Solar steam technology could revolutionise fossil-fuel power plants.

Intelligent Energy: finding smarter ways to use electricity

CSIRO Intelligent Energy research is finding smarter ways to use energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• 24 August 2009 | Updated 27 April 2012

• Engineering Intelligence
• Making renewable energy more reliable
• Current Intelligent Energy projects

Our team of engineers and scientists are developing new technologies which intelligently manage the way energy is used, transmitted and generated in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, minimise energy consumption and save money.

Engineering Intelligence

We are developing new control systems using advanced communication and information technologies to manage and use energy more intelligently. 

Intelligent control can allow energy systems to respond to their environment and make operating decisions based upon achieving specific energy goals.

Making renewable energy more reliable

By introducing intelligence into the ways that our energy is generated, transmitted and consumed we can also achieve higher level goals – such as making energy from renewable sources more reliable and cost-effective.

By making renewable energy more reliable we hope to encourage their use in the marketplace and further reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.

Technologies under development are aimed for use in the home, in commercial buildings and in the energy distribution system to both make energy use more efficient and increase Australia’s use of renewable generation to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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Current Intelligent Energy projects

CSIRO scientists are working on the following projects:

• Optimal air-conditioning control uses weather data, energy market pricing and feedback from building occupants to intelligently alter the operation of a building’s air-conditioning system to save energy, money and greenhouse gas emissions.

• Solar cooling uses heat from the sun as an energy source which can be used to generate cool air for use in buildings.

• Secure grids uses network design and configuration, control strategies and grid collaboration to allow automatic reconfiguration in response to threats, improved power quality and increased efficiency (and therefore reduce emissions).

• The Virtual Power Station intelligently aggregates renewable energy generators – such as solar panels – and energy storage into a cost-effective and reliable electricity supply network.

• Utility simulation tools allow predictions to be made about the energy usage, consumer comfort and customer satisfaction effects of action taken by energy utilities in managing their network.

• Smart fridges can plan ahead and coordinate when they consume energy in order to smooth the intermittent power output from renewable generators such as wind and solar farms, while keeping within usual temperature limits.
  

Find out more about Renewables and smart systems.