Mark Rabin: How renewable power is enabling and speeding up disaster relief

Article content

As the recent IPCC report highlighted, now more than ever, we need to aggressively cut carbon emissions. As Tesla did for the motor industry, we established our company to electrify the portable power sector — a fossil fuel-reliant industry that is set to grow to US$27.2 billion by 2023. Identifying this industry as a prime target for electrified portable power, Portable Electric was first to market with its battery-electric power stations.

When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, however, we received calls from individuals, companies and organizations, desperately seeking safe, reliable power. Traditional generators were being used out of necessity. However, access to the fuel required to power them was limited or non-existent. Generator efficiency is only 30 per cent and, moreover, they cannot be used indoors, as emissions contain poisonous carbon monoxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. As a result, more than nine months after the storm, many Puerto Ricans still didn’t have power.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Mark Rabin: How renewable power is enabling and speeding up disaster relief Back to video

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

We realized our technology could aid relief efforts post-natural disasters, a use that will only increase as climate change causes more extreme weather events. We’re already seeing increasing instances of natural disasters, with Hurricane Michael coming quickly after Hurricane Florence.

Renewable power stations do not rely on fossil fuels, a resource that is scarce after a disaster. Electric power stations are also three times more efficient than traditional generators, a critical factor during long-term power outages. Based on the need for clean, safe power and the increased instances of natural disasters across the Americas, we developed a disaster response kit, comprising of VOLTstack power stations and portable solar panels.

As Hurricane Florence hit, we transported our power stations to North Carolina, the first time portable renewable power has been deployed in the aftermath of a disaster.

Since arriving in Dunn, our units have been instrumental in effectively accelerating rebuild efforts. We had initially thought power would be used to support communications, enabling people to stay connected with family and friends.

We’re instead seeing the urgent need to power the rebuild and quickly. Severe flooding has damaged critical, foundational infrastructure. Residents are now battling time to remove the damp and rot, or risk losing the last 20 per cent of what they own. People are hastily gutting their own homes with makeshift tools; wet infrastructure (walls, ducts, insulation) is being removed; houses are being taken back to their support beams. The power stations have since been successfully used to power construction and power tools, in addition to fans and dehumidifiers.

Fuel is scarce, a three-hour drive from the region in which our team is based. Many gas generators are sitting unused, even as the need for power continues.

We now better understand the different phases of a disaster.

During the disaster, protecting lives is the pressing priority; however, days later, when the immediate danger has passed, and aid organizations have moved out, residents are left in dire need of support during the rebuild process. We, along with other organizations, can provide reliable, safe power, and tools, as residents rebuild their homes, and lives.

Cutting emissions remains a global pressing priority, along with bringing power to those who don’t have it. Already one billion people don’t have access to power, and with climate change, power outages will become all the more frequent. Now is the time to transition the multi-billion dollar portable power industry, cut emissions at a massive scale, all while reducing reliance on fossil fuels. We need to avoid a climate catastrophe, and provide power to those who need it.

Mark Rabin is founder of Portable Electric, a Vancouver-based industry leader of portable, clean-power stations.

Letters to the editor should be sent to sunletters@vancouversun.com. The editorial pages editor is Gordon Clark, who can be reached at gclark@postmedia.com.

CLICK HERE to report a typo.

Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.