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DELIVERING
NET ZERO
The role of business and data in advancing climate action
By Rich Hampshire
It should be no surprise that any conversation about delivering net zero commitments , quickly leads to a discussion on the energy transition . The energy transition is itself a multifaceted challenge that can accelerate meaningful climate action . The World Resource Institute claims 73 percent of global greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions arise from the consumption of energy . Almost 30 percent of total GHG emissions are created by energy use in buildings and road transport . Electrification has an important role to play in addressing these , but only if the electricity consumed is decarbonized !
The reconfiguration of the electricity system to integrate green generation connected deeper into the system and new sources of decarbonized demand may not be changing the laws of electrical engineering , but they do change the dynamics of the electricity system , fundamentally . The traditional sources of system flexibility , such as from dispatchable fossil fuel generation , are being made redundant as they are replaced by intermittent , inflexible renewable sources of supply . And those decarbonized sources of electricity are far greater in number and are typically distributed more widely across the system and at low voltage levels .
The electrification of demand that has been traditionally satisfied by fossil fuels , such as oil and gas , presents challenges and opportunities . The challenges come from optimizing investment in both infrastructural networks and new generation capacity . The opportunities arise from reconfiguring how the electricity system is designed and operated as well as from how it is governed and how electricity markets can be reformed to encourage active participation of demand . Making markets work for both capacity and energy flexibility services can create meaningful new choices for how we all , as consumers , satisfy our energy needs and manage our overall energy bills .
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