Our national goal is to live in a net zero economy by 2050. This is about striking a balance between the carbon emissions going into the atmosphere - and being taken out. As our significant appetite for climate action is turned into delivery, the true scale of what this will require in the coming decades is becoming apparent. 

As companies, cities and estate owners strive for net zero carbon, we need to make sure they are all aiming at the right target. We also need to ensure that the way we calculate and report our emissions is effective. For this, I see a need to evolve from static to real-time emissions reporting.

Static emissions vs real-time emissions 

Current methodologies for calculating the emissions targets that many organisations are making uses a simple calculation of multiplying energy used by static emissions factors. This works well for accounting for fuels that the UK has relied on for much of the past century such as oil, gas and coal. But we are now in a new age of renewables. 

In 2020 renewable electricity accounted for 42% of the UK’s electricity supply. This is providing us with the opportunity to create more zero carbon energy mainly from wind and solar, supplemented by nuclear. Renewables are however more intermittent as an energy source with wind and solar linked to the weather, and nuclear often inflexible.  

Such intermittency means the carbon intensity of the grid can often vary more than five-fold over a year, or even across individual days. But this variability of the carbon intensity of our grid isn’t translated through in the way that we calculate and measure our emissions. This means we are not accounting for the benefits of variability when reporting emissions. 

Organisations therefore have less incentive to use demand-side management techniques to help cut emissions. For example, buying, and storing energy from the grid when there is a surplus from renewables, something that is widely available even to energy retail consumers. 

Those employing storage solutions like batteries to store energy bought from the grid during periods of high demand may actually be penalised. Battery users reporting by a static emission factor will report more emissions because of the losses in the storage process. 

Beyond GHG emissions, energy flexibility will also provide an opportunity to reduce consumer bills. In 2020 the National Infrastructure Commission suggested flexibility could help cut energy bills by £8bn annually by 2030. 

CASE STUDIES: HOW WOULD REAL-TIME EMISSIONS WORK? 

The case for change 

I believe we need to work together with the UK Government to incorporate the variability of electricity emissions factors into reporting, through incorporation into mandated annual emissions reporting. This will incentivise and allow our companies and developers to focus innovation and investment on managing demand smartly to reduce real GHG emissions and support further renewables integration, enabling our net zero transition. 

This can then be incorporated into the way that all organisations report on their emissions through amendments to the GHG Protocol and feed into city strategies. 

In buildings and property, changes can be made to building regulations, probably in updates to the Future Homes Standard in 2025 and the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP). This will reward developments that incorporate features like batteries to support end users being more flexible with energy demand. 

Unleashing innovation 

As we move to ever more and ever cheaper renewable energy the “when” of energy becomes the most important issue on the transition to net zero.  

If we are unable to switch to the reporting of real-time emissions, our transition to a net zero carbon economy will be slowed, investment misaligned, and organisations exposed when our reporting methods are changed. Once we get this switch right, we have the chance to unleash innovation, and power enormous opportunities that will help us move quickly and more cost-effectively towards net zero.