World Bank Issues Alarming Climate Change Report

On the 333rd consecutive globally warm month, a new report for the World Bank by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics bears the decise title "Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4 degrees C Warmer World Must be Avoided."

It focuses on the measured rise and projections of CO2 concentrations and Emissions, rising global mean temperature, increasing ocean heat storage, rising sea levels, increasing loss of ice in areas like Greenland, the Artic, and Antartica, ocean acidification, heat waves and extreme temperatures, droughts and aridity impacts on agriculture and other human welface impacts, and warns of culmination of extreme event synchronization as may have been witnessed with "superstorm" Sandy in the Northeastern U.S.

Bank President Jim Yong Kim sums up the report with this blunt headline in the UK Guardian: "The latest predictions on climate change should shock us into action. A world four degrees warmer could be too hot to handle, but the exciting prospect of low-carbon living could stop it happening."

Energy efficiency, conservation, and research to lower the costs of renewable and cleaner sources of power are important aspects of the Smarter Grid efforts of citizenry and the power, automobile, building management, industrial and large commercial and other sectors.

According the report, "we’re on track for a 4°C warmer world marked by extreme heat-waves, declining global food stocks, loss of ecosystems and biodiversity, and life-threatening sea level rise.” Can we continue the power-hungry information age without risking these massive global adverse effects? Human ingenuity can meet the challenge.

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Water Conservation and Smart Metering

With the world-wide economic belt tightening, municipalities are looking to reduce operating costs more than ever.  An even bigger concern is the scarcity of the very substance that is the ultimate requisite for our lives: water.  Though industries like farming and energy generation need to innovate to utilize less water, municipalities already have the technology required to reduce operating costs and conserve water. 

The same way that Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)  or "smart meters" are a key component of the electrical smart grid, similar technology can be applied to other utilities like gas and water.  In the case of water metering, remote connect/disconnect switching and more accurate, hourly interval reads can provide great savings and an enhanced customer experience.  Applications can include:

• Significant reduction in truck rolls
• Automatic detection of costly and wasteful water leaks
• Conservation-encouraging customer usage and bill estimation web portals with hourly interval data

Besides water metering data itself, the water AMI communications network wireless mesh systems can also monitor other end points:

• Continuous monitoring of sensitive ecological areas (condition-based versus periodic monitoring)
• Selective End-Point Monitoring of Water Quality
• Combined water, gas, and electric metering for an even better financial and social business case
• Substation, distribution, and demand-side automation

Further value can be obtained through the develop a municipality-wide network (which can include wireless, fiber, cellular, powerline carrier and other technologies) for other municipal functions for a more complete Smart City concept. Such applications can include a municipal mobile workforce network to assist building inspectors, police, safety and other employees to exercise their duties on the go with greater ease thanks to mobile connectivity.  Citizens and visitors could benefit from a public layer of wi-fi to increase accessibility to online education, government e-services, and much more.

However, starting with a more limited scope, such as water meter automation, we see can find success cases like Kansas City.  Whenever we hear of states like Florida and Texas struggling with droughts, we see that such measures could save much-needed water as well as reduce public costs, which could help alleviate public budget shortfalls.  When it comes to financing these projects, if the cash-flow is challenging, despite a favorable business case, there are investors looking for the more predictable returns associated with resource conservation upgrades like this one.