。通过在网格系统连接的基础设施周围构建本地FEW连接，这项工作捕获了连接的薄横截面，可以很容易地测量和操纵。MicroFEWS将离网的FEW过程与更具体的并网过程联系起来，为了解北极、亚北极及其他地区的FEW动态提供了一种新颖且具有潜在可扩展性的方法。

This research project seeks to develop a process by which researchers and community members together characterize how renewable energy infrastructure might impact the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus in isolated Arctic and Subarctic communities. The research is critical because Arctic and Subarctic communities in the US and beyond represent some of the world's least secure communities with respect to provision of food, energy, and water. A systems approach acknowledging the linkages between food, energy, and water security holds great promise for developing integrated solutions. Such communities are ideally suited as model systems for the FEW nexus as they are geographically isolated, often inaccessible by roads, highly dependent on imported FEW resources, and often dependent upon isolated microgrids for distribution of local power. Due to this isolation, links between FEW infrastructure components are more readily observed compared to those in larger, interconnected communities elsewhere, and perturbations to the system can be more readily predicted. While introducing renewable energy infrastructure to the local microgrid in such communities could potentially enhance energy security by reducing their dependence upon imported fossil fuels, this introduction could also adversely impact the stability of the microgrids themselves or variably impact the linked infrastructure and processes contributing to food and water security. In pursuing a comprehensive approach that directly engages community stakeholders as well as researchers, the work seeks to ensure that any impacts to food, energy, and water security imposed by introducing renewable energy generation infrastructure to Arctic and Subarctic communities are universally positive. This research project represents a series of tasks addressing two key research questions: 1) What are the direct and indirect linkages between renewable energy generation and local drivers of FEW security in Arctic and Subarctic communities? 2) To what extent can combinations of renewable energy generation and FEW-related infrastructure energy loads be optimized to enhance FEW security in Arctic and Subarctic communities? The project derives expertise from two US universities, one Canadian university, three rural Alaska communities, and a host of associated stakeholders across Alaska. Key tasks include 1) engaging communities and developing place-based FEW metrics; 2) measuring existing FEW flows and feedbacks within the communities; 3) evaluating new technologies capable of impacting the local FEW nexus; 4) developing energy distribution models to optimize on-grid infrastructure components; 5) evaluating those optimization scenarios in the broader framework of the local FEW nexus using the previously-defined metrics; and 6) communicating results in diverse formats tailored for local residents and the broader scientific community. While analytical tools for optimizing grid configurations in the presence of renewable sources are available, they are designed for time-averaged performance and do not account for short-term fluctuations in sources or demands. This project capitalizes on those short-term fluctuations so that excess energy, when available, will be diverted to dispatchable loads serving FEW-enhancing objectives. Novel energy distribution models and controls are being developed to operate on timescales necessary to optimize the performance of intermittent renewable sources powering FEW-enhancing dispatchable loads. In addition to the advances offered in renewable energy management and control, the broader process represents an innovative approach to evaluating the FEW nexus. By framing the local FEW nexus around the infrastructure linked by the grid system, this work captures a thin cross section of the nexus that can be readily measured and manipulated. In linking off-grid FEW processes to the more concrete on-grid processes, MicroFEWS offers a novel and potentially scalable approach to understanding FEW dynamics in the Arctic, Subarctic, and beyond.