Smart Green Grid Initiative

The Smart Green Grid Initiative

Developing a Smart Grid to Help Address Climate Change

No two issues are getting more attention within the energy industry and among policymakers these days than the smart grid and climate change.  Yet most see these two areas as not being connected.  More precisely, the smart grid – and smart grid practices like demand response – is not being viewed as having a role in the attainment of climate change goals. 

Demand response, the heart of the smart grid, could account for a fifth of U.S. electricity.

FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff, cited by Reuters, “Smart Grid Good for Big Solar, Wind: US Regulator,” October 2009 view source website »

The Smart Green Grid Initiative (SGGI) has been launched to demonstrate that the smart grid indeed can be a major positive force in addressing climate change.  Among the issues it will seek to build an understanding of are the following: 

Smart Grid and Renewable Energy 
There is widespread consensus that increasing the use of renewable energy is a key component of any strategy and plan for addressing climate change.  What is less known is that many renewable energy options provide power on an intermittent and variable basis or »»»

Smart Grid and Energy Efficiency 
Another consensus building block in plans to address climate change is energy efficiency.  Most energy efficiency efforts are focused on replacement of devices and equipment with more efficient items, or focused on energy efficiency design and labeling of products and buildings.  The smart grid will introduce and foster new types »»»

 

An Essential Role
When it comes to renewable energy and energy efficiency, a smarter grid is a greener grid, and the Smart Green Grid not only has a role to play in addressing climate change, but is likely essential to allow climate change goals to be reached.   

Taking the Message to Copenhagen
As part of its educational efforts, the Smart Green Grid Initiative will be an official UN-approved participant in the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP-15) in Copenhagen in December 2009. 

 


“To get a greener grid, you need a Smart Grid.”
U.S. Department of Energy, “The Smart Grid: An Introduction,” 2008

“…smart behaviors, smart choices, and smart planning should be thought of as an essential resource for achieving energy and climate goals."
ACEEE (American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy), "Behavior, Energy, and Climate Change: Policy Directions, Program Innovations, and Research Paths," November 2008

“Demand response will be a powerful tool for meeting the environmental challenges ahead.”
California Independent System Operator (CAISO), “eGrid Technologies Help Achieve Environmental Goals,” December 2007

“Energy Storage is critical to grid operations.”
U.S. Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu, “Investing in Our Energy Future,” September 2009

“The dirty secret of clean energy is that while generating it is getting easier, moving it to market is not.”
 New York Times, “Wind Energy Bumps into Power Grid’s Limits,” August 2008

“Pairing another environmentally friendly resource—demand response—with renewable power will help the [California] ISO maintain grid reliability.  Demand reduction is just as effective, and often less expensive, than adding megawatts onto the grid and it doesn’t add a single pollutant.”
California Independent System Operator (CAISO), “eGrid Technologies Help Achieve Environmental Goals,” December 2007

“One area in which energy storage technologies could provide great benefits is in conjunction with renewable energy resources. By storing energy from variable resources such as wind and solar power, energy storage could provide firm generation from these units, allow the energy produced to be used more efficiently.”
U.S. Department of Energy Electricity Advisory Committee, “Bottling Electricity: Storage as a Strategic Tool for Managing Variability and Capacity Concerns in the Modern Grid,” December 2008

“Smart Grid technologies will allow the grid to better adapt to the dynamics of renewable energy and distributed generation, helping utilities and consumers more easily access these resources and reap the benefits.”
U.S. Department of Energy Electricity Advisory Committee, “Smart Grid: Enabler of the New Energy Economy,” December 2008

The Smart Green Grid Initiative
The Smart Green Grid Initiative (SGGI) is a non-profit coalition focused on development and dissemination of information about how the smart grid can support attainment of climate-change goals. 
__________
1615 M Street, NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20036
info@smartgreengrid.org 
202.296.1686

Subscribe to SGGI Updates