"Visualization" of energy use is a key to a paradigm shift in energy consumption

Consumer behavior change must be incentivized if the world is to reach the announced global targets for CO₂ reduction. Hikaru Yamada is familiar with energy issues worldwide and understands that making visibility of the usage of electricity, gas, water, and other resources will encourage the paradigm shift. When EDGE spoke with him about global trends and the expectations for networks that link households with energy information, Mr. Yamada said that he looks forward to a future in which "consumers are much more involved in the careful use of energy ."

The need to improve the global greenhouse gas (GHG) environment ― and particularly to find ways to reduce CO₂ emissions ― is a growing concern around the globe. Optimizing environmental balance and achieving energy efficiency are key targets today for major policy makers.

The outlook for achieving GHG reduction targets seems pessimistic also in Japan. For example, our electric utilities must operate fleets of thermal power plants to meet peak demand for electricity in summer and winter, and those facilities have large environmental impacts. Above all, the fact that Japan frequently incurs large earthquake makes it necessary to keep the generating facilities in constant operation. Therefore, a strategy that encourages consumers to optimize energy use by time or by season will become very important.

To improve energy efficiency, household consumers should be more aware of the “true cost” of the energy they use. Information about the prevailing cost of energy could be obtained with ease with current IT technology such as the advanced meter infrastructure (AMI), which consists of the so-called smart metering system and in-house displays. Then, using the enhanced two-way communication system of AMI and price signals from the energy markets, consumers could become cognizant of the amount and cost of the electricity they are using and also the CO₂ emissions caused by the energy usage of their homes.

If a person would like to lose weight, she/he firstly needs to buy a health meter. Similarly, to save energy, especially in the situation where electric bills are expected to rise, she/he would need a meter, at least, to understand, or monitor the current consumption and possibly control future use. This is called "visibility in need". People will be able to "see" excess consumption and also will be able to view the benefits of corrective actions such as promptly turning off unused lights, adjusting air conditioner settings, and, above all, shifting the use of electrical appliances from times when electricity rates are high to cheaper ones.

Further, AMI (mentioned above) with two-way communication could optimize such electricity use according to the home-owner’s wishes or in accordance with pre-set programs. Technically, an AMI with a link to a HAN (Home Area Network) will have to be in place in order to program the energy use. Of course, AMI also bring various benefits to electric utilities. It lets them provide better service to consumers and improve the efficiency of their operations. It also allows them to remotely collect metering and other power data and remotely switch or change the configuration of metering devices. In addition, AMI makes it possible to control the timing of the operating cycles of refrigerators in thousands of houses, a capability that can contribute to the stability of electricity network system during summer peaks.

As you can see, engaging consumers will support stability of electricity network, and thus the stability of society, without requiring increases or decreases of power plant output that are not environmentally friendly. In other words, AMI will be the heart of a solution for improving the energy efficiency and sustainability of our society.

Outside of Japan, there are numerous business cases in which both consumers and electricity utilities are taking advantages of “visibility” and “efficiency” by deploying AMI systems. In some areas such as Europe, AMI is protecting utility forms' revenue by detecting and preventing electricity theft. In other areas like North America, AMI plays an important role in demand response (DR), a factor that the utility industry has identified as the “fifth fuel” for electricity. AMI is also recognized a prerequisite for the reinforced electricity delivery system called Smart Grid. In the world of the Smart Grid in the future, the functionalities of AMI will be enhanced to optimize electricity generation, transmission and distribution according to timely consumption data.

The robust expansion of the telecommunication market in recent years has significantly reduced cost of semiconductors, communication devices and other components. New developments in networking technology have propelled the evolution of Automated Meter Reading (AMR) to AMI in electricity. One of the remarkable developments in AMI was its adoption of the bi-directional communication standard of ZigBee. I have been tracking expansion of ZigBee application formats for the last five years, and this technology seems to provide more functionalities for utility industry applications. We have to closely watch the further development of ZigBee in AMI and maybe also in the Smart Grid in the future.

The ZigBee standard is international ― a multi-vendor architecture that has been well proven. Any company with products compliant with this standard can participate in its associated networking markets. In turn, the extensive industry participation promotes competition-inspired innovation, more advanced systems, higher volumes, and lower prices. Moreover, ZigBee's status as an open standard also promotes system longevity. By contrast, systems that are based on architectures that aren't broad based or international can quickly become obsolete. In Japan there seems to be discussion to include another frequency range in addition to universally-free 2.4GHz band width, and I hope this would expand further application development of ZigBee in Japan.

There is a cost for "visualization." And technically, the cost of AMI and meters will fall onto the utility’s network cost. However, it is important to realize that this infrastructure cost is for an inevitable information infrastructure with which there will be vast implementation of new products and services. Additionally, AMI will allow, improvements in the efficiency of business operations (especially at utility level) and eliminate the need to make more investments in generation and transmission lines for peak power plants.

AMI will enable CO₂ emission reductions at households. It will also, contribute to reductions in varied levels of economy and fewer vehicle dispatches for utility field work (meter maintenance, switch turn on/offs, changing contract limits,etc.), as well as cuts in power plant operation for peak hours (saving mostly fossil fuel) or critical peak hours (e.g., on very hot summer days). To that end, we must contemplate AMI as being the necessary cost of an infrastructure that will bring increased efficiency in energy use while also reducing GHG emissions.

Up until now, human beings have consumed as much energy as they could afford or wanted. And, the energy companies had luxury in finding the necessary resources and supplying enough power to meet the resulting high levels of demand. However, we have seen the end of old regime and are now seeing a new situation right in front of us. In the years to come, we will have to use energy in a very different way. We certainly will welcome this change as we acquire the wisdom to appreciate the true cost of energy and begin to consume it more appropriately.The key to this paradigm shift in energy consumption is advanced technology that makes crucial information "visible".