Real-Time Carbon Emission Calculation at Substation and Device Levels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current carbon emission calculators only provide rough estimates at the power generation plant level, lacking the capability to accurately calculate carbon footprints at the distribution substation and individual device levels, which hinders the identification of high-emission areas and the effectiveness of demand response events in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing a demand response protocol to communicate between substation controllers and devices, embedding a carbon emissions calculator to monitor and calculate real-time carbon emissions based on power consumption and load information, enabling precise emission tracking at both substation and device levels, and aggregating data for geographical visualization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If carbon emission calculators are deployed only at power generation plant level, then the system complexity is low, but the measurement precision of carbon emissions is insufficient and cannot provide accurate data at distribution and device levels
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the carbon emission calculation system into multiple hierarchical levels: power generation plant level, distribution substation level, and individual device level. This segmentation enables precise measurement at each level while distributing system complexity across modular components, with each level handling calculations appropriate to its scope and data availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a spatial dimension to carbon emission tracking by implementing calculations across multiple geographical and operational levels (generation → distribution → device). This multi-dimensional approach transforms the traditional single-level plant-based calculation into a hierarchical system that provides both aggregate and granular emission data simultaneously.
2Measurement precision
If real-time carbon emission calculation is implemented at device level, then the carbon footprint tracking accuracy is improved, but the loss of time and computational resources increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-calculating and storing emission factors, conversion ratios, and baseline data at each hierarchical level. This allows real-time device-level calculations to proceed quickly by referencing pre-prepared data structures, reducing computational time while maintaining high precision tracking accuracy.
3Productivity
If demand response events are implemented to reduce peak power consumption, then energy efficiency is improved, but the ability to accurately measure carbon emission reduction is compromised without device-level data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms that continuously monitor device-level power consumption and corresponding carbon emissions before, during, and after demand response events. This real-time feedback enables utilities to accurately measure the actual carbon reduction achieved by DR events, providing actionable data for optimizing future energy efficiency programs.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for calculating real-time carbon emissions at a distribution substation level and at an individual device level is disclosed. A substation controller is provided at the utility substation that is in operable communication with one or more devices via a demand response protocol, the demand response protocol including demand response signals transferrable from the substation controller to the one or more devices and demand response signals transferrable from the one or more devices to the substation controller. A carbon emissions calculator module is embedded in the substation controller and/or the devices that is programmed to identify or receive power consumption data from respective devices and calculate carbon emissions for the respective devices based on the power consumption data. Carbon emissions data may be provided to the substation controller to provide for a determination and output of the calculated carbon emissions for each of the one more devices.