Over the past decades, the concepts and methods for reliability assessment have evolved from analysing the ability of individual components to operate without faults and as intended during their lifetime, into the comprehensive approaches for evaluating various engineering strategies for system planning, operation and maintenance studies. The conventional reliability assessment procedures now receive different perspectives in different engineering applications and this thesis aims to improve existing approaches by incorporating in the analysis: a) a more detailed and accurate models of LV and MV networks and their reliability equivalents, which are important for the analysis of transmission and sub-transmission networks, b) the variations in characteristics and parameters of LV and MV networks in different areas, specified as “generic” UK/Scottish highly-urban, urban, sub-urban and rural network models, c) the relevant requirements for network reliability performance imposed by Regulators on network operators, d) the actual aggregate load profiles of supplied customers and their correlation with typical daily variations of fault probabilities and repair times of considered network components, and e) some of the expected “smart grid” functionalities, e.g., increased use of network automation and reconfiguration schemes, as well as the higher penetration levels of distributed generation/storage resources. The conventional reliability assessment procedures typically do not include, or only partially include the abovementioned important factors and aspects in the analysis. In order to demonstrate their importance, the analysis presented in the thesis implements both analytical and probabilistic reliability assessment methods in a number of scenarios and study cases with improved and more detailed “generic” LV and MV network models and their reliability equivalents. Their impact on network reliability performance is analysed and quantified in terms of the frequency and duration of long and short supply interruptions (SAIFI and SAIDI), as well as energy not supplied (ENS). This thesis addresses another important aspect of conventional approaches, which often, if not always, provide separate indicators for the assessment of system-based reliability performance and for the assessment of customer-based reliability performance. The presented analysis attempts to more closely relate system reliability performance indicators, which generally correspond to a fictitious “average customer”, to the actual “best-served” and “worst-served” customers in the considered networks. Here, it is shown that a more complex metric than individual reliability indicators should be used for the analysis, as there are different best-served and worst-served customers in terms of the frequency and duration of supply interruptions, as well as amounts of not supplied energy. Finally, the analysis in the thesis considers some aspects of the anticipated transformation of existing networks into the future smart grids, which effectively require to re-evaluate the ways in which network reliability is approached at both planning and operational stages. Smart grids will feature significantly higher penetration levels of variable renewable-based distributed generation technologies (with or without energy storage), as well as the increased operational flexibility, automation and remote control facilities. In this context, the thesis evaluates some of the considered smart grid capabilities and functionalities, showing that improved system reliability performance might result in a deterioration of power quality performance. This is illustrated through the analysis of applied automation, reconfiguration and automatic reclosing/remote switching schemes, which are shown to reduce frequency and duration of long supply interruptions, but will ultimately result in more frequent and/or longer voltage sags and short interruptions. Similarly, distributed generation/storage resources might have strong positive impact on system reliability performance through the reduced power flows in local networks and provision of alternative supply points, even allowing for a fully independent off-grid operation in microgrids, but this may also result in the reduced power quality levels within the microgrids, or elsewhere in the network, e.g. due to a higher number of switching transfers and transients.

abstract: Environmental hazards and disaster researchers have demonstrated strong associations between sociodemographic indicators, such as age and socio-economic status (SES), and hazard exposures and health outcomes for individuals and in certain communities. At the same time, behavioral health and risk communications research has examined how individual psychology influences adaptive strategies and behaviors in the face of hazards. However, at present, we do not understand the explanatory mechanisms that explain relationships between larger scale social structure, individual psychology, and specific behaviors that may attenuate or amplify risk. Extreme heat presents growing risks in a rapidly warming and urbanizing world. This dissertation examines the social and behavioral mechanisms that may explain inequitable health outcomes from exposure to concurrent extreme heat and electrical power failure in Phoenix, AZ and extreme heat in Detroit, MI. Exploratory analysis of 163 surveys in Phoenix, AZ showed that age, gender, and respondent’s racialized group identity did not relate to thermal discomfort and self-reported heat illness, which were only predicted by SES (StdB = -0.52, p < 0.01). Of the explanatory mechanisms tested in the study, only relative air conditioning intensity and thermal discomfort explained self-reported heat illness. Thermal discomfort was tested as both a mechanism and outcome measure. Content analysis of 40 semi-structured interviews in Phoenix, AZ revealed that social vulnerability was associated with an increase in perceived hazard severity (StdB = 0.44, p < 0.01), a decrease in perceived adaptation efficacy (StdB = -0.38, p = 0.02), and an indirect increase (through adaptive efficacy) in maladaptive intentions (StdB = 0.18, p = 0.01). Structural equation modeling of 244 surveys in Phoenix, AZ and Detroit, MI revealed that relationships between previous heat illness experience, perceived heat risk, and adaptive intentions were significantly moderated by adaptive capacity: high adaptive capacity households were more likely to undertake adaptive behaviors, and those decisions were more heavily influenced by risk perceptions and previous experiences. However, high adaptive capacity households had lower risk perceptions and fewer heat illness experiences than low adaptive capacity households. A better understanding of the mechanisms that produce social vulnerability can facilitate more salient risk messaging and more targeted public health interventions. For example, public health risk messaging that provides information on the efficacy of specific adaptations may be more likely to motivate self-protective action, and ultimately protect populations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Environmental Social Science 2019

The aim of this thesis is a description of a proposal to ensure safety of DC in power infrastructure and its impact on economics of an enterprise. The first part is focused on the analysis of the whole situation. The work also contains other possibilities of solution with respect to theoretical resources. The attention is also drawn to a particular procedure to minimize the financial loss of the company caused by a power failure and to a plan for providing maximum protection against this power failure.

