Electrical & Computer Engineering Seminar Series: Line Roald

Description

Line Roald, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, will give a talk titled "Carbon-Sensitive Electric Loads and Their Impacts on Emissions" for the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering.

Abstract:

An increasing number of electric loads can be characterized as "carbon-sensitive," meaning that they are willing to adapt their real-time electricity use in response to the current carbon intensity of the grid. Examples of carbon-sensitive consumers include hyperscale computing companies, who want to publicly demonstrate their commitment to clean energy, and hydrogen producers, who are incentivized by tax credits or valuable "green" classifications. Individual consumers, often on flat electricity tariffs, simply want to contribute to a cleaner planet. While there is a lot of interest in "doing the right thing" to reduce the carbon footprint of our electricity use, there is concerningly little understanding of what the "right" action for end consumers actually is. We will discuss our analysis of common carbon emission metrics and demonstrate their sometimes counterintuitive and counterproductive impacts on grid emissions. We will then discuss some more holistic approaches to allow loads to expose carbon preferences to the grid.