Nick Facciola from RMA reports live from COP 16
3rd December 2010
By Nick Facciola, Manager of Carbon Emissions Programs, RMA (part of the Lloyd’s Register Group of Companies).
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I had the opportunity to sit in on a side event today titled “A Smart Grid is a Green Grid” put on by the Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG). This organisation heavily promotes that a smart grid is necessary for current climate goals to be achieved.
Whereas most talk one hears these days on energy efficiency would involve changing light bulbs using Energy Star appliances, DRSG takes energy efficiency to a whole new level. DSRG promotes the idea of equipping homes and commercial buildings with a smart meter for their electricity which communicates with both the utility and various appliances throughout the building. As electricity supply and demand fluctuates throughout each day, so does the cost of electricity. With a smart meter, the customer would be immediately alerted of these price fluctuations, allowing them to make informed decisions on when and how to use their electricity. Furthermore, the smart meters can communicate directly and automatically with various appliances, programmed to make cost effective choices. During peak hours when electricity costs rise, the thermostat would automatically turn up a few degrees or the lights would dim slightly. The pump for your swimming pool filter would turn off until a more cost effective time to run.
But the smart grid is not all about cost. In addition to providing cost savings to its customers, smart meters can provide a few other benefits which are integral to help achieve climate goals. It creates a new way to engage people in awareness of their electricity usage. By making decisions on how to save money on utility bills, they will have a heightened awareness of which appliances and which behaviours are more energy intensive. Secondly, reducing peak loads on electricity consumption can help electric utilities achieve their goals on reducing emissions while supporting increased supplies of wind and solar energy. Finally, DSRG claims that the smart grid is intended to be used with another emerging technology called Load Control Systems which act as a demand buffer, drawing energy when demand is low and providing the grid relief when demand is high. There was also talk about plug-in hybrids, and how their batteries can even work with the smart grid to serve as this Load Control.
Overall, this was an exciting side event that brought an innovative look into the future. But like most exciting new technologies, it does not come without a set of challenges that first need to be overcome. The United States for example, has a long way to go if they intend to replace its infrastructure with smart grid technologies (some 130 million meters to be replaced plus the residential appliances that are smart-meter-ready). DRSG holds that this technology is not only the smart way for electricity to be handled in the future, but that it is inevitable technology given the benefits, creating a true a win-win-win scenario.
Visit LRQA website to see the full event coverage from Madlen King.
Follow LRQA on Twitter @LRQA_CC_CSR or visit www.climate-change.lrqa.com