IBTS - Institute for Building Technology and Safety’s Post

Day 3/13 AM24 Conference Countdown: For over a quarter century, many state public utility commissions and legislatures have established retail customer choice programs for commercial, industrial and residential consumers of natural gas and electricity. With growing interest in providing renewable energy and related services both on the part of competitive suppliers and incumbent utilities, our panel of experts looks at the current state of the competitive marketplace. https://lnkd.in/dXnbCSHp

There are many ways to skin a cat. Come learn about what Distribution System Operators, and how they could help expand the reach of VPPs.

One question we get asked often is ‘what’s the impact of a solar system on embodied carbon?’ With an industry focus on measuring scope 3 emissions, we joined a Cerclos webinar to explore the impact of installing a solar system on the embodied and whole life carbon of a commercial building, using a life cycle assessment approach. You can watch the webinar on-demand here. https://lnkd.in/eeeQqRnY

One of the key things that we need to figure out as we work to decarbonize energy is how electric utilities can most effectively facilitate innovation and decarbonization. There are lots of different models that could work. One important question is how utilities can best enable distributed energy resources (DERs, like batteries, EVs, thermostats, and solar PV) to help solve grid problems. One approach is known as the "Distribution System Operator" (DSO) model, in which a range of different stakeholders can build “Virtual Power Plants” from aggregations of DERs, with the DSO playing a market facilitation role for the various VPPs. This model can take many different forms, and has both advantages and disadvantages. Come and learn more in this DER Task Force seminar with Angela Kent:

WEBINAR: H2 & RNG in Transportation – Technical and Economic Considerations 🚚💲🛠 Join in to explore the technical and economic considerations of using H2 and RNG in transportation. Whether you are a fleet manager, transport company representative, municipal staff, or oversee transportation facilities, this webinar is a great guide to explore opportunities to decarbonize operations.🌿 Speakers: 🔹Ry Smith, Chief Technology Officer, Change Energy Services Inc. 🔹Gupar Kaur Punia, Manager of System Assessment, Change Energy Services Inc. Register now ⬇ https://lnkd.in/edR_MvN2

Does voluntary procurement of clean energy drive real carbon emissions reductions? It's complicated, but generally "yes" is the conclusion from E3's recent research on the topic, where we compare annual and hourly matching frameworks and discuss the importance of long-term PPAs in financing clean energy investments. Join Elizabeth Mettetal and myself on September 10 to learn more! Thanks to Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA) for hosting!

At RPC, we recognise the vital role battery storage will play in providing the flexibility needed to decarbonise power grids across Europe. In just over a year, we’ve built up a storage pipeline of more than 5.5GW across GB, Finland, and Italy.   In this month’s insight into the views of RPC employees, Martin Heaton notes that battery storage allows us to “utilise the full potential of wind and solar”.

Coming up next week on April 24th, our own Ry Smith & Gupar Kaur Punia will be discussing the technical and economic considerations for using hydrogen and renewable natural gas in transportation in a webinar hosted by the Canadian Gas Association. Please check out the information below ⬇ to register. #hydrogen #fleet #zev #decarbonization #climateaction

For our most recent webinar, we welcomed Blake Shaffer (University of Calgary), Leonard Kula (Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA), and independent economist Edgardo Sepulveda to explore the benefits and challenges of market-based approaches to building an electricity system, using Alberta’s unique grid as a case study.    Edgardo Sepulveda recently authored a report for the Alberta Federation of Labour recommending that Alberta reimpose economic regulations and create a Crown corporation to balance ownership and mitigate energy price volatility. Want to learn more about the pros and cons of a market-based approach to achieving a net-zero electricity system by 2050? Watch the replay ‘Markets vs Public Power Systems’ webinar to discover the key takeaways from our expert panelists: https://lnkd.in/eE6TQ3Kb 

A study by NREL and Sharply Focused LLC is challenging our interpretation of “extreme weather” when it comes to an increasingly renewable power grid. Check out the study’s key findings to learn more about how this changes how we plan for future grid reliability: https://bit.ly/3z8NN6r