Keeping a hot topic cool with innovation

Climate change has become a central issue for many countries around the world and with global temperature projections of +2.7oC or higher by the end of the century, much more must be done to avoid adding to the increasing incidence of weather-related catastrophes.

For many countries, the aggressive measures discussed to reduce carbon emissions at the COP21 summit in Paris this week will be seen as a threat to their national economic development, but with talks taking place at the end of what has been the hottest five-year period on record, the impetus to behave as a global citizen couldn’t be stronger.

In areas that have suffered catastrophic flooding, taking people out of poverty is seen as the most effective way of protecting them from the effects of climate change, but ironically the traditional step-wise evolution from an emerging to an advanced economy is exacerbating the problem.

During the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, only three emerging economies ranked the top 12 greenhouse gas emitters. This number has now risen to seven.

Comfortable buildings with lower emissions

With an ever-increasing demand for good quality housing and for secure and comfortable places to work, a rise in carbon emissions might seem inevitable, especially considering that, even in developed economies, such as the EU and US, commercial and residential buildings account for about 40 percent of primary energy consumption. 

A rise in carbon emissions is not, however, inevitable – energy savings can be made by installing technology that will reduce electricity consumption, even while improving performance, and therefore reduce emissions.

In buildings, energy is used mainly for heating, cooling and powering electric appliances*. In addition, among the fastest growing commercial buildings are data centers, which use in excess of 30 times more power per square meter than other building types – 3 percent of total energy consumption.

In this area, significant gains can be made with intelligent building solutions that manage temperature, lighting and electrical appliances to exact requirements. A study by the German Electrical Industry Association (ZVEI) found that energy consumption and costs for lighting in buildings of all kinds can be reduced by up to 80 percent by using intelligent building systems.

^{More must be done to avoid adding to the incidence of weather-related catastrophes.}

Return on investment

The systems typically enable a reduction in energy consumption of around 50 percent, with a pay-back period of 1-5 years. For example, a new low-voltage circuit breaker from ABB, the Emax2, acts as an intelligent power manager, protecting electrical circuits and also reducing energy consumption based on demand. This solution eliminates large amounts of wasted energy. The global savings potential of this power manager alone is estimated to be 5.8 million megawatt-hours (MWh). This is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 1.4 million households in the European Union.

Energy management systems for buildings integrate lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, window shading, security and comfort controls with energy measurement processes. They deliver performance improvements and energy efficiency benefits of up to 30 percent. The indoor climate of the State Library of Victoria, Australia, is controlled by drives from ABB. Energy savings in the two-hectare, 150-year-old building range from 30-60 percent, depending on the application, and the building's total annual energy usage was cut by 1,800 MWh, saving about US$160,000. The investment paid for itself within 13 months.

^{The State Library of Victoria, Australia, installed ABB drives into its air-conditioning system and reduced its annual electricity consumption by 1,800 MWh. The installation paid for itself within 13 months.}

Delivering for data centers

With 2.5 quintillion (2.5 x 1030) bytes of data being generated every day and growing, reliable power supplies and efficient energy management systems have never been more important in the data center market. ABB provides the systems and expertise to help data center developers minimize costs in the most reliable way. A major US insurance company will use ABB’s Decathlon® Data Center Information Management (DCIM) to optimize data centers that will account for more than 20 megawatts of energy over the next four years. Facebook selected ABB as the partner to deliver grid connection options with two high- and medium-voltage air-insulated switchgear substations supplying power for their first data center outside the US, in Sweden - the largest of its kind in Europe. 

In line with our Better World aims

So with 50,000 participants, including 25,000 official delegates from government, intergovernmental organizations, UN agencies, NGOs and civil societies expected to attend the COP21 conference in Paris, what better place for ABB to discuss ways in which economies can grow without costing the Earth.

*www.iea.org/aboutus/faqs/energyefficiency/