Green Energy
The age of technology: how
customers can save the planet
The UK has made enormous strides in lowering carbon emissions and improving efficiency across its major industries. Yet, the elephant in the room is getting harder to ignore. By David Hall (pictured), Vice President Power Systems at Schneider Electric.
T
he latest UK Environmental Accounts show that British consumers are now the country’s largest emitters of
greenhouse gases (GHG). Overtaking the UK energy supply sector, they created a quarter of the UK’s GHG emissions in 2016. More troubling, however, is that few British consumers are planning to change their ways. Schneider Electric research revealed that 16 per cent of respondents – equivalent to about 10.2 million UK residents – have no intention of curbing their energy consumption. In a time of decentralisation and decommissioning, where powerplants are being shut down and the UK grid network is becoming more localised, utilities and operators will need all the help and insight they can get to keep their networks balanced and running smoothly. If we are serious about conserving energy and improving our national efficiency, then utilities need to help their customers take greater responsibility for their energy usage. It is in the interest of energy providers and
operators to encourage the growing prosumer movement in the UK. Through financial
14 | electrical wholesalerJuly 2019
incentives and the latest connected technology, everyday consumers can be turned into ’smarter’, more sustainable prosumers who can help balance supply and demand on the country’s networks.
The case for cutting consumption Reducing consumption does not need to be a tiresome inconvenience. All that is needed is that consumers make more efficient use of energy and explore well-established, increasingly affordable alternatives, such as LED lights and smart meters. Schneider Electric research suggests that 77 million lights, devices and appliances are left on or on standby every day in households across the UK. An impact can clearly be had in encouraging consumers to be savvier and reduce the waste energy they expend. Part of the solution lies with the country’s
growing ‘prosumer’ movement. The term prosumer describes a growing number of energy users who are more proactive about how they measure, use and even generate the energy they consume. Modern energy prosumers want the reliable availability of power and technologies
that give them more control over their energy - how it is produced, how much they need and how much they use, with many producing their own and selling it back to the grid. City districts, community associations, businesses and residential homes alike are becoming proactive energy consumers, enabled by new, widely available technologies. By 2050, 44 per cent of UK energy is projected to be generated by these prosumers. Sustaining and encouraging the movement should be a top priority for utilities.
No good deed goes unrewarded A consumer’s reasons for turning prosumer can be many, complex and highly personal. Yet, to grow the movement, we should also be incentivising conversion. Fortunately, British energy users are willing and open to such encouragement. Indeed, when asked what would motivate them to reduce their energy consumption at home, 42 per cent of respondents cited financial incentives. Utilities have been very successful at incentivising homeowners to reduce energy
ewnews.co.uk
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