The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released a major report stating that humans need to cut down greenhouse gas emissions in half this decade to avoid intensified climate change that would be too catastrophic for humans and ecosystems to adapt.
The scientists who authored the report have called for those emissions to peak before 2025 and then virtually disappear by 2050. This means major changes need to be made in different aspects of our lives – from replacing fossil fuels with clean energy to using less energy, especially on how we power our homes and devices – for us to meet those goals.
That’s where smart devices come in as they can play a crucial role in the fight to stop climate change, cut down greenhouse gas emissions, and transform electric grids.
Smart devices that make homes more energy-efficient or rooftop solar panels that work as virtual power plants will help people better understand where their energy comes from, see how much power they’re using, make power grids more resilient, and facilitate the shift from dirty to clean energy.
If these smart devices are connected to smarter grids that are powered by clean energy, they can work with the grid to cut down on both energy and pollution.
Since smart grids have the ability to often interact with other smart devices in your home, they can ensure that your home doesn’t waste energy. They can also schedule devices for charging to times in the day when renewable energy is most abundant.
This will help make grids more reliable (since too much energy demand and not enough supply can lead to blackouts) and balance the demand and supply of wind and solar energy that are intermittent sources and are reliant on the weather.
In times of climate-related disasters floods and wildfires which place more stress on grids and result in blackouts, they can serve as reliable energy sources.
While those are exciting possibilities, the new climate report points out caveats, “Digital technology supports decarbonization only if appropriately governed,” the report authors write. For one, e-waste is still a growing problem and secondly, many countries still lack policies to stop old devices from ending in landfills and polluting the environment.
There is also the need for devices to be designed in a way that they last longer to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions linked with manufacturing and shipping as well as e-waste.
Smart homes and devices obviously won’t save the planet on their own, but with careful planning, they could play their part and could reduce greenhouse gas emissions while making the grid more resilient to climate change.
