National Grid (UK)

This is a holding text at the moment. Hopefully more facts will arrive soon.

As far as we can tell, there are no feedback signals from the National Grid about reducing demand or delaying demand in order to reduce demand in the long term or avoid having to increase carbon intensity by firing up a gas plant or coal plant or oil plant to satisfy demand.

Some website provide a red amber green signal for when carbon intensity is high so that consumers might make decisions about switching appliances on later, but frankly this is not going to be enough.

What is really needed is a strong feedback system direct from the National Grid that gives feedback on carbon intensity forecasting e.g. at 5pm the news that, between 8-10pm this evening we will be switching on fossil fuel electricity generation unless your demand reduces by 10% or whatever.



Here are two examples of third party feedback. Although the ecotricity one looks fancier, we think the second one is a better signal, RED, given the high level of fossil fuel electricity generation. Obviously more to find out.

And here are the three screens of information from one mobile app found so far, called GridCarbon:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/gridcarbon/id346832866

There are two screens easily found, and the third can be found by rotating the phone. This carbon intensity graph is also indicative of RAG status and suggests the RED limit of somewhere between 250-300 gCO2/kWh might be both forecast-able (it is going to happen within the next 2-3 hours) and alert-able. Perhaps something to take up with the author as a short term way to react by reducing demand, etc.





Carbon Intensity

More information and a forecast. Looks interesting.
http://electricityinfo.org/forecast-carbon-intensity/






Let us know if you have any more information on this topic, or if you want to be involved in a campaign to use this information to reduce demand, and give more visibility of planned switch on of high intensity carbon electricity generation to give consumers an opportunity to react.

Also, if you know of an innovative approaches round the world or how you do this in your country, please let us know.

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