How automation could simplify emissions reductions – GreenBiz

In March, Rocky Mountain Institute and our partners convened more than 60 stakeholders from across the electricity industry for two days in Chicago to explore the potential for a new and promising technology:automated emissions reduction,or AER.

At scale, this technology, deployed in residential loads such as air conditioners and water heaters across the United States, could reduce carbon emissions each year by the equivalent of taking 2 million to 3 million cars off the road. This does not count the potential from other flexible loads in commercial and industrial settings; at least 30 percent of the total U.S. electricity consumption has some inherent flexibility that could be leveraged for carbon reduction using AER.

Building off new research that canidentify marginal grid emissions signalsfrom a variety of public data sources, the nonprofitWattTimepioneered AER in the past two years as a customer-facing service. AER reduces pollution by seamlessly shifting the timing of end-use loads to move consumption into the cleanest possible intervals, allowing customers to significantly reduce the environmental impact of their energy use.

At least 30 percent of the total U.S. electricity consumption has some inherent flexibility that could be leveraged for carbon reduction using AER.

WattTimespilot project in Chicago, executed in partnership with RMI and several other organizations, produced compelling evidence that customer demand for this kind of technology may be significant. We convened the Chicago workshop in order to test the value proposition of AER for different customer segments and identify a path to scale the technology. In particular, participants identified the sources of value that AER potentially could provide, as well as barriers that must be overcome for stakeholders to successfully unlock that value.

By the end of the event, participants identified 11 priority projects that could help solidify the value proposition and test the key use cases for AER going forward. The project team, led by WattTime, will be working with participants and other stakeholders to drive these initiatives to a successful conclusion and scale the broader market for AER.

Charrette participants worked in breakout groups to understand the value propositions and barriers for four distinct customer groups.

Each group also discussed several barriers to realizing these values. Among them were: the relative complexity of AER compared with other emissions-reduction measures that may make it difficult to communicate its benefits to stakeholders; ongoing questions around who is in the best position to pay for any infrastructure or product changes required to enable AER; and proving the case that customers will adopt AER-enabled devices and use them to reduce emissions.

After identifying the value propositions and possible barriers, participants designed 11 initiatives to test the hypotheses around customer value, and address the particular barriers for each customer segment. Using this industry input, the project team is prioritizing five near-term initiatives, working with participants and others, to drive the market forward.

RMIs project partners at WattTime are leading these ongoing initiatives with interested charrette participants, but there is room for these efforts to grow. If your organization is interested in learning more about this work or joining our efforts to drive this market to scale, please contact us via email:[emailprotected].

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How automation could simplify emissions reductions - GreenBiz