Carbon Tracer App Launches

You may have seen in our recent news items that we have been working on a new mobile app for our clients Western Power Distribution in collaboration with the Carbon Trust.

The app called Carbon Tracer has now launched and is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The Carbon Tracer project is a joint collaboration between Western Power Distribution, the Carbon Trust with Enigma as the app developers.

The application uses live data to calculate what actually contributes to the locally generated energy that powers electric items in customers’ homes. This is visualised in a way that shows the breakdown of where this energy comes from and the different amounts of carbon dioxide produced.

Here is a description from Western Power Distribution that covers the detail behind their energy generation and the mix of renewable and non-renewable sources.

The electricity used in homes, offices (and other premises) comes from a wide range of sources. These sources of generation may be local or other sources via the National Grid’s high voltage transmission network. Some generation sources are renewable while others are non-renewable or nuclear and they all create different amounts of carbon dioxide gas.

The local generation which is attached to the Western Power Distribution network typically includes large solar PV installations, wind farms and various incineration generators some of which are renewable forms of energy (for example biomass), while others are not. There are many other generation types including less common forms such as tidal and wave power and even newer forms such as battery storage.

When local generation is insufficient to meet demand at any given time and location, the shortfall is made up by taking electricity from the National Grid. Changes to prevailing conditions and what people are doing throughout the day and throughout the year means demand for electricity from customers is constantly changing. The available generation also changes all the time so that the overall mix is in a constant state of change. This is shown by the Carbon Tracer. Visit carbontracer.westernpower.co.uk to find out more.

This project is just one example of our work for Western Power Distribution and for the wider utility industry. We also recently completed a data mapping project for WPD visualising their distribution network.

As well as Western Power Distribution we work with another electricity Domain Network Operator (DNO), Northern Powergrid as well as the industry body for DNO’s, the Energy Networks Association (ENA). More recently we have also started working with water utility, Northumbrian Water.