Researcher Spotlight (first published 2019): During Xinyu CHEN’s Ph.D.
Bạn đang xem: Ỷ thiên đồ long ký chen xinyu xinyu chen
Studies at Tsinghua University, he spent a year working on projects with China’s National Development and Reform Commission, which was having trouble building a plan for a modern “smart grid” that incorporated more renewable energy sources. “We found out that the problem was not with the power nguồn system itself,” says Xinyu. “The problem was actually with the interaction between different kinds of energy systems — like power & heating systems.” In Northern China, for instance, there was great capacity in place for wind power, but incorporating those systems with the region’s prevalent combined heat-and-power units proved a challenge. “My Ph.D. Thesis discussed how to better design an integrated power và heating system lớn better accommodate wind power,” says Xinyu.His career has continued to lớn focus on finding the unexpected barriers to lớn progress. In a recent paper for the journal Nature Energy, Xinyu — along with co-authors from the h3qvn.com-China Project, Executive Director Chris Nielsen and Faculty Chair Prof. Michael McElroy — looked at electric vehicle charging in China, và found that the relevant emissions gains were dependent on how the vehicles are charged. “If you charge it during the slow charging period in off-peak hours, it is beneficial,” says Xinyu.
Xem thêm: Hướng Dẫn Tải Game Vương Giả Vinh Diệu, Liên Minh Huyền Thoại
“But if you mostly use fast-charging stations, it will probably emit more CO2 và other pollutants.” Another vi xử lý core factor: The type of vehicle being charged. “For the sake of reducing air pollution, electrification of buses is actually much more efficient than light-duty vehicles — despite the fact that the number of buses is much lower.”Xinyu’s passion for science và math can be traced back khổng lồ his high school years in Inner Mongolia, which culminated in his winning a national physics contest. “So when I entered college, I chose engineering as a focus, because I felt it was related to physics,” he says. He began working with the h3qvn.com-China Project as an exchange student during his doctoral studies, returned as a postdoctoral fellow, và is now a research associate và lecturer. He is currently juggling a number of research projects: exploring how the digitization of China’s energy system could improve understanding of the implications of different energy policy designs; what the introduction of market mechanisms into the power systems would mean in real-world practice; and determining the optimal combination of energy sources to lớn help mitigate the variability of the renewables.
Xinyu is also teaching the “Energy Economy for Developing Countries” course this past fall with Prof. McElroy. Xinyu taught a version of the class last year, he says, which was mainly focused on China. “This year, we extended the scope of the course lớn cover India và Africa as well,” says Chen. “We think Indian và African energy demand will continue to lớn grow — probably at a double-digit pace — for several decades lớn come.” The lessons from China’s energy experience, he notes, can span borders. (Written by Dan Morrell)