Sustainability now tends to be a cornerstone of most business models, and it’s one that has been accelerated within the last year as national lockdowns slowed society right down to a halt, and hence global emissions have reduced by 5.8%. Lockdown may need to be the breather that the earth needed, but there’s much work to be done.
In the race for net-zero emissions by 2050, it’s essential that companies play their part in making the commitment of reducing their carbon footprint by 2030 – a target agreed between member states and therefore the EU Parliament – including the adoption of smart technologies and power protection solutions so as to realize energy efficiency.
An increased demand for energy
Lockdown brought on significant changes to how we consume electricity within the UK, resulting in a widespread energy imbalance. This strain on the national grid came from a mixture of usage becoming more evenly spread as there was more variation in people’s morning routines, and spikes in TV pick-ups when we tuned into lockdown announcements.
During March 0f 2020, domestic energy consumption specifically rose by 4.5% on the entire, likely as a results of increased remote performing from that month. In fact, around this point, we saw a rise in customers switching energy providers compared to the previous year.
“The margin between what’s generated and what’s being demanded is decreasing, meaning there’s a higher risk of voltage brownouts and power outages,” says Simon Dover, energy expert and Operations Manager at Ashley Edison. “Power generators and distribution suppliers have got to remodel and make sure they have the capacity and the infrastructure to meet these new requirements.”
Global energy demand is rising quickly, due to population and economic processes, especially in developing market economies. But, while characterized by more prominent prosperity, rising needs create new difficulties.
For example, our energy security concerns can develop as more users require more energy supplies than ever. And higher consumption of fossil fuels generates increased greenhouse emission emissions, especially CO2 (CO2), which contributes to heating. Yet, at an equivalent time, the amount of individuals with no electricity remains too high.
Reducing carbon emissions with voltage optimization
By stabilizing the mains electrical supply and ensuring it doesn’t exceed the equipment’s intended voltage, an automatic voltage optimizer (AVO) is capable of significantly reducing energy usage and cutting energy costs by up to 20%, solving problems around unnecessary consumption of energy – particularly in Europe.
In the UK and a few other countries, although electrical equipment is meant to work at 220 volts, generated electricity can typically amount to up to 245. However, interest in voltage optimization is growing worldwide and has the potential to greatly assist in lowering our impact on the environment, inching us somewhat closer to carbon neutrality.
Aside from the environmental benefits, an AVO effectively preserves the designed or planned lifetime of electrical equipment by protecting it against frequent power surges and voltage transients and allowing it to work more efficiently, effectively reducing ongoing maintenance costs.
Embracing energy-saving technologies
Against the backdrop of world events and the recent G7 summit which saw world leaders come together to agree on an agenda for halving global emissions by 2030, organizations are realizing a collective, conscious effort to rework their outlook on sustainability must be made.
The Guardian clearly states the G7 Summit “has thrown the spotlight clearly on the world’s biggest emitter: China”. It continued: “Xi Jinping, the president of China, made a cordial and well-received speech during which he promised further action on clean energy and said China would cause its consumption of coal to peak round the middle of this decade…Xi’s commitment was positive but didn’t mark a breakthrough, climate experts said, because it would still leave the construction of many coal-fired power stations planned for subsequent five years.”
Another Guardian article writes that Biden said the US would work with Russia on ways to combat the ongoing climate crisis, “saying he looked forward to joint efforts and was ‘very heartened’ by the country’s involve collaboration on new technologies like carbon removal”
Meanwhile, the FT reported that the return of the US to international climate diplomacy has “resurfaced some old fault lines”. It continued: “Although cheered on in Europe, the US climate comeback masks divergent approaches between the 2 economic powerhouses on the way to win the so-called race to net-zero.”
The newspaper cites France’s environment minister Barbara Pompili: “The Americans have a technique supported developing new technologies. It’s great to develop hydrogen, as we do, and carbon capture. But i feel we’ve an additional ingredient in France and Europe. We’re going further because we’re also watching our ways of life.”
Voltage optimization especially is an efficient method for regulating the UK’s voltage supply which remains relatively high compared thereupon of other countries in Europe.