Smart energy: where do we stand and where should we go?

Abstract

Although public concern about environmental issues has been growing, the global efforts towards greater environmental sustainability have not been able to stabilize—let alone decrease—the level of GHGs in the atmosphere (IPCC 2013). Still worse, in 2013 the level of carbon dioxide (the main GHG produced by burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil) in the atmosphere surged at its fastest rate in 30 years (IPCC 2013). Annually, about 50 billion tons of additional carbon dioxide are emitted (The Economist 2014). There is a consensus among academics that, by 2100, in order to avoid “dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system” (UNFCCC 1992), the global mean temperature must not increase more than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. To stabilize carbon dioxide concentration at this level, emissions must be reduced by around 40 to 70 % (compared to 2010) by 2050 and close to zero by 2100 (IPCC 2014a). Currently, however, it appears extremely unlikely that the global community will succeed in effectively curbing GHG emissions fast enough to achieve the two degrees Celsius goal. Our economies are still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, and as long as increasing economic prosperity goes along with increasing levels of GHG emissions (von Weizsacker, Hargroves, Smith, Desha, and Stasinopoulos 2009, pp. 17), these emissions will almost certainly not decline as much as needed. To break this vicious cycle, we have to identify ways to increase carbon productivity (using energy more efficiently while sustaining economic growth), consume less energy (eco-effectivity and eco-sufficiency), and decrease our dependency on fossil fuels by using renewable energy sources (Hoffert et al. 2002; McKinsey Global Institute 2008; von Weizsacker et al. 2009). Correspondingly, Sarkis, Koo, and Watson (2013) emphasize the need to find a synergistic win–win relationship between economic growth and green growth. The largest proportion (49 %) of GHG emissions are caused by the energy supply sector (IPCC 2014b). Due to a higher energy demand and a larger share of coal in the global fuel mix, GHG emissions associated with the energy supply sector increased more rapidly between 2000 and 2010 than in the three previous decades (IPCC 2014a). Seventy percent of the energy supply sector’s GHG emissions are caused by electricity and heat generation, the largest polluter of which is in the electricity sector. Therefore, many countries have been striving to make their electricity systems more renewablesbased and “intelligent.” Intelligent (or smart) systems often involve the deployment of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to allow for electricity systems to be used as efficiently as possible. J. Kranz (*) Chair of Management Information Systems and Methods, University of Gottingen, Platz der Gottinger Sieben 5, 37073 Gottingen, Germany e-mail: jkranz@uni-goettingen.de