Improving Energy Efficiency with Information and Communications Technology

On October 27, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a briefing about the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in improving energy efficiency across all major sectors of the economy. As the Congress seeks solutions to the country's urgent economic and climate crises, energy efficiency has emerged as a prominent win-win solution. According to the 2008 report Smart 2020, the use of ICT hardware, software, and broadband technologies could reduce global energy use enough to save over $900 billion in costs and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by 2020. Within the United States, these strategies could save $140-240 billion in costs and reduce emissions by up to 22 percent by 2020. This briefing explained ICT technologies, outlined their impacts on our nation’s energy, climate, and economic objectives, and provided federal policy recommendations for maximizing their deployment and efficacy.

• Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) declared that America has the opportunity to start a “revolution” in energy efficiency and that new developments in the ICT field have the ability to improve energy efficiency throughout the entire economy. Rep. Inslee said that in the Pacific Northwest, 85 percent of energy growth needs over the next fifteen years can be achieved through energy efficiency measures alone. American ICT companies are ready to propel this revolution to new heights, pending proper regulations and incentives.
• Just before the briefing, President Obama announced $3.4 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5) for investment in smart grid technology around the country. Grants are available for advanced metering structures, electric systems distribution, electric transmission systems, and integrated systems, among other technologies.
• ICT allows energy efficiency measures in homes, factories, offices, and commercial spaces to be autonomous. Occupants can determine how much energy they want to purchase and then computers make necessary adjustments without further human involvement.
• ICT is a vital part of smart buildings, which automatically retrieve data on daily energy prices and weather forecasts, notify maintenance personnel of potential malfunctions before they cause actual failures, charge plug-in electric vehicles when energy prices are low, implement demand response measures (such as dimming lights 20 percent or adjusting thermostats by 2 degrees) when energy prices are high, and compile data on energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
• Missouri has reduced energy use and operational costs by 15 percent in over 1000 state-operated facilities through the use of ICT technologies. Georgia Institute of Technology buys electricity based on dynamic hourly pricing information from Georgia Power and has thus reduced peak load by about one megawatt.
• ICT also can be applied to the transportation, industrial, and power sectors. These technologies are ready for implementation today and only require federal leverage and policy to achieve wide spread implementation.
• In addition to supporting further research, development, and deployment, federal policy is needed to set interoperability standards and encourage data collection and sharing.
• An investment of $30 billion dollars in ICT could create 949,000 American jobs.
• The ICT sector accounts for two percent of American greenhouse gas emissions, but is constantly striving to become ever more energy efficient, while also working to significantly reduce the other 98 percent of emissions.