Information and communications technology (ICT) can have a huge impact on the global fight against climate change and provide significant energy savings at the same time.  In a recent report called “SMART 2020: enabling the low carbon economy in the information age” it is said that ICT alone could reduce the global output of greenhouse gases by 15 percent and save consumers nearly a trillion dollars by the year 2020.

Compiled by the Climate Group on behalf of the Global e-Sustainability Initiative, the report demonstrates that the carbon footprint of the global ICT industry will nearly double by 2020, but still has the potential to help other market sectors reduce carbon emissions by five times that amount.  This is an amount equal to 7.8 gigatons of CO2 – an amount equal to the total current output of China or the United States.

The United States is blessed with an abundance of renewable energy.  The problem is, much of it can’t be utilized effectively without a smart power grid in place.  Without advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) technology, clean energy can’t be moved from where it’s generated to where it’s needed and the vast renewable energy reserves will remain untapped.

Wind power is plentiful in the U.S. interior.  “The U.S. Great Plains are the Saudi Arabia of wind power,” said Lester Brown from the Energy Policy Institute.  “Three wind-rich states – North Dakota, Kansas and Texas – have enough harnessable wind to meet national electricity needs.”

Google, CPower, CSG, and CSE have all joined the Demand Response and Advanced metering Coalition (DRAM).  The coalition also announced that it was changing its name to the Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG).

Chris King, Chief Strategy Officer of member company eMeter who also helped found the group, said the name change makes sense.  “Our new name – the DRSG Coalition – reflects the growth in diversity of our organization’s members and the breadth of smart grid products and services that they provide,” said King.  “DRSG will continue to work to educate and provide information to policymakers, utilities, the media, the financial community and stakeholders on how demand response and smart grid technologies such as smart meters can help modernize our electricity system and provide customers with new information and options for managing their electricity use.  Our members are the ones that will be providing the foundational elements with which the smart grid will be created.”

Itron has secured rights to promote, market and sell Nighthawk wireless energy control products to its utility clients.  Nighthawk Systems is a leading provider of control devices that are IP-based and are able to transmit data wirelessly.  The agreement does not call for exclusive selling rights of Nighthawk’s products.

Itron’s ChoiceConnect data collection suite, partnered with Nighthawk’s wireless technology results in a robust smart meter solution that is able to collect two-way information between power provider and customer in real time.  The communication point is established at the smart meter installed in a customer’s home.

Boulder, Colorado has long had a reputation for appreciating the natural environment.  Bikes outnumber cars in this city of about 100,000 and biking and hiking trails, open spaces and parks take up a significant portion of the beautiful city.

Boulder’s respect for the environment has taken a technological leap in 2008 as it began the transformation into America’s first Smart Grid City.  Before long, 50,000 Boulder homes will be fitted with the very latest in smart meter technology that supports solar power generation, plug-in hybrid cars, and automated heating, cooling and lighting systems.  The smart meter reports the level of energy used at any point in time and how much that energy costs in both monetary and environmental terms.