Supplying energy to the American people is an increasingly complex task. These complexities include not just the conversion of the various forms of energy (oil, gas, wind, hydropower, etc.) into useful forms (transportation fuel and electricity) but also moving the more useful form to where it can be used (transmission). Economics and government regulations complicate the matter further.
Let’s focus on electricity supply. The U.S. Electricity Grid, which could be considered the largest machine in the world, has innumerable moving parts. All elements must work together to provide a sufficient amount of electricity to homes, schools, businesses, and factories when its needed and at an affordable price. How do we know what is sufficient? How do we know when to supply it? How can we make it cheaper?
I believe we are at the forefront of a revolution here in California. We are fundamentally changing the way we live our lives. We are moving, awkwardly, but inevitably towards a more sustainable future. It began with the minds and hearts of the people: People who are committed to cleaner air, climate change mitigation, and renewable energy. People who vote for leaders committed to building a cleaner economy. People who vote with their pocketbooks to install roof top solar and drive electric vehicles. People who devote their careers to developing innovative clean technologies. And people who decide to live more frugally. While we haven’t found every policy and technology solution yet, and we haven’t built the infrastructure needed for this revolution to be successful, the revolution has begun.
This week concluded the Washington Conference and Technology Workshop entitled The Changing Outlook for U.S. Energy: Will Shale Gas Transform America’s Energy Future?. The conference identified high-performance computing as a powerful tool to improve the production and environmental impact of shale gas. HPC’s value reaches beyond the oil and gas industry, and energy companies of all sizes will benefit from clear information on how to engage the HPC resources resident at our national labs.
In May 2011, national leaders established the National Roadmap on Advancing Energy Technologies through High-Performance Computing. Since then, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Howard Baker Forum have launched the HPC for Energy Initiative to enact the Roadmap’s recommendations. In this video interview, Dona Crawford, leader of Livermore’s cutting-edge HPC programs, details various elements of the HPC for Energy Initiative.
As you will read many times throughout this site, high-performance computing is a tool to help spur American innovation and make us more competitive in the global energy marketplace. But high-performance computing modeling and simulation is more than just the millions of processors and miles of cable that make up today’s supercomputers — it is the men and women of our national laboratories who envision a scientific leap forward and write the complex code to make it reality. It is also our private-sector partners bringing us unique problems that challenge us to innovate and to move our thinking beyond a laboratory to real-world solutions.
