Synopsis
Countries around the world are recognising the urgent need to address issues such global warming, CO2 emissions and the need for energy savings. Electricity generation is the single largest contributor to global CO2 emissions, but also offers the greatest potential for reducing such emissions in the short and medium term. Utilities around the world are in a race to upgrade their decades old infrastructure to make it more intelligent (ie smart grids). This will allow utilities the ability to better manage their network, limit electricity loss, prevent outages, loadshed and provide customers with in-house information and tools (smart meters) to better manage their own energy use. In addition, utilities will be able to reduce their carbon emissions, which will offer interesting opportunities on the carbon trading market. This report provides a global overview of Smart Grid developments including analyses of its importance in terms of environmental issues.