US

Smart grid could cut US emissions by 12%

Deploying a smart electricity grid across the board in the US could reduce usage and cut emissions by at least 12% by 2030, according to a new report.

The study by the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, The Smart Grid: An Estimation of the Energy and CO₂ Benefits, indicates that fully utilising a smart grid could cut carbon emissions by 442 million metric tons – equivalent to the annual output of 66 typical coal power plants.

Rolling out smart grid technologies, including smart meters, automated demand response, plug-in electric vehicles and electricity storage devices, crucially provides real-time, two-way communication and coordination of activities between customers and suppliers.

The researchers looked at nine ways that such technologies could potentially reduce emission, which are divided into those that can be termed ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’.

Direct mechanisms include monitoring – and reducing – energy use in residential and commercial buildings and increased use of plug-in hybrid vehicles, while indirect mechanisms can reduce emissions by enabling more renewable energy sources to come online.

“By making the grid smart, we make it more efficient and more accommodating of renewables, and we’re able to cut down on the amount of carbon we emit to generate the electricity we need,” says researcher Rob Pratt.

“This is very significant in light of future renewable portfolio goals of 20-30% set for the electricity sector in many states for the 2030 time frame,” he adds.

For further information:
www.pnl.gov/
www.pnl.gov/main/publications/external/technical_reports/PNNL-19112.pdf

02 February 2010

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