The nonprofit is working to eliminate the world's emissions data divide — and the inequitable approach to the energy transition — with the first-ever electricity marginal emissions dataset covering nearly every country and region, which can be leveraged to save the world more than 9 gigatons of carbon emissions annually.
OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Environmental tech nonprofit WattTime has announced the completion of the first-ever hourly electricity marginal emissions dataset for nearly every country worldwide. Today's data release expands the availability of hourly marginal emissions data to 210 countries and territories, covering nearly 100% of global electricity consumption on the world's power grids. Previously, only around 40 countries had such data. WattTime developed this dataset to enable more strategic climate action and emissions reductions decisions, particularly in regions that never had access to such granular and actionable data before.
These data allow users to estimate emissions based on when and where electricity is used, as well as the avoided emissions that can be achieved by investing in renewable energy projects in specific locations. Marginal emissions data empower corporate leaders, policymakers, and consumers to make decisions that reduce or avoid the most emissions.
Historically, a lack of accurate and actionable marginal emissions data has hindered climate action in much of the Global South and other developing countries. This data divide has slowed meaningful climate progress and clean energy deployments in the regions where it is needed most.
"Climate progress is needed worldwide, but all too often, the most cutting-edge, data-driven solutions are only made available in a select few wealthy countries," said Gavin McCormick, founder and executive director of WattTime. "But we will never beat climate change if emissions data experts keep ignoring the rest of the world — because frankly, that's where most emissions are. We're beyond excited to be leaping forward in our mission to give anyone, anywhere the tools needed to slash the emissions. Because we're all in this together."
"At Meta, we believe that using more accurate emissions data drives more informed and impactful climate action. The emissions from a megawatt-hour of electricity can vary widely by time and location, both within and across grids. WattTime's vastly expanded dataset will help all grid participants more accurately assess their carbon footprints and make more targeted climate investments to accelerate grid decarbonization globally," said Brent Morgan, Principal, Energy Strategy at Meta.
"Amazon is committed to making the global power grid carbon-free and more reliable for everyone. We recognize that carbon emissions from electricity generation vary by time and location, making accurate measurement complex. With the right data, we can now better understand the emissions impact of our energy consumption and clean energy purchases. The expanded data from WattTime offers crucial insights to target energy projects where they can have the greatest impact, helping to decarbonize the grid and make it more reliable for all," said Jake Oster, Amazon Web Services (AWS) Director of Energy, Environment and Sustainability Policy.
Marginal emissions data have many uses, but three use cases in particular have dramatic potential to reduce global emissions. Using data from the U.S. Department of Energy, the United Nations, and its own work, WattTime estimates that full global adoption of these three techniques alone could save the world over 9 gigatons of carbon emissions annually:
Also referred to as "emissionality," this approach uses granular marginal emissions data to help renewable energy buyers target the dirtiest hours and locations on the grid. This approach allows buyers to maximize the climate benefit of their investments by displacing more carbon-intensive power.
WattTime has worked with partners like Apple, Boston University, Clearloop, General Motors (GM) Meta, Nucor, Salesforce, and The Nature Conservancy to enable emissionality-based procurement.
"You can't fix what you can't measure. At Salesforce, we use marginal emissions data to guide our procurement of renewables in locations around the world that can maximize emissions impact," said Megan Lorenzen, Director, Climate & Energy, Salesforce. "The expansion of this dataset will accelerate that work and help close the global data divide — a critical step in reaching our collective climate goals."
"In addition to speeding global emissions reductions, building more renewables in lower-income countries can provide concrete benefits for promoting peace in fragile regions. We at Energy Peace Partners know firsthand the power of expanding clean energy access among vulnerable populations. This dataset — if used well — will help corporate buyers better optimize their procurement and send stronger demand signals for clean energy projects that deliver decarbonization and social benefits together," said Doug Miller, director of market development at Energy Peace Partners.
Now that an emissionality-based approach is possible on a global scale, cloud computing company and WattTime partner PagerDuty has provided WattTime with a grant to help raise awareness of the solution among decision-makers in Global South countries.
Marginal emissions data can be used to power automated emissions reduction (AER) technology and other features that allow for the scheduling of flexible energy demand to reduce electricity-related emissions. Internet-connected devices, like smart thermostats and EV chargers, can use the data to forecast when energy consumption will be cleanest and shift power use to align with those times.
WattTime has worked with companies like Amazon, Apple, BMW, Microsoft, and Toyota to deploy load-shifting solutions driven by marginal emissions data.
WattTime's marginal emissions data can also be used to better understand the electricity-related emissions of a company's suppliers, allowing them to make better supplier decisions that contribute to decreases in Scope 3 emissions. WattTime is advancing this use case rapidly in its work with Climate TRACE — a global nonprofit coalition that provides open access to source-level emissions data for every sector and country in the world.
The full dataset is now available to WattTime partners through licensing agreements. A free and simplified version of the dataset suited for many emissions reduction use cases can be accessed by anyone via the WattTime API.
To learn more about opportunities to support or partner with WattTime, contact the team here.
About WattTime
WattTime is an environmental tech nonprofit that empowers all people, companies, policymakers, and countries to slash emissions and choose cleaner energy. Founded by UC Berkeley researchers, we develop data-driven tools and policies that increase environmental and social good. During the energy transition from a fossil-fueled past to a zero-carbon future, WattTime 'bends the curve' of emissions reductions to realize deeper, faster benefits for people and planet. Learn more at www.WattTime.org.
Media Contact
Nikki Arnone, Inflection Point Agency for WattTime, 1 (719) 357-8344, [email protected], www.watttime.org
SOURCE WattTime
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