Electrical energy is a very important part of our society. Every household needs electrical energy for its daily routine, every company needs it for its production, our entire society can not do without electrical energy, it is literally the spine, the alpha and omega of everything. Modern products, such as mobile phones, storage media, computer sets, but also light, all of this is possible thanks to electrical energy, which is an integral part of life and no one can imagine a life without it anymore. Electrical energy is very important for the operation of a country, it is integrated in critical infrastructure and an electrical power blackout will endanger everything across our society. It is for this reason that society should learn to use electricity sparingly, and it also should ready itself for the possibility of a blackout coming at any moment, hitting anyone. The topic of this thesis is electrical energy. The thesis explores the question whether the Police of the Czech Republic is capable of an appropriate response in the event of a blackout in the wider area (ORP) of České Budějovice and whether the readiness for such an event is high. The goal of the work is the creation of a safety study on possible risks in the wider area (ORP) of České Budějovice. The research question of the thesis has been articulated as "In what manner will the wider area (ORP) of České Budějovice be secured in the event of a electrical power blackout?" In its theoretical part, the thesis discusses crisis control in general, the terms Crisis Situation, Regional Crisis Plan, Crisis Command are explained, components of the integrated rescue services (IZS) and their main activities are listed, the definition of responsibilities of the hetman and the scope of his authority within the IZS, his conduct during threat periods, the explanation of terms such as infrastructure and critical infrastructure. The current legislature in all the mentioned fields is listed here. The next part deals with electrical energy, how it is created, what types of power plants produce electricity, electric power transmission and distribution networks, what companies produce and distribute electrical energy, the activity of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, regulatory authority and state energy inspection activities, the activity of energy producers in the event of an electrical power failure during a crisis threat period or when a crisis situation arises, the activity of electrical energy operators when a crises situation arises, the activity territorial administration authorities during crisis situation threat periods and when crises arise. The practical part of the thesis discusses police procedures in extraordinary events, the number of district departments in the wider area (ORP) of České Budějovice, approximate numbers of police officers in the district departments, the definition of basic procedures within Police Law. The research part of the thesis focuses on the wider area (ORP) of České Budějovice, which contains various companies, selected for this thesis, which are compared using multiple-criteria assessment, with regards to possible safety risks in the extraordinary event of an electrical power blackout. The next point of the research was the approaching of experts from the ranks of the Police of the Czech Republic, Regional Section České Budějovice, who were then asked about police readiness, police material supplies, possible reinforcements which could secure buildings in the wider area (ORP) of České Budějovice, in the event of an electrical power blackout. The conclusion of this thesis focuses on the research question, which was to the effect of "Safety Study for the Event of an Electrical Power Blackout on the Wider Area Municipality of České Budějovice".

Since the advent of the environmental crisis, some writers have raised concerns with the moral influence of Christian scripture and interpretive traditions, such as the medieval book of nature, a hermeneutic in which nature and scripture are "read" in reference to one another. Scripture, they argue, has tended to stifle sacred relationships with nature as a non-human other. This thesis argues that such perspectives are reductive of the sacred quality of scripture. Environmental perspectives should be concerned with the desacralization of religious texts in addition to nature. Chapter one suggests that two questions surrounding the medieval book of nature's history can help us address ways that such perspectives reduce religious interpretation of sacred texts. The first question is the tension between manifestation and proclamation, or the question of how scripture and nature reveal sacred meanings. The second is the problem of evil, or the question of where evil and suffering come from. It also proposes that Shakespeare's As You Like It and religious philosophy, particularly Paul Ricoeur's writings, can help us address these problems and provide a contemporary religious perspective of the "book of nature." Drawing on scenes in the play in which nature is "read" as a book and Ricoeur's essay on "Manifestation and Proclamation," chapter two argues how manifestation often works interdependently with proclamation. Chapter three discusses how anthropocentric worldviews in which natural entities are exploited also distort interpretive relationships with scripture. Overcoming desacralization requires giving up desires to suppress contingencies, particularly suffering, in nature and in interpreting religious texts. Only as the characters in As You Like It accept contingencies are they able to engage hidden sources of hope, which is comparable to the need to let go of mastery in interpretation Ricoeur describes. Chapter four discusses problems with attempts to uncover the origins of the environmental crisis by discussing what Ricoeur writes about the problems with theodicy and Jean-Luc Marion's phenomenology of evil. Assumptions that specific human origins for evil can be blamed confirm deceptively human-centered worldviews and can mask valuable messages about how to morally respond to suffering that are taught in Judeo-Christian narratives.

In an increasingly interconnected, and electricity-reliant world, households are asked to build up their resilience to crises. Local, distributed electricity production within a microgrid with capability to operate disconnected from the larger grid has been shown to be an effective tool for increasing power system resilience in the past. The energy production of local renewable sources is, however, not sufficient in meeting normal household energy demand. This thesis explores whether the forming of communities can be utilised to reduce energy demand and as a result, increase the resiliency of both the community and urban environments. The analysis of household energy use and the subsequently developed toolbox provide insights into energy use both under normal societal function and during a crisis. Through living and cooking together as a community, significant energy-efficiency gains were possible, exceeding those reasonably achieved within each individual household. Community was further determined to be important in the planning and development of more resilient combinations of renewable energy, going beyond solar power. When implemented in theoretical scenarios, energy communities at a building and block level could provide sufficient energy for the households’ most immediate needs without major sacrifices of wellness. The scheme proposed is argued to require not only monetary investments, but also larger societal shifts. Producing sufficient quantities of electricity within urban environments will mean a large change in how cities are experienced. Public understanding and acceptance for such a change is likely to be necessary. Through the implementation, the role of the municipality would go from action-taking to mostly laying the groundwork for the formation of communities, as well as advising these as they achieve higher household resilience. Most critically, however, there is a need for the broader population to embrace working together in communities.